University of Pennsylvania History Department

History Major Amanda Yagerman will be commissioned into the Navy on May 18 before graduating from Penn on the 19th. On her love of history, she says, "I’m fascinated by the idea that there have been so many different iterations of the human experience....“There’s so much that we all have in common, but there’s also so many civilizations and societies that have risen and fallen that had completely different value systems than us and lived their lives in a completely different way.”

Congratulations, Mandy!

Laying the groundwork at Penn before taking to the air | Penn Today Amanda Yagerman, a fourth-year student is majoring in history and English in the College of Arts and Sciences while training to be a naval officer in the Naval ROTC program. She says her experience at Penn has been “the best of both worlds.”

History Major Sophie Mwaisela discusses her Honors Thesis research, conducted in Switzerland this summer:

A question of neutrality: Switzerland’s role in 19th-century imperialism | Penn Today History undergraduate Sophie Mwaisela traveled to Geneva this summer to conduct research for her honors thesis.

Penn History is pleased to announce this exciting upcoming event: a screening of the documentary Town Destroyer, followed by a conversation with directors Alan Snitow and Deborah Kauffman.

Town Destroyer examines a heated controversy over Depression-era WPA murals painted by leftwing artist Victor Arnautoff in a San Francisco public high school, which depict George Washington not only as a military leader and President, but also as a slaveowner and destroyer of Native peoples. The documentary explores the politics of art and history at a time of polarized national debate over the power of images, racism, trauma, and what should be taught in schools. You can find more information about the film here: https://www.snitow-kaufman.org/the-mural-controversy/

Co-Sponsored by the Wolf Humanities Center; the Department of Art History; and The Education, Culture, and Society program at Penn GSE.

Alan Allport Named Montgomery Gruber Professor Alan Allport, professor of history, has been named the Dr. Walter Montgomery and Marian Gruber Professor of History at the Maxwell School.

The professorship was established by Walter Montgomery ’67 B.A. (PSc) and his wife, Marian Gruber. Montgomery said he created it out of “deep appreciation for the importance to our education system of teaching, research and scholarship.”

Allport’s research interests include 20th-century British history with a focus on the first and second world wars. His recent book, "Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War: 1938-1941" (Knopf Doubleday, 2020), was awarded the Historical Writers' Association 2021 Crown Award for nonfiction.

Previous books, published by Yale University Press, include: "Browned Off and Bloody-Minded: The British Soldier Goes to War 1939-1945" and "Demobbed: Coming Home After the Second World War," for which Allport received the Longman History Today Book of the Year Award.

“Alan is a brilliant writer, scholar and teacher,” says Carol Faulkner, associate dean for academic affairs and professor of history. “His books have transformed the understanding of the British experience of World War II. I'm thrilled we can recognize his contributions with the Montgomery-Gruber professorship. The Maxwell School is lucky to have him.”

Allport received a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2007. His advisor was Thomas Childers.

He succeeds Andrew Wender Cohen, professor of history, who was named the Montgomery Gruber Professor in 2017.

https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/news/article/alan-allport-named-montgomery-gruber-professor?fbclid=IwAR2Bjy2YJc7BsuA-Uqo5gG4_K_n3r5KiiHL6T_1t_GLFhhCqPsFwSU_8GmU

Alan Allport Named Montgomery Gruber Professor Alan Allport, professor of history, has been named the Dr. Walter Montgomery and Marian Gruber Professor of History at the Maxwell School.

Francis Ryan has been awarded the John C. Brennan Award for excellence in fostering understanding of Labor History in Schools by the Pennsylvania Labor History Society.

Ryan completed his Ph.D. in History at Penn in 2003. Ryan's advisor was Walter Licht, and his dissertation was titled Everyone Royalty: AFSCME, Municipal Workers and Urban Power in Philadelphia, 1921-1983

Congratulations to SMLR's Francis Ryan on receiving the Labor History Society's John C. Brennan Award for "excellence in fostering understanding of in our schools." PLHS President Ken Wolensky made the presentation at AFSCME Council 13 in Harrisburg.

