Santa Claus and Social Justice: A Victorian Christmas Story ". . . [H]e who has no love in his own heart can discern no love in anything that comes into his hands. What does Christmas mean to such a one? . . It does him no good; it does him harm, every time."

open.substack.com/pub/historyc...

Popular Culture and the 1980s Cold War: A Childhood Memoir Much of what I knew about the Cold War growing up did not come from textbooks or classrooms, but from popular culture that quietly taught my generation how to see the world in stark moral terms.

open.substack.com/pub/historyc...

Rediscovering Barry Beyer and the Missing Dispositions in Civic Online Reasoning Before students can apply strategies such as lateral reading, source checking, or claim verification, they must be disposed to do so. Skills do not compel their own use.

open.substack.com/pub/historyc...

Made the most of my #NCSS2025 travel day by visiting the National Museum of American History and the National Portrait Gallery.

Teaching the Market: A Brief History of Economic Education in America Today’s economic education standards sit atop decades of curricular evolution shaped by social and political currents of the day.

open.substack.com/pub/historyc...

For Black Friday, a brief history of economic education

Rethinking The First Thanksgiving: 1912 not 1621 J.L.G. Ferris's painting, The First Thanksgiving 1621, is a primary source—not about the Pilgrims, but about American public memory in the early 20th century.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Ken Burns’ The American Revolution: A Historian’s Long View Burns presents the Revolution not as a single unified story, but as a series of interwoven narratives experienced differently by different groups.

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I remember reading Seymour Reit’s Guns for General Washington in 8th grade. #HATM

Me to myself: Gotta be a Gordon Wood comment on social revolution coming up. … and there it is. #HATM

Good question. In the Civil War, he relied too much on the writer Shelby Foote— can’t recall what label Burns gave him. #HATM

Yes, I’m in Columbus, OH, which includes parts of the Virginia Military District and the Refugee Tract (for Nova Scotian Patriots).

I think that pairs well with the mention in Episode 1 of the maps of colonies as aspirational. #HATM

So much of the narrative in Ken Burns American Revolution reminds me of Woody Holton’s approach in Liberty is Sweet. Surprised he doesn’t appear as a commentator. #HATM

History Connected | Matt Doran | Substack Context and Commentary—at the Intersection of History, Pedagogy, and Civic Life. Click to read History Connected, by Matt Doran, a Substack publication. Launched 5 days ago.

open.substack.com/pub/historyc...

Lessons from the Dungeon of Doom: How the Enlightenment Freed Us from the Rack The Enlightenment didn’t just change how people were punished—it reshaped how we think about human dignity. It’s easy to take that for granted until you see what came before it, encased in rusted iron

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Packed house for the closing presentation with Ken Burns. #NCSS2024

Some good stops on the freedom trail during the break in the rain. #NCSS2024

Good sessions at NSSLA today. On to the main event tomorrow #NCSS2024

Early hotel checkin for #NCSS2024 allowed me to get in a guided tour of Fenway Park and dinner at Cheers!

Headed to #NCSS2024 and the NSSLA this week. Looking forward to the sessions, the city, the Bluesky chat.