James Grossman

National Security Presidential Memorandum/NSPM-8 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF WAR               THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET SUBJECT:       Use of

I wonder whether Trump's memorandum to pay military personnel is valid. There is no "Department of War." Nor is there a "Secretary of War." There are no "Department of War funds."
A person who doesn't exist is being ordered to spend funds that don't exist.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Today is Yom Kippur. Fasting this year seems especially important because we atone not only for our individual sins, but as a community ask forgiveness for the sins of the community.

ED Wants Grants to Advance “Patriotic Education” Professional historians say the department’s plan is part of the Trump administration’s broader attempt to create an Orwellian “truth ministry” and omit the more troubling aspects of the nation’s past...

The issue is less whether we should teach a "patriotic history" than what it means to be patriotic, and what "patriotic history" is. Patriotic history education provides students with the resources to be constructive, informed citizens. See www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

YouTube video by Roll Call Factbase Videos PBS: Interview with Charlie Rose and Donald Trump - November 6, 1992

Every Democratic leader who deals with Trump should watch this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QQq...

So You Want a Civil War? Let’s Pause to Remember What One Looks Like. Today marks the 163rd anniversary of Antietam. Those who say they’re ready for civil war should stop and think about what happened there.

David Blight reminds us about what it really means to have a war, civil or otherwise:
newrepublic.com/article/2005...

Someone should organize a #FreeDC campaign. Patronize only businesses that show some kind of #FreeDC indicator (city flag, etc).

Amna is very kind; they are all worth reading and we're all grateful to David Blight and Michael Tomasky. And to each other.

Trump Against History How is Trump changing our sense of who we are? We asked eminent Yale historian David W. Blight to round up some colleagues to consider the question. Here’s what they had to say.

The September issue of The New Republic features articles by 11 historians on doing history in the current environment. Thus far seven have been posted online, including mine. Thanks to David Blight for organizing and MIchael Tomasky as the editor at TNR.
newrepublic.com/series/67/tr...

Arne Duncan has it right:
"The only hope 4 higher education is total & unrelenting resistance 2 Trump.Every college in America & every stakeholder must join together & pursue every possible strategy — legal or otherwise — to stop him."https://www.chronicle.com/article/an-open-letter-from-arne-duncan

YouTube video by US Department of the Interior Inside Interior | July 4, 2025

In another era I would have thought this to be brilliant satire. Now it is more in the realm of terrifying. Everyone should watch it and ask what we need to focus on politically in the coming months. It should be clear what our priorities have to be. This has to end.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmMQ...

Argument for civics education informed by historical literacy and historical thinking (and, considering ideas about pluralism and its relationshp to democracy):

thehill.com/opinion/educ...

I agree. An odd kind of "misunderstaning."

Update on National Archives at College Park - AHA Many AHA members have expressed alarm about a post on the National Archives website regarding restricted access to Archives II in College Park, Maryland. In a message on X (formerly Twitter), which we...

Many #NationalArchives researchers have expressed alarm about a NARA website post regarding restricted access to Archives II in College Park. NARA has clarified that research rooms will remain open to the public.

For details see www.historians.org/news/update-...

According to Wikipedia, Irving Berlin's "1943 production This Is The Army featured the first integrated division army unit in the United States." Looks like the composer of "God Bless America" was a "supporter of DEI" according to standards and wording articulated by certain Federal officials.

Why is the Secretary of Defense demanding that Harvey Milk's name be removed from the USNS Harvey Milk? He says it's "DEI." No. The ship is quite reasonably named after a major American political figure who was assassinated. So the naming is totally legitimate in the tradition of ship naming.

Opinion | What Pete Hegseth Gets Wrong About 'Warfighting' Combat? That's actually not what we want our armed forces to do.

An excellent example of the importance of historical knowledge and of expertise
www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Trump’s cultural overhaul throttles local arts, humanities programs nationwide | CNN Politics For 60 years, Boston’s Museum of African American History has transported people to the past, letting visitors to a 200-year-old meeting house see where abolitionists like Frederick Douglass spoke and...