Baseball history, American history: Sarah Gronningsater’s popular course links the two in a study of the sport from the Civil War to Jackie Robinson to the current day.

Baseball history, American history | Penn Today Sarah Gronningsater’s popular course links the two in a study of the sport from the Civil War to Jackie Robinson to the current day.

Sam Finkelman, a PhD candidate in our department, has been helping Ukrainians after his research trip in the region was interrupted by war. Read more:

Ph.D. candidate’s initiative brings refugees out of Ukraine and supplies in | Penn Today When Sam Finkelman’s yearlong research trip to Russia, Hungary, and Ukraine was interrupted by war, he went into action.

On the 330th anniversary of the Salem witch trials, historian Kathleen M. Brown discusses the stories, theories, and contemporary parallels to one of America’s stranger chapters in history.

Possessed: The Salem witch trials | Penn Today This spring marks the 330th anniversary of the Salem witch trials, during which a total of 20 “afflicted girls” accused around 150 people, 19 of whom were executed. Historian Kathleen M. Brown discusses why this episode is still fascinating today.

Congratulations to our own Mia Bay, whose new book Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance (Harvard, 2021) has won the prestigious Bancroft Prize.

Histories of Travel Segregation and Chinese Migration Win Bancroft Prize The scholars Mia Bay and Mae Ngai have won the award, considered one of the most prestigious in the field of American history.

In the Washington Post, PhD student Sasha Zborovsky has joined others in the department putting the Ukrainian crisis in historical perspective.

Perspective | Putin’s war aims to undo the traumas of the 1990s for Russians Territorial expansion is part of Putin’s attempt to rebuild a national identity — with no regard for Ukrainians.

Some of our current faculty and PhD students have been lending their expertise to help put the Ukrainian crisis in perspective.

Benjamin Nathans offers background on Putin’s use of history in justifying his war in Ukraine:

Russia’s attack on Ukraine, through the lens of history | Penn Today Historian Benjamin Nathans offers background on Putin’s use of history in justifying his war in Ukraine

Some of our current faculty and PhD students have been lending their expertise to help put the Ukrainian crisis in perspective.

Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon will give an event "Ukraine's Existence and Russia's Missiles: Historical Context and Analysis of the 2022 Russo-Ukrainian War." Monday, Feb. 28, 5:00 pm. Place: UPenn Campus - College Hall 209. Live Streamed: https://youtu.be/yTFfr5VBUYw

Kimberly has also been making the rounds on the news, including MSNBC and CNN, and was profiled in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Those interested can also follow Kimberly on Twitter: .

A West Philly expert on Russia and Ukraine is now a social media celebrity Twitter users have looked to the history-heavy feed of UPenn's Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon as a way to understand the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine.

This History Major and aspiring teacher is a Fulbright Semifinalist!

Ego of the Week: Jordyn Kaplan Meet the aspiring teacher changing the world one student at a time.

A new history course taught by Professor Jared Farmer looks at Philadelphia’s monuments past and present, and lets students envision what future memorials may be.

A chance to imagine memorials of tomorrow | Penn Today A history course taught by Jared Farmer looks at Philadelphia’s monuments past and present, and lets students envision what future memorials may be.

Upcoming talk: January 26, 5:00PM!

Mae M. Ngai, Columbia University: "The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics."

Register for the Zoom link here: https://live-sas-www-history.pantheon.sas.upenn.edu/node/14543

Cosponsored by Penn's Department of History, Asian American Studies Program, and Perry World House.

Congratulations to Mia Bay, whose latest book (Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance), has been selected as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times!

Times Critics’ Top Books of 2021 The Times’s staff critics give their choices of the best fiction and nonfiction works of the year.

Don't forget to join our next "History Speaking" lecture this Wednesday!

Benjamin Nathans, Alan Charles Kors Endowed Term Associate Professor of History

“Cold War or Cold Peace? Russia, America, & the New World Disorder”

December 1 | 5:00pm | College Hall 200

Mark your calendars for our next "History Speaking" lecture!

