Bunk
@bunkhistory.bsky.social
Highlighting connections between American history stories from across the web.
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Visit us: https://www.bunkhistory.org/
Subscribe: https://www.bunkhistory.org/newsletter
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Partnered with @myhnn.bsky.social
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Bunk
@bunkhistory.bsky.social
· Jan 16
Best History Writing of 2025
The short-form history writing that moved, impressed, and taught our editors the most this year.
www.bunkhistory.org
It’s that time of year again, when we pick our favorite pieces of short-form history writing from the year just concluded. It’s never an easy task, and always entails some very tough decisions!
But without further ado, we present the 2025 Bunk Top 40:
www.bunkhistory.org/resources/be...
But without further ado, we present the 2025 Bunk Top 40:
www.bunkhistory.org/resources/be...
🗃️
For President Calvin Coolidge, the sesquicentennial was an opportunity to reassure Americans that the country’s work was done. www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/an-a...
An Appeal for Inaction
On the United States’ 150th birthday, Calvin Coolidge said that the country’s work was done. Not everyone agreed.
www.historynewsnetwork.org
February 17, 2026 at 3:18 PM
🗃️
From Bolívar to Bad Bunny, there is a long American history of emancipatory visions that transcend national borders. ⬇️ 🗃️
The Superbowl LX halftime show tapped into a 200-year old tradition of elevating hemisphere over nation in the struggle against imperial rule.
www.hnn.us/article/the-...
www.hnn.us/article/the-...
The Bad Bunny Doctrine
The Superbowl LX halftime show tapped into a 200-year old tradition of elevating hemisphere over nation in the struggle against imperial rule.
www.hnn.us
February 13, 2026 at 9:30 PM
From Bolívar to Bad Bunny, there is a long American history of emancipatory visions that transcend national borders. ⬇️ 🗃️
🗃️
It’s that time of year again, when we pick our favorite pieces of short-form history writing from the year just concluded. It’s never an easy task, and always entails some very tough decisions!
But without further ado, we present the 2025 Bunk Top 40:
www.bunkhistory.org/resources/be...
But without further ado, we present the 2025 Bunk Top 40:
www.bunkhistory.org/resources/be...
Best History Writing of 2025
The short-form history writing that moved, impressed, and taught our editors the most this year.
www.bunkhistory.org
January 20, 2026 at 2:38 PM
🗃️
It’s that time of year again, when we pick our favorite pieces of short-form history writing from the year just concluded. It’s never an easy task, and always entails some very tough decisions!
But without further ado, we present the 2025 Bunk Top 40:
www.bunkhistory.org/resources/be...
But without further ado, we present the 2025 Bunk Top 40:
www.bunkhistory.org/resources/be...
Best History Writing of 2025
The short-form history writing that moved, impressed, and taught our editors the most this year.
www.bunkhistory.org
January 16, 2026 at 7:02 PM
It’s that time of year again, when we pick our favorite pieces of short-form history writing from the year just concluded. It’s never an easy task, and always entails some very tough decisions!
But without further ado, we present the 2025 Bunk Top 40:
www.bunkhistory.org/resources/be...
But without further ado, we present the 2025 Bunk Top 40:
www.bunkhistory.org/resources/be...
Reposted by Bunk
🗃️Read Elizabeth R. Varon on why J.D. Vance is wrong about the Civil War, immigration, and “real” Americans. www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/elev...
Elevating the Few
What J.D. Vance excludes from the history of the Civil War and immigration.
www.historynewsnetwork.org
July 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
🗃️Read Elizabeth R. Varon on why J.D. Vance is wrong about the Civil War, immigration, and “real” Americans. www.historynewsnetwork.org/article/elev...
Wondering about the history of #Juneteenth and the way it has been commemorated through the years? Check out our collection of recent writing on the topic: www.bunkhistory.org/tags/ideas/j...
Juneteenth
Discover content from the Bunk archive related to “Juneteenth”.
www.bunkhistory.org
June 19, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Wondering about the history of #Juneteenth and the way it has been commemorated through the years? Check out our collection of recent writing on the topic: www.bunkhistory.org/tags/ideas/j...
Rutherford B. Hayes signed the Posse Comitatus Act #OTD in 1878, making it illegal for the president to deploy the military for domestic law enforcement. But as @gracemallon.bsky.social explained when Trump threatened to use troops against BLM protesters, the act left a big loophole: loom.ly/n1JVg14
President Trump Can Send the Military to Police Americans, but is Doing so Wise?
