John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 15hDo your find it surprising that there are more than 21k history orgs in the U.S.? Or that 80% of nonprofit history institutions are run by volunteers? Or that a third of all history orgs are operated as part of government? If so, come join me for a webinar in a couple weeks. 072
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 19hI know this kind of thing is serious or whatever but god do I want to meet the person who thinks “ya know, I was gonna vote for a Democrat but then I heard what Christopher Lloyd said about Black Lives Matter.” 0100
Reposted by John Garrison MarksClint Smith @clintsmithiii.bsky.social · 22hVery excited to share the cover of my new book JUST BENEATH THE SOIL: WORLD WAR II THROUGH THE EYES OF ITS LAST WITNESSES. It will be out May 4, 2027. I learned so much writing this book and truly can't wait to share it with you all. It’s available for preorder now: sites.prh.com/justbeneatht... 726654
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 29/09/2026When, I ask, will Democrats start getting the benefit of the doubt as the party of ball-knowers? 090
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 29/09/2026I’m asking for just like, a couple days without some new, weird George Washington bullshit please 2203
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 29/09/2026Congratulations to Kevin! He’s one of a handful of people who have been on roughly the same book schedule as me for the last few years. Excited to see this finally out in the world. 183
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 29/09/2026Hey while they’re at it, IMLS and NEH should start offering unrestricted operating support for museums. Like, a lot of it. johngmarks.beehiiv.com/p/america-s-...johngmarks.beehiiv.comAmerica's Museums are Falling ApartWith 120041
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 29/09/2026Historian John Marks will not be submitting his newest draft to his editor on time after an internal review revealed it did not meet safety standards. 1111
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 28/09/2026Don't ask me what I'm working on that demanded this, but I've watched the AI-generated video from the Donald Trump Presidential Library and Museum about 20 times today and I'm losing my grip on reality. www.trumplibrary.org 1101
Reposted by John Garrison MarksJohn Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 28/09/2026Describing the process of historical research as akin to detective work and emphasizing how it requires and builds transferable critical thinking skills is very effective at getting people to appreciate what history is and why it’s valuable. 1173
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 28/09/2026Describing the process of historical research as akin to detective work and emphasizing how it requires and builds transferable critical thinking skills is very effective at getting people to appreciate what history is and why it’s valuable. 1173
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 28/09/2026Lots of talk about how we should/shouldnt communicate with non-historians about history's value so let me just say: 1) There's actual, empirical research about this! aaslh.org/reframing-hi... 2) If you want me to be walked through it, I'm leading a workshop on Weds. learn.aaslh.org/products/str...learn.aaslh.orgAASLH Learning: Strengthening History Communication: Reframing the Value of History and Your Institution (September 2026) - Virtual Workshop 192
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 25/09/2026Seeing this job interview discourse having experienced the academic job market I’m struck by how much iced coffee can’t even compete with questions like “Should anyone in the interview be on a hotel bed?” or “Should you be able to hear dozens of other job interviews during yours?” 8817
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 25/09/2026One thing events like this always make clear is how incredibly valuable it is to read things you think of as totally unrelated to your usual scholarship and to just be curious and be in conversation with others who are as well. 1120
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 25/09/2026“For centuries, books have constructed the intellectual world that we inhabit.” A lovely day hearing about recent books from former Kluge scholars @dagomardegroot.bsky.social, @peterbrannen.bsky.social, @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social, @patrickmccray.bsky.social, @isanchezprado.bsky.social! 1111
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 25/09/2026Today! Looking forward to learning from my fellow panelists and speaking with OAH members. 030
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 25/09/2026I read END OF DAYS: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America by Chris Jennings this year and suddenly felt like I understood so much about our current politics a lot better. 291
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 24/09/2026Almost ran out of time but I made it to The Valentine. Well worth it. 060
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 24/09/2026Anyway, this talk is gonna be on C-SPAN sometime in the not-too-distant future, so you can see for yourself! 041
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 24/09/2026I've done almost 20 book events this year, but it wasn't until I came to Richmond that people came up to me afterwards with, uh, "objections." 3202
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 24/09/2026Really excellent exhibit about free Blaxk Virginians here at VMHC in Richmond. Not often that free Black people are the primary focus rather than an afterthought. 070
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 24/09/2026How will Banksy have enough money left for space travel now? 041
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 24/09/2026Traveling by train is so much more humane than flying it’s almost unbelievable. “Just walk on board and sit in a normal-sized seat” is such a luxury. 4181
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 24/09/2026Cannot be understated how much easier it is to get dressed for a fall book talk than a summer book talk. Whole closet is an option again! 0100
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 23/09/2026Had some really incredible archival finds this week. Stuff just jumping off the page it’s so great. So much of being a historian is a slog, days like these must be celebrated. 1342
