In 1921, during the course of a news conference, President Warren G. Harding misinterpreted the provisions of one of the treaties then under consideration by delegates to the Washington Disarmament Conference. His error was corrected in a few hours, but this incident was blown out of proportion by those who were convinced that Harding was an inept…

New ways of relating the newspaper to the history of thought are discussed in this paper. It suggests that intellectual and media historians may approach the newspaper either institutionally, as a significant cultural variable in the reception of new thought, or as an analytic probe (both in content and form) by which to assess that process of…

In conducting research about U.S. homefront children during the Second World War, a professor of history wrote to the 100 largest-circulation newspapers in the United States as well as 75 African-American, Hispanic American, and Jewish-American newspapers and magazines seeking letters from people who experienced the War as children. More than…

This paper examines: (1) the extent to which recently published textbooks used in United States history survey courses reflect a revised view of the historical relationship between the Caribbean region and the United States; and (2) whether recent shifts in research emphases and methodological expansions in the field of American history have…

A review of the development of literacy in American national life provides both a picture of two centuries during which the strong association of literacy with mainstream cultural values was largely unexamined and unchallenged, and a realization that illiteracy is inextricably related to problems of discrimination and alienation in the workplace,…

The rhetoric surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy offers a unique testing ground for theories about the construction of knowledge in society. One dilemma, however, is the lack of academic theorizing about the assassination. The Kennedy assassination has been left almost exclusively in the hands of "nonhistorians," i.e.,…

The number of history reference works has proliferated at a tremendous rate in the past few decades. The effective use of these tools is one of the most important research skills of the historian. Bibliographies should be understood as more than just books that list books. The design and workings of these tools are meant to influence search…

Describes changes in historical research and historiography during the past 25 years. Contends that the inclusion of women, minority groups, and average citizens into U.S. history has enriched the concept of the United States. Concludes that multiculturalism has always existed in the United States; it was just not recognized. (CFR)

Although Frederic Hudson's "Journalism History in the United States from 1690 to 1872," the first major survey of American journalism, has been a major reference since its publication in 1873, an examination of book reviews that appeared in the New York press following the book's publication reveals surprisingly sharp criticisms of the…

This study examined the content of newspapers from six geographic regions of the United States during three time periods preceding the Civil War (1820 to 1835, 1836 to 1846, and 1847 to 1860). The news articles were coded in nine general categories and rank-ordered for each region. Results indicate that quite similar news sources and news values…

Identifies three forms of racism in American historiography and literature: (1) outright anti-Black bias; (2) ignorance of Black accomplishments and the Black experience; and (3) Eurocentric "universalism," a euphemism for the refusal to discuss race and the particularities of Black history and culture. Also discusses mainstream scholars'…

An American historian writing about the experiences of American homefront children during the Second World War sought to add authenticity to his book by including in it the personal stories of people who had been children during the war, told in their own words. The writer's letter of appeal, published in about 100 U.S. newspapers and about 75…

Throughout history there have always been confusion and even contradictions concerning professionalism. An occupation can be considered a profession in one country and not another, and in one historical period and not another. One contribution to this confusion is the explanation of the social system by Talcott Parsons and others, which has framed…

Although the suppression in 1917 of "The Masses," an influential Socialist magazine, has been depicted as an American tragedy, such a narrow interpretation ignores the bizarre, confused, often comic developments and episodes that attended the magazine's end. A reexamination of the demise of "The Masses" has been made to show…

This paper discusses the impact of World War II on the lives of U.S. home-front children--that is, the boys and girls born between 1933 and 1945 who were children during the war and were still preadolescents when the war ended. The paper proceeds by discussing, first, the topical approach to the subject used in this essay; second, the ways in…