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commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
Commonplace: the journal of early American life
@commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
1K followers 840 following 47 posts
Commonplace: the journal of early American life since 2000. Published by a partnership of the OIEAHC and AAS. Commonplace.online
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commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
ICYMI: Cotton Mather's birthday is the perfect occasion to review our latest essay @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social!
February 12, 2026 at 2:18 PM
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csgreer.bsky.social
New article for #MenstruationMonday out of @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social!
commonplace.online/article/padd...
Padding Out History: Menstrual Management in the Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century United States - Commonplace
Innovations in menstrual technology that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century allow us to infer what techniques women used to manage their periods in earlier decades by analyzing...
commonplace.online
February 9, 2026 at 9:19 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
NEW on Commonplace: You may be familiar with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but have you heard of Dr. William Griggs? Benjamin Ray examines Griggs's medical context and the role the physician played in setting off the famous witch panic.
commonplace.online/article/the-...
The Medical Doctor Who Triggered the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 - Commonplace
There is little historical information about Dr. Griggs, but what little there is, is significant. Also important are historians’ assessments of his medical competence and moral character.
commonplace.online
February 3, 2026 at 3:25 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
NEW on Commonplace:
A historical novel imagines the world of self-taught composer, leather tanner, and Boston Whig, William Billings. In his essay for Commonplace, David Stowe explores the life and works of the man who inspired his most recent writing ventures.
commonplace.online/article/writ...
Writing William Billings - Commonplace
When historical details are nonexistent, make them up. Not usually considered sound advice to historians, granted, but possibly warranted under these circumstances.
commonplace.online
January 27, 2026 at 4:55 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
BOOK REVIEW: In a new book review for Commonplace, Yita Khanin reviews the latest monograph from religious scholar Matthew Tuininga, "The Wars of the Lord," revisiting the historiography of Puritan wars against Indigenous people in New England. commonplace.online/article/atte...
Attempting to Merge Narratives: An Alternative History of Puritan-Native Relations - Commonplace
Review Puritans Native Americans Praying Towns
commonplace.online
December 5, 2025 at 7:26 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
NEW on Commonplace: In her latest essay, Caroline Greer writes on the history of menstrual care in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century United States with a particular consideration of the collections at the Valentine Museum in Richmond, Virginia. commonplace.online/article/padd...
Padding Out History: Menstrual Management in the Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century United States - Commonplace
Innovations in menstrual technology that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century allow us to infer what techniques women used to manage their periods in earlier decades by analyzing...
commonplace.online
November 19, 2025 at 5:07 PM
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katytelling.bsky.social
We have a NEW essay over @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social all about Halloween tourism and where witches are (and are not) in modern-day Salem. Courtesy of Carla Pestana!
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social Commonplace: the journal of early American life @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social · Nov 4
NEW on Commonplace: Halloween may be over but the time is always right to talk about historic memory! In a new essay, historian Carla Pestana searches for the witches in witch city and considers what is lost when history and Halloween tourism collide: commonplace.online/article/sale...
Salem's Absent Witches - Commonplace
Such modest allusions to the colonial past were in the decided minority, however, swamped by the more generic Halloween ambience of the event.
commonplace.online
November 4, 2025 at 8:17 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
NEW on Commonplace: Halloween may be over but the time is always right to talk about historic memory! In a new essay, historian Carla Pestana searches for the witches in witch city and considers what is lost when history and Halloween tourism collide: commonplace.online/article/sale...
Salem's Absent Witches - Commonplace
Such modest allusions to the colonial past were in the decided minority, however, swamped by the more generic Halloween ambience of the event.
commonplace.online
November 4, 2025 at 8:15 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
Poet, editor, and author of all things terrifying and macabre, Edgar Allan Poe is perhaps the perfect author to revisit in the lead up to Halloween. So on this All Hallow's Eve Eve, we present Edgar Allan Poe...the mollusk specialist? From James D. Lilley in 2022: commonplace.online/article/edga...
Edgar Allan Poe: Pioneering Mollusk Scientist - Commonplace
Poe’s work reminds us that the separation of “Arts” and “Sciences” into discrete discourses of knowledge is itself a quite recent invention.
commonplace.online
October 30, 2025 at 7:31 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
NEW on Commonplace: Think you know the full story of Eli Whitney's role in the road leading to the Civil War? Think again. Get the full story in Ariel Ron's latest essay for Commonplace:

commonplace.online/article/how-...
How Eli Whitney Single-handedly Started the Civil War . . . and Why That’s Not True - Commonplace
The real Whitney story is less grand than the legend, but more interesting and, ultimately, more edifying.
commonplace.online
October 15, 2025 at 2:00 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
Need some teaching inspiration for this Constitution Day? Check out Katlyn Marie Carter's 2024 essay on teaching the Constitutional Convention through the strategic silences and gaps in the historic record:
commonplace.online/article/gaps...
Gaps in the Record: Teaching with the Constitutional Convention - Commonplace
Too often, historians turn to records of constituent or legislative deliberations from the eighteenth century as a source to draw quotations from early American political figures, without questioning ...
commonplace.online
September 17, 2025 at 7:53 PM
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katytelling.bsky.social
We have a brand new essay @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social today! Jordan Smith writes on his forthcoming history of rum and responds to the question "where all the pirates???"
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social Commonplace: the journal of early American life @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social · Sep 16
NEW on Commonplace: Jordan Smith asks and answers "where've all the pirates gone?" Check out the latest from Commonplace to learn more about the reasons for this piratical absence in Smith's forthcoming book "The Invention of Rum." commonplace.online/article/wher...
Where’s the Pirate? Or, why I wrote a history of rum with only a few pirates in it - Commonplace
Over time, the history of what was consumed in those taverns became more interesting to me than a rather limited subset of drinkers.
commonplace.online
September 16, 2025 at 7:44 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
NEW on Commonplace: Jordan Smith asks and answers "where've all the pirates gone?" Check out the latest from Commonplace to learn more about the reasons for this piratical absence in Smith's forthcoming book "The Invention of Rum." commonplace.online/article/wher...
Where’s the Pirate? Or, why I wrote a history of rum with only a few pirates in it - Commonplace
Over time, the history of what was consumed in those taverns became more interesting to me than a rather limited subset of drinkers.
commonplace.online
September 16, 2025 at 7:36 PM
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scottsandage.bsky.social
Tis the season to make plans to reclaim and cherish your book-life balance! See my 10-step handout “How to Read a Book” @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social

