Today is Veterans Day, so we start off today’s What We’re Reading post with numerous links to poems, memorials, lesson plans, and other resources about the men and women who’ve served in wars. Following that roundup we link to an article by Julian Zelizer on the recent midterm elections and the news that Google will be offering free WiFi on a number of flights this holiday season.  Then, read some viewpoints on new media, digital history, the Supreme Court, and politics. We also point to two sites on the Civil War’s 150 anniversary, a podcast series from the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine, an article on using stories to teach history, info about “Follow an Archive” day on Twitter, a speech prepared in case of a disaster with Apollo 11, an 1899 film of crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, and just for fun, take a look at some historic Thanksgiving recipes.

Veterans Day

• National Cemeteries Honoring Veterans Day
  The National Trust for Historic Preservation lists and links to national cemeteries throughout the U.S. that may be holding Veterans Day ceremonies today.
• Learning about sacrifice on Veterans Day
  This post on the National Museum of American History’s blog shares one veteran’s response, in poem form, to being asked to talk about his experiences in the war.
• Veterans Day at the NMNH
  From the National Museum of Natural History learn about the roles of scientists in wars, including anthropologists and naturalists.
• Memorializing Veterans: Teaching with Place
  A recent post at the National History Education Clearinghouse explains how to teach with monuments and memorials.
• Inside the Vaults – America’s Veterans and the National Archives
  The National Archives has posted a YouTube video on how veterans can access copies of their military service records.
• Homer’s Civil War Veteran: Battlefield to Wheat Field
  EDSITEment offers a lesson plan that has students “compare and contrast Winslow Homer’s painting The Veteran in a New Field with Timothy O’Sullivan’s photograph A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, 1863.”
• The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Collection
  Check out this collection of “documents the female experience in the Armed Forces through letters, papers, photographs, published materials, uniforms, artifacts, and oral histories,” from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
• Veterans Day Resources
  See the AHA Today blog post from last year detailing a number of excellent Veterans Day resources.

News

• Why Midterms Matter
  Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, discusses the historical significance of the November 2, 2010, U.S. election in this article that will be printed in the December 2010 issue of Perspectives on History.
• Happy holidays from Google Chrome: free holiday Wi-Fi at 30,000 feet
  If you’re flying on AirTran, Delta, or Virgin America around the holidays and want to keep up with student e-mails, research online for an upcoming paper, or just catch episodes of Glee on Hulu, and you don’t want to pay, you’re in luck.  Google is providing free wireless on flights from these airlines from November 20, 2010 through January 2, 2011.

Insights

• Adoption of “New” Media by Historians
  Sean Takats gives a "glass half empty" reading of the data in Robert Townsend’s article on "How Is New Media Reshaping the Work of Historians?" from the November Perspectives on History.
• Digital History at Conferences
  Drew E. VandeCreek echoes Dan Cohen’s disappointment at the small number of digital history sessions at the AHA’s 125th annual meeting, and expands on some of the challenges of getting internet access for sessions at hotels.
• Sexing Citizenship: The Supreme Court should strike down an old citizenship law that discriminates against fathers
  Former AHA president Linda Kerber discusses the case Flores-Villar v. United States, on “whether American fathers have the same rights as American mothers to ensure that their children are citizens at birth.” The Supreme Court heard this case yesterday, November 10th.
• Five Myths about George Bush
  Julian Zelizer, who we mentioned earlier, also participated in a live question and answer session on the Washington Post’s web site about W. Bush’s historical legacy and new memoir.

Civil War

• Civil War 150: Civil War Stories, Civil War Battles, Civil War Pictures, Civil War Timeline
  The Washington Post maintains a web site of assorted “coverage of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War.”
• Disunion
  The New York Times is blogging the Civil War. Hat tip.

More

• Podcast Series: National Library of Medicine’s History of Medicine Division
  During the past month, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Radio has featured the National Library of Medicine’s History of Medicine Division in a three-part podcast series: Part I features Dr. Manon Parry speaking about NLM/HMD’s Exhibition Program, Part II features Dr. Paul Theerman speaking about NLM/HMD’s Images and Archives section, and Part III features Michael North speaking about NLM/HMD’s Rare Books and Early Manuscripts section.
• What you need to know about “Follow an Archive” Day on Twitter (other than that it’s Friday, Nov. 12)
  The ArchivesNext blog details what “Follow an Archive” day on Twitter is all about and how you can participate.
• Teaching history by telling stories
  Jenny Wei, an education specialist at the National Museum of American History, talks about using stories to teach history.
• In Event of Moon Disaster
  The Letters of Note blog has posted a speech by William Safire that President Nixon was to read if the Apollo 11 mission failed and left Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stranded on the moon.
• Brooklyn to New York via Brooklyn Bridge 1899
  Travel across the Brooklyn Bridge in this 1899 film from Edison Manufacturing Co.

Fun

• Menus: A Few Ideas for Your Thanksgiving Table
  The Four Pounds Flour blog notes that Thanksgiving dinners in the 18th and early 19th century featured an assortment of meats as well as other dishes. Check out one recipe from 1877.

Contributors: David Darlington, Elisabeth Grant, Chris Hale, Vernon Horn, and Robert B. Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.