Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Historical Insights”
By Scott Vierick, Historian In 1776, General George Washington and the Continental Army faced a threat even greater than the British Army: a continent-wide smallpox epidemic. From 1775 to 1782, a major outbreak of the disease ravaged North America, causing …
By Katie McCarthy, American University Public History Fellow Today is the 40th anniversary of the founding of the National Council of Public History (NCPH). HAI is just a year younger—we will turn 40 in 2021. In honor of this milestone, …
The History and Use of the Defense Production Act: Part 2 Part 1 of this blog explores the historical context of the passage of the Defense Production Act. Read it here. President Harry S. Truman signed the Defense Production Act …
To fully understand the current relevance and application of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency, it helps to remember the two extraordinary wartime crises faced by Americans in the space of 10 …
By Jen Giambrone, Historian The COVID-19 pandemic has me thinking—like a lot of people—about 1918. The influenza pandemic that swept the globe that year struck at a particularly vulnerable moment. Soldiers from all corners of the globe crammed into filthy …
By Justin Broubalow, Research Historian Orders to “quarantine,” “stay at home,” or “shelter in place” issued on a state-by-state basis in the past few weeks feel unprecedented. It is difficult to recall a time of such restriction on personal movement. …
By Emily Sullivan, Historian Is your grocery store missing your usual staples? Do you have kids at home who love cooking or history? This could be an opportunity to learn about how people of the past fed their families during …
By Emily Sullivan, Historian Happy National Pet Day! Has your furry, feathered, or scaly friend enjoyed having its humans at home more than ever? While this may be a new arrangement at your home, throughout history, pets have roamed the …
By Colleen Kim, Historian In the few short weeks since the coronavirus outbreak began, social distancing and lockdown measures have changed the way many Americans shop for food. This pandemic is revealing the extent to which American shopping and eating …
By Mimi Eisen, Historian In a matter of a few short weeks, individuals worldwide have come to face the gravity of a pandemic of a respiratory disease caused by the person-to-person spread of a novel (new) coronavirus. The disease, COVID-19, …
By Janet Holsinger, Senior Historian After I moved away from the Washington, D.C., area where HAI is based five years ago, I began working remotely. An advantage? I am much more efficient than I ever was while working in the …
By Scott Vierick, Historian Alexis C. Madrigal’s article for The Atlantic, “The Way We Write History Has Changed,” is a timely reminder that historical methods have evolved considerably since HAI’s inception in 1981. The rise of digital technology has provided historians …
