Whit
@drwhit.bsky.social
Historian. Currently working in history education advocacy. Constantly searching for metaphors. Adaptation requires hope. Also @drwhit@historians.social.
Pinned
Whit
@drwhit.bsky.social
· Nov 15
Today, the AHA published a major report with findings from the most comprehensive study of secondary US history education undertaken in the 21st century. The AHA did not find indoctrination, politicization, or classroom malpractice. (1/10) www.historians.org/teaching-lea... 🗃️
American Lesson Plan | American Historical Association
American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools reports on insights gathered during a two-year exploration of secondary US history education.
www.historians.org
For folks mining the reposts for info: I’m one of the authors on this report, and I’m happy to talk about our findings in depth with teachers and other history education advocates!
Good morning! Texas is revising its K-12 social studies standards (TEKS) for 5.5 million kids, & the State Board of Education (SBOE) is meeting today to discuss their progress today. I will be live-tweeting (posting?) about anything that concerns social studies. Follow this thread for updates!
November 19, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Good morning! Texas is revising its K-12 social studies standards (TEKS) for 5.5 million kids, & the State Board of Education (SBOE) is meeting today to discuss their progress today. I will be live-tweeting (posting?) about anything that concerns social studies. Follow this thread for updates!
Reposted by Whit
Loved working on this piece with @drwhit.bsky.social!
In #AHAPerspectives, program and data analyst Whitney E. Barringer took stock of her relationship with primary sources on a trip to Puerto Rico on behalf of the AHA's partnership with the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program. 🗃️
Insights from the Road – AHA
Whitney E. Barringer traveled to Puerto Rico on behalf of the AHA's partnership with the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program.
www.historians.org
September 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Loved working on this piece with @drwhit.bsky.social!
Reposted by Whit
@acls1919.bsky.social, the AHA, & @modernlanguage.bsky.social filed a lawsuit in federal district court today, seeking to reverse the recent actions of the NEH to devastate the agency, including the elimination of grant programs, staff, and entire divisions and programs. 🗃️
American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association File Lawsuit Alleging Illegal Dismantling of National Endowment for the Humanities - AHA
Lawsuit aims to reinstate NEH grant programs, divisions, and staff. For Immediate Release / May 1, 2025 (New York, NY) — The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the American Historical Assoc...
www.historians.org
May 1, 2025 at 7:28 PM
@acls1919.bsky.social, the AHA, & @modernlanguage.bsky.social filed a lawsuit in federal district court today, seeking to reverse the recent actions of the NEH to devastate the agency, including the elimination of grant programs, staff, and entire divisions and programs. 🗃️
Reposted by Whit
It’s so weird how we’re all just working like this is still a normal country.
March 31, 2025 at 9:25 PM
It’s so weird how we’re all just working like this is still a normal country.
Reposted by Whit
Totally agree with this. Flying a person to a third country that they may never have been to, directly into a prison where they are going to be forced to do hard labor, is not a deportation; it's something else entirely.
@washingtonpost.com They were not DEPORTED. Deported means sending them back to their country of origin. These people were sent to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, without any due process or any analysis as to whether they feared harm in El Salvador!
In America, EVERYONE has a RIGHT to due process - regardless of immigration status. It’s fundamental to our Constitution.
Deporting hundreds of people in secret by invoking a wartime proclamation is a blatant abuse of power by President Trump.
Deporting hundreds of people in secret by invoking a wartime proclamation is a blatant abuse of power by President Trump.
March 18, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Totally agree with this. Flying a person to a third country that they may never have been to, directly into a prison where they are going to be forced to do hard labor, is not a deportation; it's something else entirely.
If you've tried accessing federal databases and have noticed anything limiting, missing, etc., tell these folks. And if you use federal databases, they're folks to follow on the status of those.
Do you have information on the health of the federal statistical agencies, or want to follow updates? Please visit this webpage, contribute information, & spread the word on this effort to help ensure the availability, credibility, & objectivity of federal statistics.
www.amstat.org/the-nations-...
www.amstat.org/the-nations-...
The Nation's Data at Risk Year Two - Ongoing Monitoring
The American Statistical Association is the world’s largest community of statisticians, the “Big Tent for Statistics.
www.amstat.org
March 1, 2025 at 2:24 PM
If you've tried accessing federal databases and have noticed anything limiting, missing, etc., tell these folks. And if you use federal databases, they're folks to follow on the status of those.
Reposted by Whit
Do you have information on the health of the federal statistical agencies, or want to follow updates? Please visit this webpage, contribute information, & spread the word on this effort to help ensure the availability, credibility, & objectivity of federal statistics.
www.amstat.org/the-nations-...
www.amstat.org/the-nations-...
The Nation's Data at Risk Year Two - Ongoing Monitoring
The American Statistical Association is the world’s largest community of statisticians, the “Big Tent for Statistics.
www.amstat.org
February 26, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Do you have information on the health of the federal statistical agencies, or want to follow updates? Please visit this webpage, contribute information, & spread the word on this effort to help ensure the availability, credibility, & objectivity of federal statistics.
www.amstat.org/the-nations-...
www.amstat.org/the-nations-...
