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Mark R. Cheathem

@markcheathem.bsky.social
3.4K followers 2.3K following 396 posts

Historian, documentary editor, and writer. Views are my own. linktr.ee/markcheathem

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Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Cassandra Good @cgoodhistorian.bsky.social · 1h
It's esp important for male academics to learn more about how problematic the Title IX process is and how poorly universities treat survivors. I helped organize a conference panel on this topic in 2022. The room was full--of women. Two men came. This isn't a women's issue, it's a human issue.
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
pretty funny for the announcers' discussion of how TX / TN's comms might not be affected by secret service coverage while the broadcast audio suddenly goes to shit
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Please welcome Dr. Laura Smith! Dr. Smith is the new assistant editor here at the PMVB headquarters. We are all very excited and lucky to have her on our team!
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Jessica Marie Johnson @jessicamariejohnson.com · 23/09/2026
Spent some time writing about the Sally Hemings DNA news and the again-ness of it all www.kitchentablehistory.blog/p/daddy-again
kitchentablehistory.blog
Daddy, Again
Sally Hemings, DNA, and the What ifs of White Paternity
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Mark R. Cheathem @markcheathem.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
They have a paper-thin case, IMHO.
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William Butler Yeets @yeets.biz · 19/09/2026
i need to know what happened
sign in a restaurant "due to recent events Bigfoot discussions are no longer permitted on the patio"
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
if you are reviewing an unpublished manuscript and you have the sheer unmitigated audacity, cheek, gall and laziness to upload it into an LLM to generate a review, let me tell you, you should be shunned and tarred and feathered
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Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
My blurb: “Graham Hodges has made a lifetime of major contributions to the study of American slavery and abolition. His biography of Henry Highland Garnet is a triumph -- a deeply-researched and altogether brilliant portrait.” yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
ESPN used to be a place to go for sports highlights, player insights and funny anchors. And now it's a douchebag roid case in a tank top screaming about the betting lines.
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Please give a warm welcome to our new Research Editor, Dr. Robb Haberman! We are super excited to have Dr. Haberman on our team.
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
To learn more about how Martin Van Buren used the 50th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution to reflect on its adoption, as well as to define his presidency, check out the lesson plan that Iowa high school teacher Jeff Firsching recently developed. vanburenpapers.org/lesson-plans...
vanburenpapers.org
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Martin Van Buren spent the 1st part of his 1838 annual message discussing the development of the U.S. during its first 50 years under the Constitution. He declared that the Constitution "has proved amply sufficient for the various emergencies incident to our condition as a nation." #ConstitutionDay
The constitution devised by our forefathers as the frame work and bond of that system, then untried, has become a settled form of government; not only preserving and protecting the great principles upon which it was founded, but wonderfully promoting individual happiness and private interests. Though subject to change and entire revocation, whenever deemed inadequate to all these purposes, yet such is the wisdom of its construction, and so stable has been the public sentiment, that it remains unaltered, except in matters of detail, comparatively unimportant. It has proved amply sufficient for the various emergencies incident to our condition as a nation. A formidable foreign war; agitating collisions between domestic and, in some respects, rival sovereignties; temptations to interfere in the intestine commotions of neighboring countries; the dangerous influences that arise in periods of excessive prosperity; and the anti-republican tendencies of associated wealth—these, with other trials not less formidable, have all been encountered, and thus far successfully resisted.
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Mark R. Cheathem @markcheathem.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This review highlights @rachelshelden.bsky.social's new book on the political SCOTUS.
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Gautham Rao (pronounced: Knicks in 5) @gauthamrao.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Very grateful for this positive review of my book in Emerging Civil War!!! emergingcivilwar.com/2026/09/15/b...
emergingcivilwar.com
Book Review: White Power: Policing American Slavery - Emerging Civil War
White Power: Policing American Slavery. By Gautham Rao. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2026. Hardcover, 320 pp., $30.00. Reviewed by Tim Talbott Stripped to its bare essence slav...
