Modern American History

@modamhist

News and insights from the journal Modern American History, devoted to all aspects of American history since the 1890s.

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Modern American History@modamhist· 27d

On First View from our Special Issue on the United States' 250th: "Commemoration, Creation, and Sounding the Nation’s Future at St. Louis’s Bicentennial Horizons of American Music" by Billy Coleman. Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Modern American History@modamhist· Jul 21

On First View: Joe Merton's article, "'We’re Giving People a Choice': Civilian Crime Prevention, Consumer Citizenship, and the Transformation of 1970s and 1980s New York City." Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Photo of Nottingham Association members erecting signs advertising the area’s civilian patrol. Source: Nottingham Park News, March 1977. Reproduced with permission of the Center for Brooklyn History.

Modern American History@modamhist· Jun 30

Amid the recent Supreme Court decision upholding Birthright Citizenship, learn more about the historical debate from 5 scholars: @migrantherstory.bsky.social, @bethlewwilliams.bsky.social, @irpinaingiro.bsky.social, , Heather Ruth Lee, and Anna Pegler-Gordon. Intro and essays linked below:

Ng Tung Yook Certificate of Birth. Ng Tung You Case File 18431/5-11, Arrival Investigation Case Files, Records of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85, National Archives and Records Administration—Pacific Region (San Francisco).

Modern American History@modamhist· Jun 29

New from our special issue on the U.S.'s 250th: "Making Protest Patriotic Again: The Peoples Bicentennial Commission and America’s 200th Anniversary in 1976" by M. Todd Bennett, which examines a New Left group founded in 1971 to provide an alternative to official celebrations of 1776.

Peoples Bicentennial Commission marchers near Boston’s Faneuil Hall, Dec. 16, 1973.
Source: Spencer Grant/Getty Images.

Modern American History@modamhist· Jun 26

New from our special issue on the U.S. 250th! "A Commemoration in Washington or a Commemoration for Washington? The Federal Government and the DC Bicentennial Assembly" by @mjrp.bsky.social. It examines DC Bicentennial Assembly's planning in the early 1970s and the Nixon administration’s response

Posters for the 1973 city celebration capture something of Washington as local planners envisioned it.
Source: Collection of Tony Sarmiento.

Modern American History@modamhist· Jun 24

On First View from our special issue on the U.S. 250th! "Thinning the Nation? The 1976 Bicentennial and the Politics of Revolutionary Memory in a Neoliberal Age" by @thomascryer.bsky.social, which considers commemorative occasions not as political sideshows but as key formative moments.

President Gerald Ford Boards the Michigan Wagon at the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage Encampment, July 4, 1976.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Modern American History@modamhist· May 25

Congratulations to @eladiobobadilla.com on his new book "Dangerous Migration: Mexican Labor and the Fight for Immigrant Rights." MAH featured him in our relaunch of Paul Kramer's “Power and Connection: Imperial Histories of the United States in the World." www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Cover of "Dangerous Migration: Mexican Labor and the Fight for Immigrant Rights," which shows armed soldiers and young men seated in front of them.

Modern American History@modamhist· May 12

Now up on First View! "'We All Won That Fight': U.S. Empire and Military Labor in the Battle of Guadalcanal" by Holger Droessler, which looks at how Solomon Islanders assisted Allied soldiers during WWII as construction workers, local scouts, & messengers. Read: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Sergeant-Major Jacob Vouza in United States Marine Corps Uniform. Guadalcanal, March 1943. Source: National archives (127-GW-911-52167-B).

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 30

Inside MAH's special issue: a Take Three on the presence of rivers in modern American history with analyses from Jon Coleman, Scot McFarlane, and Ellen Griffith Spears Links below!

Dredged Kankakee River, Wilson, Charles B.; Clark, H. Walton (chapter authors); Bowers, George M. (Commissioner) "The Mussel Fauna of the Kankakee Basin (Bureau of Fisheries Document No. 758)". Report of the Commissioner of Fisheries For the Fiscal Year 1911 and Special Papers, U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of Fisheries, 1913, p. 2.

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 29

Inside MAH's special issue: a Forum on Water and the Modern United States, featuring contributions from Martin V. Melosi, Joanna L. Dyl, David Stradling, Sarah R. Hamilton, and Maarten Zwiers All of these pieces demonstrate the importance of water in understanding US history Links below!

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, U.S. Route 51 between Mounds, Illinois, and Cairo, Illinois. River stage at Cairo, 52.8 feet. Source: Steve Nicklas, NOS, NGS, “The Floods of 1927 in the Mississippi Basin,” Frankenfeld, H.C., 1927 Monthly Weather Review Supplement No. 29, March 25, 1927.

