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Congress has agreed on something: designating a national museum and library for George Marshall. Now, it's the Senate's turn.

Historian David McCullough tells a story about teaching an honors seminar to 25 history majors at Dartmouth College. When he asked the students if they knew who George Marshall was, nobody raised their hand.

Andrew Wyeth Reflects on His Father, the Artist N. C. Wyeth

From "N.C", by Andrew Wyeth

Historian S. L. A. Marshall Tells How He and “Papa” Hemingway Liberated Paris

Ernest Hemingway told a wonderful story about his liberation of Paris. He claimed he was one of the first to enter the city, taking over the bars at the Crillon and Ritz hotels. Famed World War II historian S.L.A.

First Medical Report on Lincoln's Assassination Uncovered

It was the discovery of a lifetime. Helena Iles Papaioannou, a researcher with the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project, was meticulously combing through 1865 correspondence of the U.S.

More than 2,000 students from around the country competed in the 32nd annual celebration of history, held this year at the University of Maryland.

The room was abuzz. More than 2,000 young historians milled about, setting up exhibits featuring Harvey Milk, Charlie Chaplin, and hundreds more.

Tall ships and U.S. Navy vessels sailed into Baltimore Harbor past Fort McHenry to commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812

Square-riggers, schooners, and sleek gray warships from around the world converged on Baltimore the second week of June for the “Star Spangled Sailabration” commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812’s start.
Unlikely Friendship
1812: The Navy's War By George C. Daughan  
1812: The Navy's War By George C. Daughan  
Many plans are afloat to commemorate the 1513 landing of explorer Ponce de León in Florida.  He was said to be looking for the fountain of youth, but instead found a land so full of springtime flowers that he named it “La Florida.” 

A 62-year-long quest for statehood ended on January 6, 1912.

On January 6, 1912, New Mexico became a state, followed 39 days later by Arizona. A 62-year-long quest for statehood—the longest in U.S. history—had finally ended.

Over 3.9 million images of the 1940 U.S. Census are now available online at the National Archives website and Archives.com

The director of the Census Bureau doesn’t often pay house calls for census enumeration, but in the spring of 1940 William Austin stopped by the White House to find out who was home.

J.R. Clifford fought his real battles in the courtroom

My paternal grandfather, Edward St. Lawrence Gates, was buried on July 2, 1960. After the burial my father showed my brother and me scrapbooks that his father had kept. Within the pages of those scrapbooks was an obituary of my great-great-grandmother, a slave named Jane Gates.
Lighting the Hunley
We are delighted to welcome an old friend back into our pages.

Hist-ineers, terra-tives and mobi-sodes: Get ready for the brave new world of history on the really small screen.

Can serious history be presented on a cell phone? Handheld devices such as BlackBerrys, iPhones, and other smart phones (and even some not-so-smart) can play video, access the Internet, and display Google maps nearly as well as larger computers.

After 65 years, the archives of FDR’s personal secretary are now open to the public

On June 30, 2010, 14 boxes containing a treasure trove of more than 5,000 personal letters, notes, and photographs from the Roosevelt administration and his family arrived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York.
Like the Mississippi, the flood of books on the Adams family rolls on; and indeed its crest, now that the long-barred portals to the family papers in the Massachusetts Historical Society have been unlocked, still lies ahead of us.

Free Passes to a Movie Milestone

One of the benefits of having a grandfather who was a former mayor of Boston, John F. (“Honey Fitz”) Fitzgerald, was that he had free passes to interesting events. Just by paying the tax on a baseball ticket, I could get into a Red Sox or a Braves game.

FRANKLIN FLIES A KITE

In June of 1752, in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin performed what  may be the most famous scientific experiment of all time by flying a kite in a thunderstorm. In so doing, he verified his theory that lightning is a form of electricity.

Our platoon was probably the only Allied soldiers to witness the final degradation of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

In December of 1942 I was drafted and sent overseas to Oran, Algeria, where I was assigned to the 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron. The eyes and ears for the troops, we rode in jeeps, armored cars, and light tanks, scouting the numbers and supplies of the enemy forces.
In “Elsenhower the Dove” (September), Douglas Brinkley writes of “the unnecessary cost of lives in the Korean War” and mentions Americans having been killed “in a useless conflict.” I suspect these are Brinkley’s sentiments and not Ike’s.
Bernard A. Weisberger’s well-balanced look at the Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings story (“In the News,” November 1997) led me to wonder anew at both the staying power and the meaning of this tale. Just what is it that is so scandalous here?

The guitar pickin' kid called himself Elvis Presley

As a teenager I liked the sound of guitar music, and I practiced until I was fairly proficient at picking out tunes. Later I got an electric guitar, and lots of noise became my best creation, musically.
I am told that many people have difficulty in deciding the most exciting moment in their lives. Not I. For me it was August 25, 1944—the day of the liberation of Paris half a century ago.
My father, David Keith Stewart, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and came to the United States at the turn of the century.
I read with interest Bernard A. Weisberger’s article about the Ku Klux Klan in the April issue (“In the News”). I generally agree with everything he says after the first two paragraphs but I would offer the following additional information about one brief period of time.
In August of 1863 Frederick Douglass called upon the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, to explain why the recruiting of black troops for the Union had been slower than some had expected. Blacks wanted equal pay, he explained, and a chance for promotion.
I enjoyed Professor Elting E. Morison’s article “Inventing a Modern Navy” (June/July issue), but a training manual on repelling boarders should not be used as an example of an idea that was outmoded by the late nineteenth century.
In a “Postscripts” feature on Dr.

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