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staring blankly into the abyss @irmsby.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Hey fellow historians: Does anyone know which history journal first adopted blind peer review of articles as a standard practice (and what year they started doing so)?
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Don't forget about the Cynthia Van Buren lecture tonight at 7! Dr. Max Matherne will be presenting this evening. We'd love to have you there in person, but will also have a recorded video up for those who aren't able to make it!
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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
You know what gets a library perpetual access to a book??? Purchasing the physical book. I guarantee the publisher won’t come steal it back!!!
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Kristin Du Mez @kkdumez.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Aspire to live in such a way that reporters write stories on why people don’t like you. 🙃 baptistnews.com/article/what...
baptistnews.com
What’s so upsetting to evangelicals about Kristin Du Mez?
Unfortunately, not everyone in evangelicalism receives Du Mez’s scholarship with such openness, says Rick Pidcock.
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Colleen T @librarycolleen.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
“Thank God for the microfilm. Truly.” 📜 news.northeastern.edu/2026/09/04/m...
news.northeastern.edu
This old research tool can teach an iPhone some new tricks
A microfilm reader at Northeastern's library helped one student finish a century-spanning project her iPhone storage could not handle.
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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 09/09/2026
Not to brag, but our product has been foldable since 1828.
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Matt Thiessen @mattthiessen.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Remember when we teachers and professors used to tell our students not to use Wikipedia? Its standards are now higher than the many teachers and professors (and university admins) who promote the use of AI.
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Carrie @carrieat.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
If I were the weather I would simply be cooler
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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I don't think the news has made it here: bluesky political scientist Julia Azari @juliaazari.bsky.social 's _Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History_ (Princeton) was recognized with the Richard Neustadt award for best book published on the presidency!
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Aisha Djelid @aishadjelid.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
SO excited to share the cover of my forthcoming book, Fruits of Their Labor, out with @ugapress.bsky.social next July!
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Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
You know that glib thing people used to say about how things online will live forever? It’s one of the dimmest ideas. Future historians are going to struggle with so many blanks. A digital dark age.
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Dr. Max Matherne will be delivering the Cynthia Van Buren Lecture on Monday, Sept. 14, at 7:00 P.M. at Cumberland University's Alumni Hall. The title of his lecture is "Vox Populism: Presidential Appointments and the Jacksonian Theory of Power.”
Flyer including the information in the post, along with a headshot of a bearded man and logos for Cumberland University, the Papers of Martin Van Buren, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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King Algamemnon @adamrothman.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Sobering, insightful essay on how chatbots mangle historical primary sources. 🗃 www.hnn.us/article/ai-i...
hnn.us
AI Is an Anti-Primary Source Machine
Real voices from the past are threatened by chatbots designed to amplify — and ultimately become — the loudest voices in the room.
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Casey Schmitt @csschmitt.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
It is such an incredible honor to have my book included as a finalist alongside the excellent scholarship of Kim Hall and Daniel Lord Smail. I haven't stopped smiling since they made the announcement! 🗃️ macmillan.yale.edu/glc/stories/...
macmillan.yale.edu
Yale Announces 2026 Frederick Douglass Book Prize Finalists
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Mark R. Cheathem @markcheathem.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Don't get me wrong--Gen Xers had it bad with smoke-filled department stores and restaurants. But at least we didn't have tobacco juice flying around us! Source: Nashville (TN) Daily Union, 10 May 1842
Newspaper article describing the prevalence of men spitting tobacco juice
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Elise A. Mitchell @bydreamphd.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I’ve had this convo privately enough times in the last week to go public: I don’t think there is any valuable way to use AI in a history classroom.
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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
A Baker's Dozen is what you get when you add together Sixxxx Sevennnn
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The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History @gliamericanhistory.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
📖Today on #BookBreaks: Louie Gallo and David Nolen discuss their new book, "The Memoirs of General William Tecumseh Sherman." Join us at 2 pm ET! This is a free online program for history enthusiasts of all ages. Register at gilderlehrman.org/book-breaks
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Jen Mercieca @jenmercieca.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
"He who is a citizen in a democracy will often not be a citizen in an oligarchy." Aristotle, Book III, Politics. A citizen is an "office" of a government, but who qualifies for that office changes with different regimes and constitutions.
