Grape & Canister

Apologies for the lack of posts in recent weeks. I’ve been knee deep in research and writing.

In the News

A statue honoring Emmett Till was recently dedicated in Greenwood, Mississippi. I certainly would have preferred that it be dedicated on the grounds of the nearby courthouse, but a Confederate statue still speaks for the collective values of the community.

Here is a wonderful op-ed by Jamelle Bouie on why he continues to return to W.E.B. DuBois’s classic study of Reconstruction.

Historian Jonathan S. Jones sees parallels between the Confederacy’s conduct of the war and Russia’s current military challenges in Ukraine. I am not sure the comparison yields much, but Jones does offer some food for thought regarding why the Confederacy lost.

Historian Jon Grinspan was recently interviewed for the CBS Sunday Morning show. [see below] Here is an excerpt from his book The Age of Acrimony, which I highly recommend.

I am not a fan of the College Board, but I am pleased to see that a course in African-American history has been approved and is being taught in schools across the country. The kids seem to be enjoying it.

Videos

Interview with Jon Grinspan

In case you somehow missed it.

Historian Rachel Shelden lectures on the Civil War as a Constitutional crisis.

New to the Civil War Memory Library

Margaret A. Burnham, By Hands Now Known: Jim Crow’s Legal Executioners (Norton, 2022).

Matthew F. Delmont, Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad (Viking, 2022).

I can’t recommend Delmont’s book enough. Easily one of the best history books of 2022 and bound to win some major awards.

Adam Hochschild, American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis (Mariner, 2022).

Lydia Moland, Lydia Maria Child: A Radical American Life (University of Chicago Press, 2022).

Richard Rabinowitz, Objects of Love and Regret: A Brooklyn Story (Harvard University Press, 2022).

Jeremi Suri, Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long & Unfinished Fight for Democracy (Public Affiars, 2022).

Otis

As I mentioned above, I’ve been extremely busy working on my biography of Robert Gould Shaw. One of the things that helps me get through it are the afternoon walks with my buddy Otis through the Arnold Arboretum.

Have a great day, everyone.