#skystorians #gradstudents
#howtoreadabook #bibliophiles #selfcare

commonplace.online/article/how-...
How to Read a Book: The X-Ray Method for Achieving a Sustainable “Book-Life Balance” - Commonplace
This is why you need a plan: to read attentively but efficiently, and sustainably, without surrendering your book-life balance.
commonplace.online
August 22, 2025 at 12:51 PM
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joshrgreenberg.bsky.social
I see more Bluesky discussion, so here is some @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social data (I am the editor). In the past month Bluesky ranked third on how people came to Commonplace.online (twitter was not in top ten). Same month two years ago, Twitter ranked third, but with fewer than half the referrals.
Commonplace
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Commonplace.online
September 2, 2025 at 4:10 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
Headed to Providence for #SHEAR2025???
joshrgreenberg.bsky.social Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · Jul 16
On my way to Providence for #SHEAR2025. Let me know if you will be there and want to pitch a piece or learn more about Commonplace @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social.
July 17, 2025 at 11:30 AM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
Headed to #SHEAR2025? Let's connect!
joshrgreenberg.bsky.social Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · Jul 15
Are you heading to Providence for #SHEAR2025? Are you interesting in pitching a piece to Commonplace (@commonplacejrnl.bsky.social) or learning about submitting? Please reach out to me and let's try to chat at the conference.

More info in our house style sheet:🗃️ commonplace.online/article/comm...
Commonplace Style Sheet - Commonplace
Commonplace Style Sheet
commonplace.online
July 15, 2025 at 5:43 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
NEW on Commonplace: A reflection on the work of family history and the stakes involved in facing your family's past. Lisa Roney shares an essay and original poems excavating her family's Confederate forbearer and the corrective potential of genealogical work. commonplace.online/article/hot-...
Hot Tennessee Sun - Commonplace
Silence is never something I manage very well.
commonplace.online
July 15, 2025 at 5:42 PM
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bfworld.bsky.social
What’s the most asked question about the Declaration of Independence?

Emily Sneff has heard them all—and answers some of yours in our latest episode.

📜 Myths, manuscripts, missing minutes—it’s all here.

#USHistory #History #America250 #Rev250 #July4th

🎧 www.benfranklinsworld.com/415
July 4, 2025 at 8:34 PM
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commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
Looking to read some history this fourth of July? Commonplace has you covered. We start with a 2016 piece from Jessica Lepler, all about Exeter's annual American Independence Festival...celebrated on July 16! commonplace.online/article/vol-...
Exeter’s Declaration of Independence: A Festival, a Broadside, and a Lesson in Public History - Commonplace
It turns out that, in legal terms, the mystery of who found the broadside matters a lot less than who lost it.
commonplace.online
July 4, 2025 at 11:56 AM
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katytelling.bsky.social
I'll be adding to this thread throughout the day, but here's just a smidgen of Revolutionary content from the @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social archives. If you don't know what to do today--if you don't know what to do WITH today--here's some history to keep you company.
July 4, 2025 at 12:29 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
Looking to read some history this fourth of July? Commonplace has you covered. We start with a 2016 piece from Jessica Lepler, all about Exeter's annual American Independence Festival...celebrated on July 16! commonplace.online/article/vol-...
Exeter’s Declaration of Independence: A Festival, a Broadside, and a Lesson in Public History - Commonplace
It turns out that, in legal terms, the mystery of who found the broadside matters a lot less than who lost it.
commonplace.online
July 4, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Commonplace: the journal of early American life
katytelling.bsky.social
NEW @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social, Jayne Ptolemy shares a fascinating essay on unexpected archival discoveries and the crucial details they provide on the life of William Ansah Sessarakoo.
June 18, 2025 at 2:29 PM
commonplacejrnl.bsky.social
NEW on Commonplace: Jayne Ptolemy explores an unexpected bundle of documents in the Charles Townshend Papers and the insights they share on the life of William Ansah Sessarakoo. commonplace.online/article/the-...
The Record Scratch: Uncovering Documents Relating to William Ansah Sessarakoo - Commonplace
Because as it turns out, as much as this clutch of papers is about a specific story of Atlantic slavery it still absolutely relates to British finance and national politics.
commonplace.online
June 18, 2025 at 2:27 PM
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joshrgreenberg.bsky.social
OTD in 1851, Uncle Tom's Cabin's first installment appeared in The National Era. Here are six @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social articles about Harriet Beecher Stowe's work. Patricia Jane Roylance explored how a 19th century jigsaw puzzle jumbled Stowe's story: (1/6) 🗃️

commonplace.online/article/uncl...
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Jigsaw Puzzle: Jumbling the Pieces of Stowe’s Story - Commonplace
Understanding puzzles as agents of disorder runs counter to a common interpretation that associates puzzles with the quest for and ultimate affirmation of order.
commonplace.online
June 5, 2025 at 6:55 PM