Ed Ayers – Medium

Ed Ayers

Published in
New American History

The Era Without a Name

There’s no single place to learn about the first six decades of the 19th century. So I traveled to the sites where that history happened.

Jan 17, 2024

The Era Without a Name

Jan 17, 2024

Published in
New American History

Remembering Slavery

Jan 8, 2024

Remembering Slavery

Jan 8, 2024

Published in
New American History

Beyond Dispossession

At public history sites around the country, simplistic representations of Native Americans are giving way to a much more complex story.

Dec 6, 2023

Beyond Dispossession

Dec 6, 2023

Published in
New American History

Where Kansas Bled

How can one place represent the complexity of the Civil War’s beginnings?

Nov 29, 2023

Where Kansas Bled

Nov 29, 2023

Published in
New American History

Borderland Stories

What we remember when we remember the Alamo.

Nov 13, 2023

Borderland Stories

Nov 13, 2023

Published in
New American History

The Richest Square Mile on Earth

Almost by accident, we find ourselves at the epicenter of the Colorado Gold Rush, which attracted prospectors to the Rockies after ‘49.

Oct 31, 2023

The Richest Square Mile on Earth

Oct 31, 2023

Published in
New American History

Oregon Trails

After navigating a minor hiccup in our own provisioning process, we set out for the West on what would be our longest trip yet.

Oct 24, 2023

Oregon Trails

Oct 24, 2023

Published in
New American History

Edgar Allan Poe’s America

Tracing the life of the author who seemed to be from both everywhere and nowhere.

Oct 2, 2023

Edgar Allan Poe’s America

Oct 2, 2023

Published in
New American History

Mettlesome, Mad, Extravagant City

In the streets of New York, we try to imagine the city as Walt Whitman, and other artists of his time, experienced it.

Sep 21, 2023

Mettlesome, Mad, Extravagant City

Sep 21, 2023

Published in
New American History

A Gateway to the Past

The Arch in St. Louis stands as a monument to contradictory histories.

Sep 13, 2023

A Gateway to the Past

Sep 13, 2023

Published in
New American History

Lost Prophets and Forgotten Heroes

Tracing the currents of American history that run through the Great Lakes region.

Sep 6, 2023

Lost Prophets and Forgotten Heroes

Sep 6, 2023

Published in
New American History

Community Ideal

We visit the sites of two 19th-century utopian experiments in the American Midwest.

Aug 29, 2023

Community Ideal

Aug 29, 2023

Published in
New American History

Freedom By the Sea

On the trail of whales, Melville, and Douglass in New Bedford.

Aug 9, 2023

Freedom By the Sea

Aug 9, 2023

Published in
New American History

The Book Read ‘Round the World

Literary history is packed into Concord’s “Old Manse,” but the tiny abode of Walden’s author proves the highlight of our New England trip.

Jun 23, 2023

The Book Read ‘Round the World

Jun 23, 2023

Published in
New American History

Pieces of the Past

A spine-tingling day of visits to the places where James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, and Thomas Cole created their most famous works.

Mar 15, 2023

Pieces of the Past

Mar 15, 2023

Published in
New American History

Sacred Places

A visit to the site of Joseph Smith’s divine revelation makes for a different kind of public history experience.

Feb 27, 2023

Sacred Places

Feb 27, 2023

Published in
New American History

No Better Soil

In the first half of the 19th century, upstate New York was a hotbed of movements for reform. How visible is that history today?

Jan 23, 2023

No Better Soil

Jan 23, 2023

Published in
New American History

Rainbows and Disappointments

There is a long and storied tradition of feeling underwhelmed by the natural spectacle of Niagara Falls. Still, the visitors keep coming.

Dec 14, 2022

Rainbows and Disappointments

Dec 14, 2022

Published in
New American History

Time for a Revolution

The economic transformations wrought by industrial capitalism in the 1820s and 30s look different when viewed up close.

Nov 28, 2022

Time for a Revolution

Nov 28, 2022

Published in
New American History

Tidying Up the Past

A history tour at Harper’s Ferry suggests that “commemoration” and “desecration” might be two sides of the same coin.

Oct 12, 2022

Tidying Up the Past

Oct 12, 2022

Ed Ayers

Ed Ayers

Ed Ayers is a historian and president emeritus at the University of Richmond.

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