Pamela Toler (she/her)
@pdtoler.bsky.social
Writing unexpected history for smart adults and curious kids - and vice-versa. Author of Women Warriors and the forthcoming The Dragon From Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany. Kickass cook. www.pameladtoler.com
Centuries after parchment replaced papyrus, we’re still finding new ways to tell old stories.
Sigrid Schultz’s fight to expose the Nazi threat is one of them.
The Dragon from Chicago—now in paperback.🗃️
https://www.pameladtoler.com/books/
Sigrid Schultz’s fight to expose the Nazi threat is one of them.
The Dragon from Chicago—now in paperback.🗃️
https://www.pameladtoler.com/books/
November 20, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Centuries after parchment replaced papyrus, we’re still finding new ways to tell old stories.
Sigrid Schultz’s fight to expose the Nazi threat is one of them.
The Dragon from Chicago—now in paperback.🗃️
https://www.pameladtoler.com/books/
Sigrid Schultz’s fight to expose the Nazi threat is one of them.
The Dragon from Chicago—now in paperback.🗃️
https://www.pameladtoler.com/books/
Reposted by Pamela Toler (she/her)
Two pastors of Evanston churches were among 21 arrested on Nov. 14 outside of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Broadview processing facility. One said he was beaten, bruised and had his hands zip-tied so tightly they went numb.
Evanston pastors arrested, charged with misdemeanors at Broadview ICE protest
Two pastors of Evanston churches were among 21 arrested on Nov. 14 outside of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Broadview processing facility. One said he was beaten, bruised and had…
trib.al
November 19, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Two pastors of Evanston churches were among 21 arrested on Nov. 14 outside of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Broadview processing facility. One said he was beaten, bruised and had his hands zip-tied so tightly they went numb.
Excited to be part of this year’s Miami Book Fair!
I’ll be talking about The Dragon from Chicago—and about Sigrid Schultz, the journalist who risked everything to tell the truth about Nazi Germany.🗃️
Details at miamibookfair.com
I’ll be talking about The Dragon from Chicago—and about Sigrid Schultz, the journalist who risked everything to tell the truth about Nazi Germany.🗃️
Details at miamibookfair.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Excited to be part of this year’s Miami Book Fair!
I’ll be talking about The Dragon from Chicago—and about Sigrid Schultz, the journalist who risked everything to tell the truth about Nazi Germany.🗃️
Details at miamibookfair.com
I’ll be talking about The Dragon from Chicago—and about Sigrid Schultz, the journalist who risked everything to tell the truth about Nazi Germany.🗃️
Details at miamibookfair.com
This discussion of contemporary reactions to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is as useful reminder that the press has always been partisan.
A Reminder of "The Great Task Remaining Before Us"
open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
A Reminder of "The Great Task Remaining Before Us"
A few thoughts on this 162nd anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address."
open.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:43 PM
This discussion of contemporary reactions to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is as useful reminder that the press has always been partisan.
Charles Perrault—lawyer, courtier, poet, and late-in-life storyteller—helped turn old folk tales into Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Puss in Boots.
He wasn’t the first to write fairy tales, but he may have been their favorite uncle. 🗃️
Read more: https://www.historyinthemargins.com
He wasn’t the first to write fairy tales, but he may have been their favorite uncle. 🗃️
Read more: https://www.historyinthemargins.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Charles Perrault—lawyer, courtier, poet, and late-in-life storyteller—helped turn old folk tales into Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Puss in Boots.
He wasn’t the first to write fairy tales, but he may have been their favorite uncle. 🗃️
Read more: https://www.historyinthemargins.com
He wasn’t the first to write fairy tales, but he may have been their favorite uncle. 🗃️
Read more: https://www.historyinthemargins.com
This. So much this.
AI robs us of many things — water & jobs & cognitive ability but also the magical research side quest you didn’t even know to look for that rocks your entire world view while simultaneously setting off a Big Leap Epiphany about the thing you were researching in the first place.
November 17, 2025 at 4:17 PM
This. So much this.
