A complex understanding of the past is vital to understanding what’s happening in the United States today. But many of us often don’t get the historical background we need in school. For example, to ...

On Oct. 6, First Parish Church was packed for Jill Lepore’s talk on her new book, “We the People: A History of the U.S.

This past summer's uproar over "Try That in a Small Town," a song by country music star Jason Aldean, is over—but with the school year underway, the controversy over the song remains an instructive ...

School history textbooks provide an important source of information for learners of history. Textbook narratives of a nation’s past often present a limited frame of reference, which impedes the aim of ...

The teaching of history has become a flashpoint in the culture wars. But while the battle is fierce, it’s not new. An earlier round in the conflict in the 1920s — over the teaching of the American ...

The horror of slavery was barely mentioned in the history textbooks read by Baby Boomers. Public domain photo of slaves in Georgia via Wikimedia Commons As numerous new histories center racial ...

It is well-documented that U.S. history textbooks have provided a limited picture of the role race and ethnicity play in the American past and present. Figuring out how to remedy that, though, has ...