Videos

Tulane University professor Blake Gilpin taught a class about moonshine drivers and the origins of NASCAR. He described how after the Civil War, particularly in the South, moonshiners…

Professor Stephen Berry talked about coroners in the 19th century South. He discussed the role of a coroner as an agent of the state and talked about the records created from coroner…

Suffolk University professor Kenneth S. Greenberg taught a class on the role of honor and dueling in the lives of slave masters in the antebellum South. He explained what actions would have…

New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore talked about her one-volume history of the United States.

Tom Coffman talked about his book Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawai’i (Koa Books; 2 edition, June 15, 2009). In the book he talks about how the U.S. obtained Hawaii and the resistance to annexation by…

Sarah Vowell examines the Americanization of Hawaii that began with the arrival of New England missionaries in 1820. The author recounts the coup, organized by the missionaries, that…

The White House Historical Association convened a meeting in Washington, D.C. of those who work at presidential sites around the country -- and of descendants of presidents from James…

Civil War historian Noah Andre Trudeau discussed the military campaign of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman and his 60,000 troops from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia in 1864. General Sherman’s…

Professor Peter Kastor talked about how the United States changed from the post-Civil War Reconstruction period to the Progressive era in the early 20th century. He highlighted how the…

University of Connecticut professor Manisha Sinha taught a class about the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. She outlined the different ways historians have interpreted this period -…

Historian John Ferling talked about his book, Apostles of Revolution: Jefferson, Paine, Monroe, and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe.

Sandra Opdycke of Vassar College’s Institute for Innovation in Social Policy provided a history of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which gave employment to 8 million Americans…

During the 1916 presidential election, Woodrow Wilson ran on the slogans “He Kept Us Out of War” and “America First.” In this program, a panel of historians talked about how “America First”…

Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women president Michelle Easton talked about the life and career of congresswoman, ambassador and author Clare Boothe Luce at an event co-hosted by…

Lillian Faderman recalled the life of the late San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in America. He was assassinated in 1977, after serving one year…

John Lawrence, former chief of staff to Representative Nancy Pelosi, recalled the 1974 congressional elections, which followed the Watergate scandal, and ushered in many new office holders, dubbed the…

John Sedgwick recounted the internal battle between Cherokee chiefs over control of the Cherokee Nation during the Trail of Tears era.

Historian Jacqueline Jones recounted the life of writer and advocate Lucy Parsons from slavery through the Great Depression.

Scott Stern recounted a U.S. government program that was devised to quarantine women suspected of having venereal diseases or deemed “promiscuous” during the first half of the 20th century. The author…

Mr. Jenkins talked about his book Looking for Alaska, published by St. Martin’s Press, a personal account of the people and culture in that state. He also talked about the experiences that…