Benjamin Nathans, Alan Charles Kors Endowed Term Associate Professor of History

“Cold War or Cold Peace? Russia, America, & the New World Disorder”

December 1 | 5:00pm | College Hall 200

Listen to Sally Gordon (and Kellie Carter Jackson) discuss the 19th-century clash between Mormonism & the federal government and the role of violence in the fight against slavery.

Episode 32: Season II, Episode III: Bleeding Kansas and the Utah War — The Past, the Promise, the Presidency This week on  The Past, The Promise, The Presidency: Presidential Crises , we took a look at two crises from the 1850s: the violent struggle between pro and anti-slavery factions over the political fortunes of future states, known as "Bleeding Kansas," and the less well-known figh

Listen to Ben Nathans discuss his upcoming book, "To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement."

To The Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of Soviet Dissidents - Ben Nathans (9.23.21) Rather than treat Soviet dissidents as avatars of Western liberalism, or take their appeals to rights and legal norms as natural, this talk investigates how, as products themselves of the Soviet order

First "History Speaking" Lecture of the Year:

Kathy Peiss – ‘Pleasure and Danger: The Life of a Feminist Paradigm’ November 3, 2021 – 5:00 pm/College Hall 200

In an age of wrenching social change and momentous global challenges, history gives us fresh perspectives, important distinctions, and a sense of how we got here. This year, join Penn historians for lively discussions of the past that seek to better orient us in the present. As events unfold, that’s History Speaking.

Mary Frances Berry and Perry World House Visiting Fellow Alice Hunt Friend share thoughts on Powell’s impact on and off the battlefield.

Colin Powell’s legacy | Penn Today Historian Mary Frances Berry and Perry World House Visiting Fellow Alice Hunt Friend share thoughts on Powell’s impact on and off the battlefield.

Cheikh Babou was recently interviewed for the New Books In African Studies podcast about his recent publication The Muridiyya on the Move: Islam, Migration, and Place Making (Ohio University Press, 2021).

Listen here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/the-muridiyya-on-the-move

Cheikh Anta Babou, "The Muridiyya on the Move: Islam, Migration, and… Cheikh Anta Babou, "The Muridiyya on the Move: Islam, Migration, and Place Making" (Ohio UP, 2021)

All are welcome at our upcoming Open House!

Meet history students and faculty, learn about spring courses, AND take home some cookies!

Be there: October 27, 1-3:30pm College Hall 209

Mary Frances Berry is the winner of the 2021 Lewis Award for History and Social Justice from the American Historical Association!

Established in 2021, the prize is offered annually to recognize a historian for leadership and sustained engagement at the intersection of historical work, public culture, and social justice. The prize is named in memory of John Lewis (1940–2020), the civil rights leader who represented Georgia with grace and distinction in the United States House of Representatives for 34 years. All of us, insisted Lewis, must “study and learn the lessons of history because humanity has been involved in this soul-wrenching, existential struggle for a very long time.”

https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/october-2021/american-historical-association-announces-2021-prize-winners

American Historical Association Announces 2021 Prize Winners The American Historical Association is pleased to announce the winners of its 2021 prizes.

We are hiring a tenure-track assistant professor in the history of sexuality, appointed in History with strong ties to Penn’s Gender Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program. For further information: https://apply.interfolio.com/94511. Spread the word!

Apply - Interfolio

The History Department's April Newsletter is up now! Read the latest faculty, graduate, and undergraduate accomplishments today!

April 2021 Newsletter | Campaign Monitor

Mia Bay's new book "Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance" (2021) is now out with Harvard University Press.

From the New York Times: In “Traveling Black,” Mia Bay’s superb history of mobility and resistance, the question of literal movement becomes a way to understand the civil rights movement writ large. “Most studies of segregation are centered largely on the South, and are more grounded in the history of particular communities than in the experiences of Black people in motion,” Bay writes. “Once one of the most resented forms of segregation, travel segregation is now one of the most forgotten.”

‘Traveling Black,’ a Look at the Civil Rights Movement in Motion Mia Bay’s history recounts how modes of transportation first seen as possible escapes from degradation and danger succumbed to the stubborn forces of segregation.