Reposted by Pamela Toler (she/her)
Trying to chose my next traveling book to carry on planes and city buses
November 17, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Trying to chose my next traveling book to carry on planes and city buses
Reposted by Pamela Toler (she/her)
⚠️WOKE CONTENT⚠️
🧵 Did you know a Black woman stood up against a notorious gangster? Stephanie St. Clair, aka Madame Queen, was a Caribbean immigrant who built a gambling empire in Harlem during the 1920s–30s. (cont)
#ProudBlue
#ResistanceRoots
#USDemocracy
#Voices4Victory
🧵 Did you know a Black woman stood up against a notorious gangster? Stephanie St. Clair, aka Madame Queen, was a Caribbean immigrant who built a gambling empire in Harlem during the 1920s–30s. (cont)
#ProudBlue
#ResistanceRoots
#USDemocracy
#Voices4Victory
November 16, 2025 at 2:06 PM
⚠️WOKE CONTENT⚠️
🧵 Did you know a Black woman stood up against a notorious gangster? Stephanie St. Clair, aka Madame Queen, was a Caribbean immigrant who built a gambling empire in Harlem during the 1920s–30s. (cont)
#ProudBlue
#ResistanceRoots
#USDemocracy
#Voices4Victory
🧵 Did you know a Black woman stood up against a notorious gangster? Stephanie St. Clair, aka Madame Queen, was a Caribbean immigrant who built a gambling empire in Harlem during the 1920s–30s. (cont)
#ProudBlue
#ResistanceRoots
#USDemocracy
#Voices4Victory
Bigger and better than ever for its 250th anniversary: Ben Railton's generous #ScholarSunday thread is worth checkcing out.
Here it is, a very special--& especially supersized—250th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Please add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️
blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
#ScholarSunday Thread 250! (11/16/25) – Black and White and Read All Over
Here it is, a very special--& especially supersized—250th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Please add more ...
blackwhiteandread.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Bigger and better than ever for its 250th anniversary: Ben Railton's generous #ScholarSunday thread is worth checkcing out.
According to the Chicago Public Library, I've saved almost $14,000 this year by using the library. Not sure how they calculate it, but I'm prepared to believe.
November 16, 2025 at 5:24 PM
According to the Chicago Public Library, I've saved almost $14,000 this year by using the library. Not sure how they calculate it, but I'm prepared to believe.
From the archives: Toby Wilkinson’s The Nile floats through Egypt’s past and present, tracing the river from Aswan to Cairo while navigating history’s shifting currents.🗃️
Read more: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/
Read more: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/
November 14, 2025 at 4:06 PM
From the archives: Toby Wilkinson’s The Nile floats through Egypt’s past and present, tracing the river from Aswan to Cairo while navigating history’s shifting currents.🗃️
Read more: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/
Read more: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/
Revisiting one from the archives: the story of Mary Harris “Mother” Jones—who turned loss into activism and became a relentless advocate for American workers.
Read it here: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/2024/09/02/from-the-archives-the-mother-jones-monument/ 🗃️
Read it here: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/2024/09/02/from-the-archives-the-mother-jones-monument/ 🗃️
November 13, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Revisiting one from the archives: the story of Mary Harris “Mother” Jones—who turned loss into activism and became a relentless advocate for American workers.
Read it here: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/2024/09/02/from-the-archives-the-mother-jones-monument/ 🗃️
Read it here: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/2024/09/02/from-the-archives-the-mother-jones-monument/ 🗃️
I write about the corners of history textbooks miss—the women, rebellions, and footnotes that deserve center stage.
If that’s your kind of history, subscribe at History in the Margins:
http://www.historyinthemargins.com/🗃️
If that’s your kind of history, subscribe at History in the Margins:
http://www.historyinthemargins.com/🗃️
November 12, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I write about the corners of history textbooks miss—the women, rebellions, and footnotes that deserve center stage.
If that’s your kind of history, subscribe at History in the Margins:
http://www.historyinthemargins.com/🗃️
If that’s your kind of history, subscribe at History in the Margins:
http://www.historyinthemargins.com/🗃️
In the second century BCE, Egypt cut off papyrus exports to keep Pergamum’s library from competing. It didn’t work. The scholars invented parchment instead.
Librarians: 1. Monopoly: 0.
🗃️
Read more: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9 (Subscribe with you are there too!)
Librarians: 1. Monopoly: 0.
🗃️
Read more: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9 (Subscribe with you are there too!)
November 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
In the second century BCE, Egypt cut off papyrus exports to keep Pergamum’s library from competing. It didn’t work. The scholars invented parchment instead.
Librarians: 1. Monopoly: 0.
🗃️
Read more: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9 (Subscribe with you are there too!)
Librarians: 1. Monopoly: 0.
🗃️
Read more: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9 (Subscribe with you are there too!)
@drsurekhadavies.bsky.social Love the title of Historical Monster Consultant!
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
@drsurekhadavies.bsky.social Love the title of Historical Monster Consultant!
Another collection of wonderful reads and people I want to follow.
Here's today's #ScholarSunday thread for the brunch crowd. If your work is featured, if you've benefited from being connected to any of the public scholarship in these threads, or if you just feel so inclined, please share as widely as possible, thanks! @sifill.bsky.social 🗃️
Here it is, my 249th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more below in comments, please share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️
blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...
November 9, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Another collection of wonderful reads and people I want to follow.
Wandering down lots of rabbit holes as I work on this proposal. Good ideas and questions, but a net of 20 words in 90 minutes.
Time to walk away from the computer and let my brain settle.
Time to walk away from the computer and let my brain settle.
