My paper for the AAIHS meeting had to contribute to an exciting atmosphere of deep intellectual thought amongst people who are also enthusiastic about demonstrating the importance of the past to the present. The theme of the entire conference was “Preserving Histories..

This year I was honored to have a paper accepted by the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) for their annual meeting, held in Pittsburgh on March 27-28, 2026. Some of you may remember that I attended the conference as a spectator last year to learn as..

Thanks in large part to the legacy he built during his lifetime, few people remain unaware of the importance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Civil Rights Movement. His life and contributions are commemorated each year on the third Monday of January. Far fewer..

According to his death certificate, Rufus Freeman of Myrtle Grove Sound in New Hanover County, North Carolina died on 26 September, 1923.¹An autopsy was done in James Walker Hospital by the coroner G. S. Holden, who confirmed Rufus Freeman’s cause of death: “shot by..

I read two stories of interest in a recent issue of The Woodstock Villager, a local newspaper from my grandfather’s Connecticut hometown. The first story (on page A3) concerned a Witness..

Regardless of the outcome of Super Bowl LVII, history will be made Sunday when two Black quarterbacks lead their teams for the first time in NFL history. This will be the first Super Bowl appearance for Jalen Hurts, but not for Patrick Mahomes, who has been to the big..

Two years ago, I wrote a post about some of the maternal ancestors of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, using research I had begun the previous year after his team’s Super Bowl victory. The post followed some..

In early July I was given the opportunity to attend an online educational event, “Women in the Gilded Age,” with guest speakers Laura Thompson and Betsy Prioleau, part of the American Inspiration series at NEHGS. The draw was my interest in women’s history, and this..

On 24 July 2022, the National Baseball Hall of Fame celebrated the induction of the newest class headlined by Boston Red Sox great David Ortiz. In honor of one of baseball’s more cherished events, we will be looking back at the family history of one of the sport’s..