I’ve been playing Fallout 4 and have been surprised at how comforting it is to be POST-apocalyptic. Nice to be reminded that 1) there IS an after and 2) people will continue to live.
March 1, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I’ve been playing Fallout 4 and have been surprised at how comforting it is to be POST-apocalyptic. Nice to be reminded that 1) there IS an after and 2) people will continue to live.
When it comes to written arguments, you have to choose your battles with people who respect the rules of combat. If you’re writing for people who read anything & everything you didn’t say into what you’re saying, you’re not going to win them over that way. Spend your time where it’s valuable.
February 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
When it comes to written arguments, you have to choose your battles with people who respect the rules of combat. If you’re writing for people who read anything & everything you didn’t say into what you’re saying, you’re not going to win them over that way. Spend your time where it’s valuable.
Was Homer calling a cat?
February 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Was Homer calling a cat?
Painful.
a good example of how the world is getting dumber. the new politico playbook writer didn't know who FDR was until a reader told him about that whole "new deal" thing. this newsletter is read by every important person in DC.
February 18, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Painful.
Reposted by Whit
The AHA & the @oah.org have released a joint statement on the presidential executive order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling.” “We reject the premise that it is ‘anti-American’ or ‘subversive’ to learn the full history of the United States.” 🗃️
AHA–OAH Statement on Executive Order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling”
The American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians (OAH) have released a joint statement on the presidential executive order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooli...
www.historians.org
February 5, 2025 at 7:09 PM
The AHA & the @oah.org have released a joint statement on the presidential executive order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling.” “We reject the premise that it is ‘anti-American’ or ‘subversive’ to learn the full history of the United States.” 🗃️
AI bots are using social media going to make these people seem more supported than they are. They plan to “staff” the government with AI, which is preposterous. Stop using it. Stop engaging with it. Using AI has always been a political act, but now it directly supports this takeover. Refuse it.
February 5, 2025 at 1:29 PM
AI bots are using social media going to make these people seem more supported than they are. They plan to “staff” the government with AI, which is preposterous. Stop using it. Stop engaging with it. Using AI has always been a political act, but now it directly supports this takeover. Refuse it.
What’s the opposite of “no reason in particular”? “All reasons concievable”? Anyway, here’s Umberto Eco’s “Ur-Fascism.” www.nybooks.com/articles/199...
Ur-Fascism | Umberto Eco
I think it is possible to outline a list of features that are typical of what I would like to call Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism. These features cannot be organized into a system; many of them contra...
www.nybooks.com
February 4, 2025 at 4:29 PM
What’s the opposite of “no reason in particular”? “All reasons concievable”? Anyway, here’s Umberto Eco’s “Ur-Fascism.” www.nybooks.com/articles/199...
Kinda wild that of all the timelines, we ended up in the prequel to Looper.
February 4, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Kinda wild that of all the timelines, we ended up in the prequel to Looper.
r/askhistorians on previous times we have deported US citizens. www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
During the 1930s, President Hoover had ~1 million Mexican Americans forcibly "repatriated" to Mexico; ~60% of those deported were birthright citizens. What impact did this have on America?
www.reddit.com
February 4, 2025 at 3:39 PM
r/askhistorians on previous times we have deported US citizens. www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
What has been done to government workers, just as employees, is the corporate sensibility the iconoclasts are bringing to the mix. All the evidence you need for why labor rights - putting rails around what is acceptable treatment by our bosses - is ultimately a *constitutional* safeguard.
February 4, 2025 at 2:52 PM
What has been done to government workers, just as employees, is the corporate sensibility the iconoclasts are bringing to the mix. All the evidence you need for why labor rights - putting rails around what is acceptable treatment by our bosses - is ultimately a *constitutional* safeguard.
The mood in the WFH office this morning.
January 29, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The mood in the WFH office this morning.
Reposted by Whit
ME: *writing in my journal with the sole aim of pissing off future historians and archaeologists* I returned to my home - which is built in the usual style - by the normal way, and prepared and ate dinner in the way I often but not always do
January 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
ME: *writing in my journal with the sole aim of pissing off future historians and archaeologists* I returned to my home - which is built in the usual style - by the normal way, and prepared and ate dinner in the way I often but not always do
Reposted by Whit
Honor his memory by doing something strange, unraveling a riddle within yourself, and working on your favorite projects.
January 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Honor his memory by doing something strange, unraveling a riddle within yourself, and working on your favorite projects.
My favorite line in the OG series.
January 16, 2025 at 7:05 PM
My favorite line in the OG series.
Reposted by Whit
Reposted by Whit
RIP David Lynch. Truly sad to say goodbye. What a truly American filmmaker, and what a true artist.
January 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
RIP David Lynch. Truly sad to say goodbye. What a truly American filmmaker, and what a true artist.