Jordan E. Taylor
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publiusorperish.bsky.social
Jordan E. Taylor
@publiusorperish.bsky.social
Historian of the American Revolution, news, politics, etc. Author of Misinformation Nation.

Manager of Digital Content for Colonial Williamsburg. Views here are my own.

Used to be more into social media. Now trying to enjoy the quiet.

jordanetaylor.com
Today is the 250th anniversary of the signing of Dunmore’s Proclamation.

Some of my amazing colleagues at CW have told a powerful story set in that historical moment.

I highly recommend it.

youtu.be/l5OYpv1HSOk?...
Promise of Freedom: A Story of Dunmore's Proclamation
YouTube video by Colonial Williamsburg
youtu.be
November 7, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.
CFP: A Time of Monsters
The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...
contingentmagazine.org
October 5, 2025 at 9:41 PM
thrilled to announced that a LinkedIn scambot has selected me to be featured in "Influential Women Magazine."

tempted to let them scam me just to see what happens...
July 12, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
The OAH strongly endorses the National Humanities Alliance’s statement opposing the proposed cuts to the NEH. These cuts threaten critical funding for historical research, education, and public programs that connect communities to their past.
ow.ly/Wz0b50VtxIv
NHA Statement on Threats to the NEH – National Humanities Alliance
ow.ly
April 2, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
SHEAR offers fellowships to scholars examining African diasporic, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian American, and/or Pacific Island history from 1776 to 1861. Scholars from underrepresented backgrounds, early career, contingent faculty encouraged to apply.

shear.org/about-us/she...
SHEAR DEI Research Fellowships – SHEAR
shear.org
April 1, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
So pleased to see people registering for my upcoming series of virtual workshops on the history of the #DeclarationofIndependence for #America250 planning. Please spread the word!

Register 👉 www.declarationstories.org/workshops
Virtual Workshops for the 250th — Declaration Stories
Join Dr. Emily Sneff to learn the history of the Declaration of Independence before the 250th anniversary in 2026
www.declarationstories.org
March 24, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
I’ve been thinking about media literacy a lot. I think about how it has always been a problem in early America and the new United States and about how it is a problem today.

I also think about how a lack of media literacy and expertise pervades our digital tools and publishing systems.
March 4, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Despite getting a Ph.D. in early American history, James (La) Fayette's story passed me by. I only learned it after coming to work for Colonial Williamsburg. Here's a video I got to work on. I think every American ought to know his story.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSoO...
5 Things You Should Know About James Armistead Lafayette
YouTube video by Colonial Williamsburg
www.youtube.com
February 28, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, Vast Early America. Excited to be here.
a sunset sky with a lot of clouds
Alt: Dawn of a new day
media.tenor.com
February 21, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
"If history has its eyes on journalism, it feels like a death stare....fact-checking...holds the line on reality for history’s sake." In other words, we need the full complement of expertise inc copyediting and fact checking in journalism *and scholarly publishing.* niemanreports.org/fact-checkin...
The Case for Facts - Nieman Reports
Verifiable evidence remains journalism’s foundation, despite mounting attacks on the press. Story by Angie Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network.
niemanreports.org
February 12, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
I’m putting together the latest History Behind the Headlines newsletter. This week the focus is the origin of the Executive Order.

I’m being very careful to vet and verify internet sources. Fortunately, this article was written by @lmchervinsky.bsky.social so I know it is accurate.
The Executive Order: A History of Its Rise and Slow Decline
President George Washington was the first to issue proclamations or executive orders. Their use peaked under Franklin Roosevelt, but they have been used fewer times in recent presidencies. Will Biden ...
www.governing.com
February 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
Took a social media break, which lingered for 2-3 business years. I'm delighted to rejoin the land of the digital and hear about all the history things y'all are up to! If you need editing, fact-checking, or transcription services to help make your media clear, accurate, & accessible, let’s talk.
February 7, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
Just put on Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Time to take a big sip of coffee and check the news.
January 26, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
1 JANUARY 1775, BOSTON: This account echoes merchant John Andrews “With wishing you a happy new year. … I must add my wishes that we may have a less troublesome year than the last, and that Great Britain may see her error in distressing the Colonies,
January 1, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
We have one last piece up this year at Commonplace. Isaac Kolding tells the tough, relentless and often disappointing work of activism in a story about David Ruggles and his resistance to a Portuguese slave ship docked in NYC:🗃️ commonplace.online/article/the-...
The Tedious Heroism of David Ruggles - Commonplace
History also changes because of strange, flawed, deeply human people doing unremarkable, tedious, and often boring work.
commonplace.online
December 24, 2024 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
The AHA seeks to collect information about the working conditions of historians employed as contingent faculty. We hope the survey results will empower faculty to engage in evidence-based negotiations about their working conditions. 🗃️
AHA Surveys: Historians Teaching Off the Tenure Track - AHA
Goals of the Surveys The Professional Division of the American Historical Association seeks to collect and collate information about the working conditions of historians employed as contingent faculty...
www.historians.org
December 20, 2024 at 3:51 PM
It’s not my favorite part of working at Colonial Williamsburg, but seeing this sign every time I go to the bathroom is up there.
December 20, 2024 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
spent this afternoon reading some early US history (as one does) and was reminded of the important fact that these people were almost constantly drunk as hell
December 18, 2024 at 1:33 AM
My review of Katlyn Carter's wonderful Democracy in Darkness is out! academic.oup.com/jah/article-...
Democracy in Darkness: Secrecy and Transparency in the Age of Revolutions
One of the paradoxes of representative government is that it needs transparency for legitimacy, but secrecy to govern. In her important book Democracy in D
academic.oup.com
December 15, 2024 at 10:58 PM
Sharing some professional news:

I've sadly stepped away from my role as Production Editor of @commonplacejrnl.bsky.social. With my new job at CW, and my rambunctious two-year-old, I just couldn't balance everything anymore.
December 10, 2024 at 11:55 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
I’ve got a very preliminary Media History going:

go.bsky.app/EzAZ2Hh
November 19, 2024 at 10:05 PM
As a teenager, I read Ron Chernow’s bio of Hamilton on vacation in Florida. Lin-Manuel Miranda and I did very different things with that experience.
Dear fellow historians: I recently asked my undergraduate students what sparked their interest in studying history. Two of them mentioned the film Titanic! Now I'm curious (and will let them know): What sparked your interest in studying #history?
November 19, 2024 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
November 19, 2024 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Jordan E. Taylor
Time for an #Introduction: I'm a historian by training, librarian by profession, #DH in practice, specializing in #GIS and #podcasting. I'm a cycling and transit enthusiast. I love cities and I love hinterland. Only recently learned about #solarpunk but it describes my politics pretty perfectly. ✊
November 17, 2024 at 12:22 AM
at 1k followers, guess it's time to explain who I am.

I study early American media. I wrote a book about false news in revolutionary America called _Misinformation Nation_. I'm writing another about truth and the "Founders," understood broadly.
November 16, 2024 at 1:16 AM