Shirley Blosser likes to keep track of her ancestors. She’s descended from four families in Meigs Township, Ohio. Out of the four, it’s the Spillman clan that can be the most challenging to think about. It’s their land that was dug up for coal, reshaped and planted in grass, and […]
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The Buffalo Creek Flood killed 125 and scoured away the homes of more than 4,000. The 50th anniversary offers a chance for those who were affected — directly and indirectly — to mourn the loss and celebrate what endures. “… And Father God, we thank you for this occasion. Even […]
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In June, Ohio legislators refused to ban confederate memorabilia from county fairs. The state has long had a complicated relationship with the confederacy. Symbols of the Confederacy have had a bad month. Confederate battle flags will no longer fly at Talladega, there is talk of renaming Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, […]
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My family sat down to watch the first episode of HBO’s “Watchmen” last October. Stephen Williams, the director, included quick cuts of gunshots, explosions, citizens fleeing roaming mobs, and even a plane dropping bombs. We’ve come to anticipate these elements in superhero films. As the sepia-toned footage spooled across the […]
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A rusting chain-link fence represents a “color line” for the dead in Columbia, South Carolina. In Randolph Cemetery, separated by the barrier from the well-manicured lawn of the neighboring white graveyard, lies the remains of George A. Elmore. A Black business owner and civil rights activist, Elmore is little remembered […]
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It has become common to say that the United States in 2020 is more divided politically and culturally than at any other point in our national past. As a historian who has written and taught about the Civil War era for several decades, I know that current divisions pale in […]
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