The history of using militarized force domestically.
loom.ly
June 18, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Rutherford B. Hayes signed the Posse Comitatus Act #OTD in 1878, making it illegal for the president to deploy the military for domestic law enforcement. But as @gracemallon.bsky.social explained when Trump threatened to use troops against BLM protesters, the act left a big loophole: loom.ly/n1JVg14
On the 10th anniversary of the Charleston massacre, revisit this reflection from @carolineegrego.bsky.social about how writing about people, alive and deceased, requires empathy and compels historians to "provide the context, the history, to inform a new ethics of empathy and grace." loom.ly/19EM_Vk
An Appeal for Grace
The white historian’s responsibility to radical empathy and refuting the “invented past”.
loom.ly
June 17, 2025 at 8:21 PM
On the 10th anniversary of the Charleston massacre, revisit this reflection from @carolineegrego.bsky.social about how writing about people, alive and deceased, requires empathy and compels historians to "provide the context, the history, to inform a new ethics of empathy and grace." loom.ly/19EM_Vk
Activist Jonathan Ned Katz shared his archival discoveries about the parallels between Black and gay history in the form of a play, "Coming Out!," that premiered #OTD in a West Village firehouse in 1972. @jimdowns.bsky.social traced the history of LGBT history @nehgov.bsky.social:
loom.ly/6bfUqq8
loom.ly/6bfUqq8
Writing Gay History
How the story itself came out.
loom.ly
June 16, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Activist Jonathan Ned Katz shared his archival discoveries about the parallels between Black and gay history in the form of a play, "Coming Out!," that premiered #OTD in a West Village firehouse in 1972. @jimdowns.bsky.social traced the history of LGBT history @nehgov.bsky.social:
loom.ly/6bfUqq8
loom.ly/6bfUqq8
The front page of @nytimes.com featured the Pentagon Papers #OTD in 1971, after a whistleblower and a cohort of antiwar activists leaked hundreds of pages of documents to the press to force government transparency. In 2018, one of them explained @newyorker.com how they did it: loom.ly/DOlj0-0
The Untold Story of the Pentagon Papers Co-Conspirators
A historian reveals the crucial role that he played in helping Daniel Ellsberg leak the documents to journalists.
loom.ly
June 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The front page of @nytimes.com featured the Pentagon Papers #OTD in 1971, after a whistleblower and a cohort of antiwar activists leaked hundreds of pages of documents to the press to force government transparency. In 2018, one of them explained @newyorker.com how they did it: loom.ly/DOlj0-0
After Medgar Evers was shot #OTD in 1964, "I remember hearing the word assassination used for the first time to describe the killing of a Black activist," David Dennis Sr. recalls in this powerful and personal excerpt from "The Movement Made Us" by @daviddennisjr.bsky.social: loom.ly/otHalXA
The Day The Civil-Rights Movement Changed
What my father saw in Mississippi.
loom.ly
June 13, 2025 at 3:22 AM
After Medgar Evers was shot #OTD in 1964, "I remember hearing the word assassination used for the first time to describe the killing of a Black activist," David Dennis Sr. recalls in this powerful and personal excerpt from "The Movement Made Us" by @daviddennisjr.bsky.social: loom.ly/otHalXA
Thích Quảng Đức set himself on fire #OTD in 1963 to protest the persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam. In the wake of Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation to protest the Gaza War, Anne Wright @commondreams.org reflected on using one's own death to call attention to the deaths of others. loom.ly/d6hASZk
Why Would Anyone Kill Themselves to Stop A War?
Two people in the US have recently taken or risked taking their own lives in an attempt to change US policies on Palestine and call for a cease-fire.
loom.ly
June 11, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Thích Quảng Đức set himself on fire #OTD in 1963 to protest the persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam. In the wake of Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation to protest the Gaza War, Anne Wright @commondreams.org reflected on using one's own death to call attention to the deaths of others. loom.ly/d6hASZk
After 75 days of attempted obstruction, the Senate voted to enact the Civil Rights Act #OTD in 1964. Roger Mudd's coverage of the process, Donald Ritchie reminds us, shows that by "hammering facts into the public mind until they can’t be ignored," media can push lawmakers to act: loom.ly/nCifeac
The Media Will Be Key to Overcoming a Senate Filibuster on Voting Rights
Roger Mudd proved in 1964 that media attention can help overcome Senate obstruction.
loom.ly
June 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
After 75 days of attempted obstruction, the Senate voted to enact the Civil Rights Act #OTD in 1964. Roger Mudd's coverage of the process, Donald Ritchie reminds us, shows that by "hammering facts into the public mind until they can’t be ignored," media can push lawmakers to act: loom.ly/nCifeac
Police tear gassed and beat 500 civil rights protestors praying inside a church ahead of a planned peaceful march in Tuscaloosa #OTD in 1964, as state officials claimed they were quelling a coup. John M. Giggie traced the activists' perseverance in the face of state violence here: loom.ly/OZ4_zwM
We Must Remember Tuscaloosa's 'Bloody Tuesday'
Black citizens fought for justice and were met with violence. They persevered.