November 9, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Wandering down lots of rabbit holes as I work on this proposal. Good ideas and questions, but a net of 20 words in 90 minutes.
Time to walk away from the computer and let my brain settle.
Time to walk away from the computer and let my brain settle.
I didn’t expect the Papyrus Institute to be the highlight of my Egypt trip.
No costumes, no time travel—just a quiet demo on turning reeds into paper.
Turns out, watching history made by hand never gets old.
Read More about my time: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/
No costumes, no time travel—just a quiet demo on turning reeds into paper.
Turns out, watching history made by hand never gets old.
Read More about my time: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/
November 7, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I didn’t expect the Papyrus Institute to be the highlight of my Egypt trip.
No costumes, no time travel—just a quiet demo on turning reeds into paper.
Turns out, watching history made by hand never gets old.
Read More about my time: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/
No costumes, no time travel—just a quiet demo on turning reeds into paper.
Turns out, watching history made by hand never gets old.
Read More about my time: https://www.historyinthemargins.com/
Reposted by Pamela Toler (she/her)
When you're in Illinois, 👇👇👇https://www.them.us/story/lgbtq-holocaust-history-facts-illinois-museum-concentration-camps
Holocaust Researcher Says Up to 1/3 of Imprisoned LGBTQ+ People Reported by Friends and Family
A new exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center aims to shed light on the diversity of LGBTQ+ Holocaust stories.
www.them.us
November 4, 2025 at 3:38 PM
When you're in Illinois, 👇👇👇https://www.them.us/story/lgbtq-holocaust-history-facts-illinois-museum-concentration-camps
We know Clara Barton. But have you heard of Laura Birkhead?
During World War I, she ran ambulance services, hospitals, and organized relief for French war orphans—she earned the French Medal of Honor.
Her story is a reminder that history is full of quiet heroes.
https://tinyurl.com/4t6464jd 🗃️
During World War I, she ran ambulance services, hospitals, and organized relief for French war orphans—she earned the French Medal of Honor.
Her story is a reminder that history is full of quiet heroes.
https://tinyurl.com/4t6464jd 🗃️
November 5, 2025 at 4:10 PM
We know Clara Barton. But have you heard of Laura Birkhead?
During World War I, she ran ambulance services, hospitals, and organized relief for French war orphans—she earned the French Medal of Honor.
Her story is a reminder that history is full of quiet heroes.
https://tinyurl.com/4t6464jd 🗃️
During World War I, she ran ambulance services, hospitals, and organized relief for French war orphans—she earned the French Medal of Honor.
Her story is a reminder that history is full of quiet heroes.
https://tinyurl.com/4t6464jd 🗃️
Reposted by Pamela Toler (she/her)
Unpaid government workers are being fed by World Central Kitchen…let that sink in just how dire things are.
November 3, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Unpaid government workers are being fed by World Central Kitchen…let that sink in just how dire things are.
Reposted by Pamela Toler (she/her)
Louisiana — the red state that Mike Johnson nominally represents — has the second highest percentage of residents enrolled in SNAP in the nation.
They’re pushing this fantasy about these being “Democrat programs” used only in blue states but that’s a PR fantasy divorced from reality.
They’re pushing this fantasy about these being “Democrat programs” used only in blue states but that’s a PR fantasy divorced from reality.
Mike Johnson: "These blue states have abused the SNAP program just like they've abused Medicaid and so many other government programs."
November 3, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Louisiana — the red state that Mike Johnson nominally represents — has the second highest percentage of residents enrolled in SNAP in the nation.
They’re pushing this fantasy about these being “Democrat programs” used only in blue states but that’s a PR fantasy divorced from reality.
They’re pushing this fantasy about these being “Democrat programs” used only in blue states but that’s a PR fantasy divorced from reality.
A pharaoh carved his greatness into a mountain.
3,000 years later, the world took the mountain apart to save it.
Abu Simbel still catches the sunrise twice a year — thanks to the kind of collaboration only humans can dream up.🗃️
Continue the journey here: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9
3,000 years later, the world took the mountain apart to save it.
Abu Simbel still catches the sunrise twice a year — thanks to the kind of collaboration only humans can dream up.🗃️
Continue the journey here: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9
November 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
A pharaoh carved his greatness into a mountain.
3,000 years later, the world took the mountain apart to save it.
Abu Simbel still catches the sunrise twice a year — thanks to the kind of collaboration only humans can dream up.🗃️
Continue the journey here: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9
3,000 years later, the world took the mountain apart to save it.
Abu Simbel still catches the sunrise twice a year — thanks to the kind of collaboration only humans can dream up.🗃️
Continue the journey here: tinyurl.com/37kkd4n9
Love the garden moment when the big hydrangea changes color.
November 4, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Love the garden moment when the big hydrangea changes color.