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Carly Goodman @carlygoodman.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
historian friends, do you have advice for best practices when doing peer review of a journal article?
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Mark R. Cheathem @markcheathem.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
#academicsky let's celebrate the edited book chapter. What is an edited book chapter that you're particularly proud of or you think deserves more readers? #celebratebookchapter My essay here looks at the myth & reality of Andrew Jackson's hatred of the British. lsupress.org/978080716465...
lsupress.org
The Battle of New Orleans in History and Memory
The Battle of New Orleans proved a critical victory for the United States, a young nation defending its nascent borders, but over the past two hundred years,...
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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 18/03/2025
What’s something that’s a banal observation in your field, but which really blows students’ minds the 1st time they encounter it? I’ll go 1st—when we talk about how technological history gets narrated & I say "no human being has ever lived in a historical period—they’ve only lived in the present"
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Read more about Hooper and the saying here: vanburenpapers.org/it-easier-do...
vanburenpapers.org
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
It actually came from Van Buren Hooper Sr. (1897-1963), a Milwaukee sales manager and publisher, who often wrote under the pseudonym of "Martin Vanbee."
1931 image of Van Buren Hooper Sr.
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The quote “It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn’t” is often mistakenly attributed to Martin Van Buren.
Early appearance of misattributed quote in newspaper
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Mark R. Cheathem @markcheathem.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I am including Jake's letter about generative AI as part of my syllabus, and I'm emphasizing the major points he makes with my students: generative AI is built on intellectual theft, is environmentally catastrophic, does not fulfill its promise, harms student learning, and is dehumanizing.
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Madeline Peltz @peltzmadeline.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I'm proud to share the cover of my book, GOOD GIRLS AND ALPHA MALES: HOW CONSERVATIVE MEDIA IS TARGETING GEN Z, coming Feb '27. It's a culmination of years of on-the-ground reporting and thousands of hours of media monitoring. Now available for preorder: www.sourcebooks.com/978146425540...
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Abigail Swingen @abigailswingen.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Seems like a good time to share some news: this fall I will start as Librarian and Executive Director of the Lewis Walpole Library at Yale. The Walpole is such a special place; I'm honored and excited to help expand the library's scholarly programming and public outreach in #18thc British studies.
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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 18/08/2026
You never know what you’ll encounter in the archives. “How I got pregnant on the train.” buttondown.com/leftcoastdis... #cdnHist #bcHist
buttondown.com
How I Got Pregnant On The Train
"This statement I am about to write concerning Fred and myself is the honest truth."
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Angela Sutton (she/her) @drangelasutton.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
What you are looking at, is evidence of one of the many ways historical data can get lost. 1/8
"My right name is Warren Swanson, but the mustering officer wrote it on company roll, Warren Swancey. This is the reason of two different names, the one in new law, the other, in old law claims."
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
You may be wondering why our project is highlighting Gibbs's death. He was Martin Van Buren's great-great-grandson.
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
In his obituary of Gibbs, E.B. White (of Charlotte's Web fame) wrote, "Wolcott Gibbs was too high-strung to live at peace with the world; he exhausted himself fighting rear-guard actions in private, inescapable wars of the mind and spirit. He was a tortured man."👇
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Papers of Martin Van Buren @vanburenpapers.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Yesterday, in 1958, notable New York writer, editor, theater critic, and humorist Wolcott Gibbs died at the age of fifty-six. 👇
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Mark R. Cheathem @markcheathem.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
This is a great example of the many choices that go into the creation of archives and that are made by researchers to arrive at an end product.
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Introvert Problems @introvertproblems.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I always drive my own car because when I’m ready to leave, I’m ready to leave
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Melissa Johnson, PhD @ladyhistorian.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Does anyone have a good guide to reading academic history articles for new undergrads? I want to really drill down on reading skills this year but many students have never read anything longer than a page, and that's just alien to me. Help?
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