Maybe it’s the historian in me, but one of the things I like about Record Store Day is the occasional opportunity to relive the experience of hearing music for the first time on a physical medium, never before available or stre... updates.wcaleb.org/2026/04/18/maybe-its-the...
I spoke about Henrietta Wood in an interview with the editors of a special America250 issue of the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Arlington House.
The bridge.
Tonight I will be at the NewSouth Bookstore in Montgomery, Alabama, to talk about Sweet Taste of Liberty.
A Bus Ride in Montgomery: updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/30/a-bus-ride-in...
I’m in Montgomery today visiting the EJI Legacy Museum and seeing historic sites. I don’t think I had previously appreciated just how close Dexter Avenue Baptist Church is to the state capitol.
Full day of discussions in Alabama with USS colleagues, looking back on 20 years since the Brown report and envisioning paths forward. It’s always energizing to be together with this group.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Juneteenth.
I haven’t. Thanks! Looks like a fantastic thesis.
I updated my post on The First Juneteenth in Houston to reflect that the Houston Daily Evening Star, which contains a rare report on the event, is now digitized at the Portal to Texas History. My article on this is forthcoming soon in the Journal of Texas History.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Hawkins Wilson.
Grateful for a generous review of Slavery, Segregation, and the Second Founding of Rice University in the History of Education Quarterly.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking some Rice students to the law offices of Baker Botts LLP, where we were given a tour of the firm’s historic records by senior partner Bill Kroger.
One of the fascinating things we sa... updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/13/yesterday-i-h...
I know exactly where you are.
It was an honor to speak with KHOU for a brief local news story about Olivewood Cemetery, Houston’s historic African American burial ground established in 1875. Watch on Youtube …
Hallowed grounds
Today in HIST 246 I shared with students one of my favorite Civil War monuments, memorializing William McKinley and the Battle of Coffee Run. Read more ….
My essay “Slouching Towards Arlington House” is out now in a special issue of the Journal of the Civil War Era, featuring “Historians of Crisis in a Moment of Crisis.” The whole issue is open access this month, thanks to the good folks at @uncpress.bsky.social.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: J. H. Townsend.
Delighted to learn this morning that a journal article I wrote on the first Juneteenth, expanding on research that I first shared here, will likely be published in time for this year’s holiday.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: J. H. Townsend.
Taking a coffee break to look in on Douglass Day events with @douglassday.bsky.social. I’m watching the livestream while transcribing some names in the Texas records of the Colored Conventions Project.
In down time, I’ve been aiming to make one Wikipedia edit per day for Black History Month. I’m keeping track of the entries I edit on my Wikipedia user page, which is also now linked with a “button” on my homepage.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Elias Dibble, W. R. Fayle.
I’ll be at Kindred Stories tonight with Alex Byrd and April Frazier to talk about Slavery, Segregation, and the Second Founding of Rice University.
I’m currently at a School of Humanities and Arts event offering critical perspectives on AI, and it’s truly refreshing to hear smart colleagues sharing their wisdom—wisdom—about the moment.
My university-approved Slides account now welcomes me with a banner reading “Generate a presentation in seconds,” with a “single prompt” to AI, and all I can think is: I hope I never have to sit through a presentation that was generated in seconds.
I find it very helpful, when reading a PDF with endnotes, to be able to “split” the PDF into two views, with one focused on the endnotes and the other on the text. Not all PDF viewers, even the most bloated, can do this, but two that can are Goodreader for the iPad and Skim for Mac.
My author’s copy of this special issue came over the weekend. Looking forward to reading the other contributions, especially one from @profmsinha.bsky.social.