loom.ly
June 9, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Police tear gassed and beat 500 civil rights protestors praying inside a church ahead of a planned peaceful march in Tuscaloosa #OTD in 1964, as state officials claimed they were quelling a coup. John M. Giggie traced the activists' perseverance in the face of state violence here: loom.ly/OZ4_zwM
The rain stopped in time for Babe Ruth to take the field and present the manuscript of his autobiography to Yale first-baseman George H. W. Bush #OTD in 1948. @ffrommer.bsky.social wrote about the poignant meeting, one of Ruth's last public appearances, for @washingtonpost.com: loom.ly/YS9lo5g
In Babe Ruth’s Final Steps on Public Stage, Two Brushes With History
Babe Ruth's final days revealed his mortality, and made more history, when he encountered a future U.S. president.
loom.ly
June 6, 2025 at 3:43 AM
The rain stopped in time for Babe Ruth to take the field and present the manuscript of his autobiography to Yale first-baseman George H. W. Bush #OTD in 1948. @ffrommer.bsky.social wrote about the poignant meeting, one of Ruth's last public appearances, for @washingtonpost.com: loom.ly/YS9lo5g
Sara Baines arrived in remote Fort Bridger, WY, #OTD in 1871 to marry a farmer twice her age who had responded to the ad she posted in Frank Leslie's Magazine. Did their relationship last? Find out about settling down and settling the west through personals ads @atlasobscura.com:
loom.ly/AWvyCXg
loom.ly/AWvyCXg
How Personal Ads Helped Conquer the American West
That tradition of finding partners in the face of social isolation persists today.
loom.ly
June 4, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Sara Baines arrived in remote Fort Bridger, WY, #OTD in 1871 to marry a farmer twice her age who had responded to the ad she posted in Frank Leslie's Magazine. Did their relationship last? Find out about settling down and settling the west through personals ads @atlasobscura.com:
loom.ly/AWvyCXg
loom.ly/AWvyCXg
At a press conference #OTD in 2007, George W. Bush requested a significant expansion of PEPFAR, a USAID program that went on to great success countering AIDS in Africa. In 2021, Emily Bass @literaryhub.bsky.social reflected on Bush's public health legacy at home and abroad: loom.ly/qmC99SM
How the Bush Administration Did More For AIDS in Africa Than At Home
Emily Bass on foreign aid and America's response to long-standing pandemics.
loom.ly
May 30, 2025 at 3:46 PM
At a press conference #OTD in 2007, George W. Bush requested a significant expansion of PEPFAR, a USAID program that went on to great success countering AIDS in Africa. In 2021, Emily Bass @literaryhub.bsky.social reflected on Bush's public health legacy at home and abroad: loom.ly/qmC99SM
Sojourner Truth never said the words "Ain't I a Woman" when she gave her famous "Ain't I a Woman" speech #OTD in 1851. Listen to a performance of the earliest printed text of the speech and read the story of how such a famous mis-quotation came about: loom.ly/Bdbe5zw
Compare the Two Versions of Sojourner Truth's “Ain’t I a Woman” Speech
Why is there more than one version of the famous 1851 speech?
loom.ly
May 29, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Sojourner Truth never said the words "Ain't I a Woman" when she gave her famous "Ain't I a Woman" speech #OTD in 1851. Listen to a performance of the earliest printed text of the speech and read the story of how such a famous mis-quotation came about: loom.ly/Bdbe5zw
A law enacted #OTD in 1908 gave county probate officials jurisdiction of American Indian "minors and incompetents." Andrea Seielstad @us.theconversation.com wrote about how Oklahoma officials immediately used the law to steal Osage land — especially where there was oil. loom.ly/Z2umBik
The Disturbing History of How Conservatorships Were Used to Exploit and Swindle Native Americans
The discovery of oil and gas made members of the Osage Nation among the richest people in the world. But it also made them targets for exploitation.
loom.ly
May 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM
A law enacted #OTD in 1908 gave county probate officials jurisdiction of American Indian "minors and incompetents." Andrea Seielstad @us.theconversation.com wrote about how Oklahoma officials immediately used the law to steal Osage land — especially where there was oil. loom.ly/Z2umBik
Reposted by Bunk
🗃️ Read our latest feature: @devintoshea.bsky.social on Henry Boernstein, and how the U.S. became a slightly freer country with a long way to go, in large part thanks to immigrants. www.hnn.us/article/henr...