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 23/09/2026Next time you reach for "we're fucked," instead you could say: "I have laboured hard against the strong current of disappointments which had been threatening to carry us down the Cataract of destruction, but I have labored with a shatter'd oar." 0156
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 23/09/2026Busy week of talking about George Washington, slavery, and public memory! - Virtual presentation to a group of Philadelphia tour guides tonight - In-person lunch talk at Virginia Museum of History & Culture in Richmond tomorrow (maybe recorded by C-SPAN?) - Virtual webinar with OAH on Friday. 130
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 23/09/2026This is obviously absurd, and really whistling past the graveyard, but also there are huge EXXON MOBIL and STATE OF QATAR donor acknowledgements on the wall in there. 135
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 23/09/2026I hear the heads on all the statues in the Garden of American Heroes are going to tilt back and machine guns are going to pop out of them. Headless James Fenimore Cooper and Kobe Bryant just mowing people down. 5297
Reposted by John Garrison Marksmike taddow @miketaddow.bsky.social · 23/09/2026isaiah rodgers doing the hot dog dance for his kid is such a dope display of fatherhood. good shit. 13766109
Reposted by John Garrison MarksJohn Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 22/09/2026Honored to be included in this panel discussion on Friday about the President's House site in Philadelphia and the controversy around telling the story of slavery there. Hope you can make it. 065
Reposted by John Garrison MarksJohn Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 23/09/2026I’ll be speaking at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture tomorrow, so I talked to Richmond’s alternative weekly about it. 0114
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 23/09/2026I’ll be speaking at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture tomorrow, so I talked to Richmond’s alternative weekly about it. 0114
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 22/09/2026"The details which follow are wholly derived from memory, unassisted by note or memorandum of any kind; but they will be found substantially correct." Gonna start using this. 040
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 22/09/2026I love seeing words/phrases that feel very out of place in 18th century correspondence, like "by the way" and "puke" 150
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 22/09/2026Honored to be included in this panel discussion on Friday about the President's House site in Philadelphia and the controversy around telling the story of slavery there. Hope you can make it. 065
Reposted by John Garrison MarksKevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Next Tuesday is the official release date for A GLORIOUS FATE. You can still order a signed copy through the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago. Join us to celebrate the book's publication with a live discussion. #booksky alincolnbookshop.com/a-house-divi... 28014
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 21/09/2026Just finished “A Flower Traveled in My Blood.” Incredible and awful and harrowing and inspiring. Couldn’t help but imagine the reckoning we’re due for. 061
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 19/09/2026I’m reading “A Flower Traveled in My Blood” right now, about the efforts of the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo to recover their grandchildren, the children of disappeared left wing activists in the 1970s. Yet another book I wish didn’t feel so familiar. 052
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 19/09/2026Had an energizing and enlightening few days in Providence, RI for the @aaslh.org / @ncph.bsky.social conference. It was great to connect with so many old and new colleagues from all across the public history ecosystem. History museum people are out here working hard, go visit them. 080
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 19/09/2026I’m sure the people of Providence are enjoying this big live music street festival, but as someone who just finished 3 days of very busy conference sessions and is in a hotel room right above it, I’m a little less impressed. 061
Reposted by John Garrison MarksSonya Bonczek @sonyabonczek.bsky.social · 18/09/2026@johngmarks.com "has produced the kind of book that everyone should read before visiting Mount Vernon or Philadelphia." @johnfea1.bsky.social www.christianitytoday.com/2026/09/the-...christianitytoday.comThe Founding Father Most Americans Couldn’t Name - Christianity TodayThree biographies of America’s founders. 0125
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 18/09/2026In protesting the law and explaining the deep roots of the injustice it represented, some radical abolitionists took to calling George Washington "not just a slave holder but a slave HUNTER!!!" because of his support of the 1793 fugitive slave law and his pursuit of Ona Judge. 0143
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 16/09/2026Flight attendants absolutely slamming the shit out of overhead bins to close them is a real pre-flight power move. 4480
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 16/09/2026“IT HAS BEEN 0️⃣ DAYS SINCE THE LAST CONTROVERSY ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON AND PUBLIC MEMORY” 27415
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 16/09/2026Not on the schedule but heading to Providence, RI tomorrow for the @aaslh.org / @ncph.bsky.social joint conference! Say hi if you see me. I’ll be facilitating the CEO Forum and a few other events, but will be at the evening event each night! 050
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 15/09/2026"There is neither a proportional relationship, nor an inverse one, between a writer’s estimation of work in progress and its actual quality. The feeling that the work is magnificent, and the feeling that it is abominable, are both mosquitoes to be repelled, ignored, or killed, but not indulged." 160
John Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 15/09/2026So much time writing is spent thinking "this shit is awful and it makes no sense," so I'm pleased to report that I feel like I'm absolutely cooking today. Of course neither of those things are ever really true, but still. 020
Reposted by John Garrison MarksJohn Garrison Marks @johngmarks.com · 15/09/2026I’ve noticed a big increase museum layoffs and closures. I suspect ARP money finally getting fully flushed out of state/local budgets, declining federal support, rising prices for everything, declining corporate/foundation support for non-Trump approved history are all contributing. A sad thread: 24229