Follow @yaleSCIbooks The name Thomas Jefferson brings to mind some of his greatest achievements: Author of the Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and Founder of the University of Virginia. But there’s another side to America’s Renaissance man that, though less well known, is just as praiseworthy.
Follow @yaleARTbooks In the introduction to Circus and the City: New York, 1793-2010, the catalogue accompanying a fabulous exhibition of the same name currently on view at the Bard Graduate Center in Manhattan, curator Matthew Wittmann recalls his own experience watching the hulking elephants of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and
Who exactly was Geronimo? The legendary Apache fighter is one of the most famous American Indians in history, but his public image has changed dramatically through the years. In his latest book, Geronimo, historian Robert Utley tries to solve the mystery of this persona, questioning the validity of the impressions
Read an excerpt from Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance Carl Van Vechten, the controversial patron of the Harlem Renaissance, was indeed a Renaissance man: art critic, novelist, adviser, social host and man-about-town. Yet in his role as a letter writer we see him as a passionate epistolary friend.
“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” sings “As he died to make men holy/Let us die to make men free,” about American hero John Brown. Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, although unsuccessful on many accounts, has provided fodder for conversations about freedom for decades. John Brown failed to capture
For the third year running, the Yale Press Log is covering American History in November, bringing you books and news from scholars and writers invested in the telling of our nation’s past; their aim most often to better illuminate lessons for our future and reconsider lost truths for our present.
Yesterday, October 21, 2012, former U.S. Congressman and Presidential candidate, George Stanley McGovern, passed away at age 90. Here, Joshua M. Glasser, author of The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis, eulogizes McGovern using insight from the candidate’s own notes. Joshua M. Glasser— Twenty years after
As with other elections in the years past, next month’s contest between Obama and Romney will be influenced by vexed issues relating to religion. Health care and citizens’ access to contraception; same-sex marriage; hate speech; the list goes on. The election is furthermore complicated by the two candidates’ religious beliefs
In light of tonight’s Vice Presidential debate, Joshua M. Glasser, author of The Eighteen-Day Running Mate: McGovern, Eagleton, and a Campaign in Crisis, provides some insight into the importance of the role of the Vice President, the selection process, and its relevance to public opinion, despite its changing historical and current perception
After Senator John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate for the 2008 Republican Party presidential ticket, there was quite a bit of media speculation and excitement surrounding Mitt Romney’s announcement of Paul Ryan as his running mate in August. But the last two presidential elections are