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 25

Inside MAH's special issue: "War for the Water: The Environmental Origins of Conflict Between Shrimp Fishers and Vietnamese Refugees on the Texas Coast" by Thomas Blake Earle shows the role of marine ecology in conflicts between Texan white & Vietnamese fishers in the 1970s & 80s. Link below!

Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC, May 8, 2018

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 23

Inside MAH's special issue: "Afterlives of an American Waterscape: The Urban Ditch in the Long Twentieth Century" by Michael Holleran explores how nineteenth-century water supply systems in the U.S. West persisted into the twentieth century. Link below!

Arizona Canal at Scottsdale Waterfront, 2016. Photo by author.

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 23

Inside MAH's special issue: "Where the Dumps that Used to Be Ponds Used to Be: Urbanization and Waste in Providence, Rhode Island (United States)" by Samia W. Cohen explores how industrial waste management strategies continue to shape hydrological conditions today Link below!

Benedict and other West End ponds circa 1894. Source: USGS topographic maps, Providence 1894 (Survey Year 1887), 1894, Historical Topographic Map Collection (HTMC), 1894, https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/maps/topoview/viewer (accessed Aug. 20, 2025)

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 22

Announcement: We are now accepting submissions for the Fourth Annual Brooke L. Blower and Sarah T. Phillips Essay Prize. Ph.D. candidates and early-career contingent instructors are invited submit until June 15. Details below:

Essays may deal with any period or topic in the history of the post-1890 United States. The author of the winning essay will receive a cash prize of $500.00, and the essay itself will be published in Modern American History (MAH). Past winners, Syrus Solo Jin’s “‘Are You My Kimchi Mother?’ Race, Women, and the U.S. Military’s Study Abroad Training Program in the Early Cold War,” John Miles Branch’s “Union Exemption: Nonprofit Work and the Boundaries of the Commercial Economy, 1951–1976,” and Julia Brown-Bernstein’s “Bring ‘The Plant’ to Life: Imagining Community Revitalization in the Neoliberal Era,” have contributed to our understanding of modern U.S. history, and demonstrate the caliber of research this prize seeks to promote.
Essays, including footnotes, should be based on original research and analysis, with a total count of between 11,000 and 14,000 words (including footnotes). Submissions should be sent to MAH@cambridge.org with “2026 Essay Prize Entry” noted in the subject line. The author’s name, graduate program/home institution, brief bio, and abstract should appear in the body of the email. An anonymized .docx version of the essay should be attached.
Significance of the subject matter, significance of core claims, literary craftsmanship, and proficiency in the handling of primary and secondary sources are some of the factors that will be considered in judging the essays. The deadline for submitting an essay for consideration is June 15, 2026.
The final decision will be made by the Brooke L. Blower and Sarah T. Phillips Essay Prize Committee by September 30, 2026. Shortly thereafter, the executive editors of MAH will provide the winning author with details regarding the cash prize and publishing process. They will also notify runner-up authors with an honorable mention and the opportunity to submit their revised essays to MAH for consideration of future publication.

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 22

In the latest special issue of MAH, Sam Hege's photoarticle, "The Subterranean Sublime: Whiteness, Masculinity, and the Making of a Visual Politics of Groundwater," explores the effects of power and capital on groundwater through the history of the Ogallala Aquifer Link below!

“Dr. Bradford Knapp,” Winston Reeves studio photograph collection, 2.5.11.4.2, Southwest Collections, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX [SWC]

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 16

Are you attending OAH this year? Come join MAH on Saturday for a panel on "Animals in Modern American History" with Susan Nance, Thomas Andrews, @kclement.bsky.social, Tyler Parry, Andrea Ringer, and Dan Vandersommers. Links below to this fascinating forum!

“Male owner with German police dog,” July 1934, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, 42307.

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 15

In our special issue on A Water's History of the United States, a new Soapbox from guest editors Gaetano Di Tommaso and @dariofazzi.bsky.social makes the case for centering water in histories of the United States, arguing that water was a driving force in American history.

Men with teams working on dam project, NARA, ca. 1935. Wikimedia Commons

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 13

A special issue of Modern American History, A Water's History of the United States, with Roosevelt Institute for American Studies guest editors Gaetano Di Tommaso and @dariofazzi.bsky.social, is now live!

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 9

Up now on First View: Winner of of the 2025 Brooke L. Blower & Sarah T. Phillips Essay Prize "Are You My Kimchi Mother? Asian Officers, American Women, and Cold War Military Training" by @syrussolojin.bsky.social explores the role of military study abroad in US Cold War diplomacy Link below!

Japanese national police reserve officers in bayonet drill at Fort Benning. Source: Benning Herald, August 1953. Disclaimer: The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 3

Up now on First View: "Architects of the Administrative State: Public Administration in the Twentieth Century" by Casey Eilbert shows how public administration experts conceptualized the administrative state in different ways over the course of the 20th century. Link below!