German Radicals vs. the Slave Power
In Memoirs of a Nobody, Henry Boernstein chronicles the militant immigrant organizing that helped keep St. Louis out of the hands of the Confederacy.
www.hnn.us
May 21, 2025 at 8:01 PM
🗃️ Read our latest feature: @devintoshea.bsky.social on Henry Boernstein, and how the U.S. became a slightly freer country with a long way to go, in large part thanks to immigrants. www.hnn.us/article/henr...
LBJ announced his "Great Society" program in his commencement speech to the University of Michigan #OTD in 1964. As the GOP budget takes aim at many of the program's reforms, this @washingtonpost.com visualization reminds us of their legacy: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/speci...
Evaluating the success of the Great Society
Lyndon B. Johnson's visionary set of legislation turns 50
www.washingtonpost.com
May 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
LBJ announced his "Great Society" program in his commencement speech to the University of Michigan #OTD in 1964. As the GOP budget takes aim at many of the program's reforms, this @washingtonpost.com visualization reminds us of their legacy: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/speci...
Angry that William Mulholland was diverting water from their agricultural land to the growing city of Los Angeles, Owens Valley residents got his attention by blasting the aqueduct with 500lbs of dynamite #OTD in 1924. Read about the confrontation @literaryhub.bsky.social: loom.ly/rWIn0D0
The Water War That Polarized 1920s California
When a "scofflaw carnival" occupied the L.A. aqueduct.
loom.ly
May 21, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Angry that William Mulholland was diverting water from their agricultural land to the growing city of Los Angeles, Owens Valley residents got his attention by blasting the aqueduct with 500lbs of dynamite #OTD in 1924. Read about the confrontation @literaryhub.bsky.social: loom.ly/rWIn0D0
Union Carbide doctors misdiagnosed 18-yr-old West Virginia miner Dewey Flack's cause of death #OTD in 1931 as pneumonia. @adlancianese.bsky.social reported for @npr.org that this helped cover up 750+ silicosis deaths from one of the deadliest industrial disasters in US history. loom.ly/xp7U8bQ
Before Black Lung, the Hawks Nest Tunnel Disaster Killed Hundreds
A forgotten example of the dangers of silica, the toxic dust behind the modern black lung epidemic in Appalachia.
loom.ly
May 20, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Union Carbide doctors misdiagnosed 18-yr-old West Virginia miner Dewey Flack's cause of death #OTD in 1931 as pneumonia. @adlancianese.bsky.social reported for @npr.org that this helped cover up 750+ silicosis deaths from one of the deadliest industrial disasters in US history. loom.ly/xp7U8bQ
An undocumented worker was ordered deported #OTD in 1972 — "state-sponsored retaliation" for insisting his children have access to school, and that the Border Patrol stop using data collected by the federal Migrant Education Program to surveil and deport students' families. Story: loom.ly/p8dt7L0
The Origins of an Early School-to-Deportation Pipeline
Appeals to childhood innocence helped enshrine undocumented kids’ access to education. But this has also inadvertently reinforced criminalization.
loom.ly
May 19, 2025 at 7:49 PM
An undocumented worker was ordered deported #OTD in 1972 — "state-sponsored retaliation" for insisting his children have access to school, and that the Border Patrol stop using data collected by the federal Migrant Education Program to surveil and deport students' families. Story: loom.ly/p8dt7L0
Oh, say can you name,
what's the very first time
that the Star Spangled Banner
was played at a sports game???
Answer: the opening game of the Union Grounds in Brooklyn, #OTD in 1862. @usmusicscholar.bsky.social tells the story of the anthem in sports @us.theconversation.com:
loom.ly/Bi2VhbE
what's the very first time
that the Star Spangled Banner
was played at a sports game???
Answer: the opening game of the Union Grounds in Brooklyn, #OTD in 1862. @usmusicscholar.bsky.social tells the story of the anthem in sports @us.theconversation.com:
loom.ly/Bi2VhbE
The NFL, the National Anthem, and the Super Bowl
A brief history of their tangled saga of patriotism and dissent.
loom.ly
May 15, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Oh, say can you name,
what's the very first time
that the Star Spangled Banner
was played at a sports game???
Answer: the opening game of the Union Grounds in Brooklyn, #OTD in 1862. @usmusicscholar.bsky.social tells the story of the anthem in sports @us.theconversation.com:
loom.ly/Bi2VhbE
what's the very first time
that the Star Spangled Banner
was played at a sports game???
Answer: the opening game of the Union Grounds in Brooklyn, #OTD in 1862. @usmusicscholar.bsky.social tells the story of the anthem in sports @us.theconversation.com:
loom.ly/Bi2VhbE