AHA executive director @jgrossman.bsky.social appeared on CNN on Friday, May 24, where he spoke about the recent cancelation of NEH grants and funding. The cuts, he emphasized, were made by DOGE, not NEH staff: “Nobody was involved who actually knew what they were talking about.” 🗃️

AHA exec. director @jgrossman.bsky.social participated in a panel discussion as part of the Max Weber Foundation’s Historians on Democracy conversation series. Grossman participated in part one of the series, “What was, what is, and what can be done?” on April 9, 2025. Watch the discussion online 🗃️:

Why Anti-Jewish Discrimination on Campuses Might Not Violate Title VI Trump’s campaign against higher ed relies on the idea that antisemitism and anti-Zionist discrimination violates federal civil-rights law. That’s not always true, two professors say.

Regarding the Administration's campaign against anti-semitism in Higher Ed. Read the law: "Title VI is a real law, and it has real demands, and here’s what they are, and they’re markedly different than anything the administration is claiming" www.chronicle.com/article/why-...

It's after the 2 minute mark

Opinion | We Are Not Being Asked to Run Into Cannon Fire. We Just Need to Speak Up.

Drew Faust (Former VP @historians.org) reminds us of our "reciprocal obligation" to the past.
US Army soldiers in Civil War fought to preserve democracy. Their victory was institutionalized in 13-15th Amendments.Our obligation is to preserve the word & the spirit of those amendments
lnkd.in/e28mEgAU

AHA Executive Director to Appear on CNN to Discuss NEH Cuts and Humanities Funding AHA executive director James Grossman will appear on CNN on Friday, May 23 at 7:45 p.m. ET as part of a segment on the NEH and humanities funding.

AHA executive director @jgrossman.bsky.social will appear on CNN on Friday, May 23 at 7:45 p.m. ET as part of a segment on humanities funding, including the cancelation of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants and cuts to the NEH. 🗃️

American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association File Lawsuit Alleging Illegal Dismantling of National Endowment for the Humanities - AHA Lawsuit aims to reinstate NEH grant programs, divisions, and staff. For Immediate Release / May 1, 2025 (New York, NY) — The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the American Historical Assoc...

The AHA, along with the ACLS and the MLA, have filed a lawsuit to restore the programming and institutional integrity that have been stripped away from the NEH. Announcement and PDF of filing in district court are here: www.historians.org/news/america...

Find Your Soapbox – AHA James Grossman's final column as AHA executive director.

My last column for Perspectives on History: www.historians.org/perspectives...

KNX News Interview with Jim Grossman, January 20, 2025 AHA executive director James Grossman was interviewed on KNX News as part of its coverage of the 2025 presidential inauguration. Grossman discussed President Trump’s declaration that he would rename t

AHA executive director @jgrossman.bsky.social was interviewed on KNX News as part of their coverage of the 2025 presidential inauguration to discuss President Trump’s declaration that he would rename the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali.

Trump May Wish to Abolish the Past. We Historians Will Not. Commentary from the heads of two prominent historical associations on Trump’s recent executive order on “radical indoctrination” in schools.

AHA exec director @jgrossman.bsky.social, @oah.org president @dblight.bsky.social, & OAH exec director Beth English co-authored an article, "Trump May Wish to Abolish the Past. We Historians Will Not" for @newrepublic.com on the executive order, “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling.” 🗃️

The Battleground of 1776 – AHA Executive director James Grossman revisits the AHA's response to the "1776 Report."

The incoming administration has apparently considered reinstating the infamous 1776 Commission whose work four years ago was widely discredited. Here is why this matters:

www.historians.org/perspectives...

The National Archives is nonpartisan but has found itself targeted by Trump As President Donald Trump moves to overhaul the federal government with astonishing speed, he has wreaked havoc on one agency long known for its nonpartisanship and revered for its mission: the Nation...

@jgrossman.bsky.social was featured in an ABC News article about NARA. The head of NARA, the archivist of the United States, is “the steward of those billions of records, which belong to the American people,” said Grossman. 🗃️

My conversation with @jgrossman.bsky.social, pres of AHA @historians.org and Beth English, pres of @oah.org. about their joint statement, effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education – and how to fight back. #History #PoliSky newbooksnetwork.com/postscript-n...

How will Trump's executive order affect the Smithsonian? The Smithsonian Institution, a vast complex of research centers, museums and galleries, is the latest culture target of President Trump's executive orders.

@jgrossman.bsky.social on @npr.org about the EO targeting the Smithsonian: "It misrepresents the work of the Smithsonian, which is one of the great research institutions in the world, arguing that the Smithsonian somehow misleads people, somehow is unpatriotic...That is simply not true." 🗃️