Woodrow Wilson, President of Princeton, Research Library, 20th C. Fox, 1902-1910. Wikimedia Commons

Modern American History@modamhist· Apr 1

In our latest Q&A, MAH editorial board member Sarah A. Seo discusses the role of historians in interpreting history for a legal audience with Laura Edwards, Jennifer Mittelstadt, Samuel Erman, Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, Maggie Blackhawk, and Ned Blackhawk. Link below!

The Supreme Court of the United States, May 2019, Wikimedia Commons

Modern American History@modamhist· Mar 30

Up now on First View: "The Making of a Militarized War on Poverty: The Effort to Triangulate Military Service, Crime Prevention, and Social Citizenship through Project 100,000 and Project Transition" by @emiliecunning.bsky.social Link below!

"Secretary of State Dean Rusk, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara," NARA, February 1968.

Modern American History@modamhist· Mar 28

Up now on First View: "Where the Dumps that Used to Be Ponds Used to Be: Urbanization and Waste in Providence, Rhode Island (United States)" by Samia W. Cohen demonstrates how waste management strategies developed by Rhode Island officials shaped urban, and global, environments Link below!

Children scavenging in an unidentified Rhode Island dump. Source: Hine, Lewis Wickes, photographer. A dump in Rhode Island. Location: Rhode Island. United States Rhode Island, November 1912. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018677415/.

Modern American History@modamhist· Mar 27

As Women's History Month comes to a close, here is a thread of some of our most popular women's history articles!

Image from “Challenge or Be Challenged”: The Personal and Political Importance of Black Women's Golf Clubs.

Group photo of the Par-Links Golf Club (left-to-right, seated): Lavanda Scott, Velma Davis, Edna Dotson, Nadeen Willis, Cleo Dell Johnson, Ramona Mabel, Margaret Nell Wilson, Arjere Johnson, Ruth Beckford Chatmon, Jane McIntosh, Eola Paige, (left-to-right, standing) Doralee Petty, May Frances Reid, Juanita Wilson, and Doris Bruce. Par-Links Golf Club Scrapbook (MS 214) African American Museum and Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library, Oakland, CA.

Modern American History@modamhist· Mar 23

Up now on First View: "Phreaking Politics in Modern America" by @jacobbruggeman.bsky.social explores the changing political valence of activists' use of American technology systems to critique the state. Link below!

A wallet sized “Steal This Phone Card” from the 1970s/’80s.
Source: “Steal this phone card,” in AHP. Photo: camh-dob-035263_0001, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

Modern American History@modamhist· Mar 9

Up now on First View: @eyellin.bsky.social's "Broken Covenants: Jewish Memory and Racial Restrictive Covenants in Greater Washington" argues that Jewish experiences of restrictive covenants in mid-20th c. Washington, D.C. illustrate their specific encounters with discrimination. Link below!

Notice of the Tushins’ first home purchase.
Source: “New Residence in Massachusetts Avenue,“ Evening Star, December 7, 1935, B8.

Modern American History@modamhist· Feb 27

Inside Issue 8.3: Three takes on the 1935 National Labor Relations Act Links below!

Joe Piette, Amazon warehouse workers outside the National Labor Relations Board, October 25, 2021, New York, NY. Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

Modern American History@modamhist· Feb 25

Tim Bowman and Brent M. S. Campney show how growers in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas changed tactics in the 1980s from violence to a legal strategy of challenging unions' political power. Link below!

Farmworkers gather for a small rally during a 1966 march from San Juan, Texas, to the state capitol in Austin to protest their appalling working conditions. Courtesy Migrant Farm Workers Organizing Movement Collection, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Arlington, Texas.

Modern American History@modamhist· Feb 24

Inside Issue 8.3: Lorrin Thomas reframes our understanding of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke by restoring Latinos' place in the fight for affirmative action. Link below!

Shortly after the Supreme Court decided to hear the Bakke case, in February 1977, Voz Fronteriza (Voice of the Border), the Chicano student newspaper at UC San Diego, ran this front-page image of an anti-Bakke protest. The banner in the background reads, “El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido” (“The People United Will Never Be Defeated”). Voz Fronteriza newspaper, Rodolfo F. Acuña Collection, California State University, Northridge University Library, Special Collections and Archives, Northridge, CA.

Modern American History@modamhist· Feb 24

Ten scholars revisit Jon Butler’s 2004 Journal of American History article, “Jack-in-the-Box Faith: The Religion Problem in Modern American History,” evaluating how it inspired historians to embed religion in “mainstream” modern U.S. history, and its legacy amidst historiographical trends.