Today’s What We’re Reading features a look at 12 Years a Slave, DC area transit history, historicizing the food stamps fight, news grants to support campus-based childcare, and much more!

History in the News

An Escape from Slavery, Now a Movie, Has Long Intrigued Historians

The New York Times offers a glimpse at the new cinematic adaption of 12 Years a Slave.

British Historian Says We Should “Look beyond Europe and America”

Times Higher Education (UK) covers a conversation closely tied to the pages of Perspectives on History. Nicholas Guyatt, coauthor (with Luke Clossey) of an article and survey on the research focus of US, UK, and Canadian historians, took part in a panel in London that discussed these findings. Read the article in Perspectives, and a roundtable response on Perspectives’ website.

DC Area Transit in History

Greater Greater Washington looks at the history of disguising power-converting substations as single-family homes. And also links us to a fantastic collection of historical photos of the construction of the DC area’s subway system.

AIG CEO: Anger over AIG Bonuses “Just as Bad” as Lynchings

Robert Benmosche, AIG’s CEO, tells the Wall Street Journal that anger over AIG’s bonuses, after they’d been bailed out, “was intended to stir public anger, to get everybody out there with their pitchforks and their hangman nooses, and all that—sort of like what we did in the Deep South [decades ago]. And I think it was just as bad and just as wrong.” Ezra Klein isn’t buying it, and has some other examples of CEOs comparing themselves to victims of Nazi Germany.

Reagan’s Revolution Devolves into a Food-Stamp Skirmish

Stephen Mihm, for Bloomberg, reveals how the recent fight over food stamps has its seeds in a much earlier fight started by President Ronald Regan.

The History of the Trapper Keeper

Complete with vintage Trapper Keeper photos.

Digital History

Where Nobleman and Knave Meet

The Economist’s Graphic Detail blog gets lost in “Kindred Britain,” a digital humanities project that charts family connections in British cultural history across time and space.

News in Higher Education

U.S. Dep. of Ed. Awards Nearly $9.2 Million in Grants to Support Campus-Based Child Care Services for Low-Income Students

“Funded under the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program, awards can be used for child care services for all age groups: infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, as well as before and after-school care for school-age children. Students eligible to receive services for their children through CCAMPIS must be eligible for Pell grants, which are awarded based on financial need. In addition to using a sliding fee scale for the services, some grantees require students to attend parent workshops and take part in academic counseling to maximize their prospects for success in completing their higher education studies.”

Social Scientists Seek New Ways to Influence Public Policy

The Chronicle covers “a growing number of projects designed to connect academics to policy makers and the public.”

Museums and Preservation

What Does it Really Mean to Serve “Underserved” Audiences?

Museum 2.0 revisits a popular post from its archives about what it really takes to get everyone in the door, and what’s at stake if you don’t.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.