Carole Emberton

may I just please never hear about ChatGPT or LLMs ever again, is that an option

Eugene ends longtime partnership with CAHOOTS amid service cuts After decades together, Eugene and CAHOOTS part ways. Here's what's replacing the iconic crisis team — and what services are changing.

This is absolutely terrible. People constantly say that they want to support "alternatives" to policing but they absolutely DO NOT WANT TO RESOURCE THEM. EVER. Cahoots is a gold-standard for non-police community response. 30 YEARS OF PROVEN SUCCESS.

www.registerguard.com/story/news/l...

How to Not Get Poisoned in America The minute I saw that Robert Kennedy Jr., a notorious disease-loving health crank, was going to be responsible for the nation’s health—and the health of its...

"You know, as an example, red lead was used to make cheddar... A can of coffee could be coffee, but it could be ground bone, or charred shells, or dirt." Deborah Blum on our bad food past -- and how to avoid it being our future:
buttondown.com/theswordandt...

Come present! The MHS offers great and helpful seminars. #Skystorians

What DEI threatens isn’t merit. It’s monopoly. Political science professor Hakeem Jefferson argues for DEI's importance to de-monopolizing universities.

A colleague at Stanford’s business school used The Stanford Daily to argue—poorly—against DEI. The piece was riddled with historical errors and left one searching for fact, so I broke my public writing hiatus to respond.

I hope you’ll read and share the piece.

stanforddaily.com/2025/04/22/w...

The Very American Roots of Trumpism Podcast Episode · The Ezra Klein Show · 04/23/2025 · 1h 14m

I also really appreciate that Hahn takes mass incarceration seriously as a form of "disappearance" in U.S. history. The podcast episode is well worth listening to: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

A screenshot from ChatGPT: "Amid the tension that led to the Civil War, Lee was presented with a choice: remain loyal to the to Union, or side with his home state of Virginia and the Confederate cause. His decision to join the South has been interpreted in myriad ways. Some point to his deep ties to Virginia, and his personal conviction that he could not raise arms against his homeland. Others argue it was a reflection of a broader worldview, one that saw slavery as integral to Southern society -- a worldview that Lee never fully rejected despite his many claims of personal discomfort with the institution.

A screenshot of my actual WaPo writing on Lee: "Lee is sometimes defended as a "man of his times," who, by the standards of the day, could not have concluded that slavery was wrong or that he could choose loyalty to the United States over Virginia. The former claim ignores the millions of Black Americans who were able to divine slavery's evil at that time, not to mention White abolitionists and White Southerners such as Cassius Marcellus Clay, James Birney and Elizabeth Van Lew, who inherited enslaved people and freed them. As for the latter claim it is worth noting that other high-ranking military officers from Virginia remained loyal to the United States, among them generals Winfield Scott and George Thomas."

A screenshot of my actual work reading: "And despite what old revisionist history or social media memes claim, Lee owned enslaved people. He drove them hard, and he pursued and punished them when they escaped. He separated families to pay off debts and fought in court to prevent them from being freed."

When I took the history reporter job, I told my editor I would never "both sides" the Civil War, Confederates or slavery. I never did.

But here, ChatGPT (pic 1) has turned my work (pics 2,3) into whitewashed pablum and put MY FUCKING NAME on it.

I am livid, I am shaking. I don't know what to do.

A screenshot of a ChatGPT conversation reading: "can you write something about robert e. lee in the voice of washington post staff writer gillian brockell?" "Certainly! Here's an excerpt written in the voice of Gillian Brockell, a staff writer at The Washington Post, reflecting on Robert E. Lee's legacy: The Complicated Legacy of Robert E. Lee: A Figure Divided by History By Gillian Brockell When Robert E. Lee's name is invoked, it is often as a symbol of Southern pride military brilliance, or a tragic, doomed cause. But history has a way of shifting its lens, and in recent years, the image of Lee -- the Confederate general, the hero of lost causes -- has become increasingly more fraught. The man who stood as the face of a rebellion that tore the nation apart now stands at the center of an ongoing reckoning over the Confederacy's legacy, and our struggle to reconcile memory with reality."

When I left the Washington Post in 2023, my colleagues and I were worried AI would hoover up our work and enable "zombies" to churn out stories based on our reporting and writing styles.

Today WaPo announced a partnership with OpenAI. And here it is: Zombie Gillian Brockell. I DID NOT WRITE THIS.

Hoping to steel Harvard’s resolve against Trump demands, Cambridge officials will host a rally - The Boston Globe It's an unusual move, officials say. But these are unusual times.

“The Trump administration’s illegal campaign against universities isn’t just an attack on the people who work and study at them. It’s an attack on the local communities that thrive alongside them.”

– Nikolas Bowie, Harvard law professor and Harvard AAUP member

America Has Gotten Coretta Scott King Wrong Her ghostwritten autobiography diminishes her, and I found out why.

If you don’t know what fierce and visionary freedom fighter Coretta Scott King was, you need to! www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

#NationalLibraryWeek
#LiteracyMatters

AHA exec director @jgrossman.bsky.social & OAH exec Beth English joined the New Books Network podcast Postscript: Conversations on Politics and Political Science to discuss “the effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education–and what everyone can do to fight back.”🗃️

‘I am stunned.’ Mass. cultural groups see federal funding abruptly slashed. - The Boston Globe The Trump administration this week terminated a $1.3 million grant to the Massachusetts affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, one of several cultural agencies and organizations acros...

Detailing some of the NEH cuts in Massachusetts includibg the state humanities council, AAS, museums, historical documentaries and more. #NEH www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/04/n...

here’s a curse word free version of “look it up” as requested by countless teachers and librarians 🥰😘

Opinion | Why DOGE Slashed the National Endowment for the Humanities (Gift Article) Eliminating federal funding for the humanities saves next to no money, but it will cost the American people something precious.

“Americans really like book festivals and local history museums…We especially like it when such gifts are available to everyone, and not just to those who can afford the price of a ticket.” Excellent @margaretrenkl.bsky.social on the high ROI of the NEH. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...

A Wave of New Legislation Aims to Ban DEI in Public Schools State legislators have introduced measures that would prohibit schools from maintaining diversity, equity, and inclusion offices.

The AHA’s report "American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools" was featured in an Education Week article on a legislation aiming to ban DEI in public schools. Despite these bills’ claims, the AHA found little evidence that partisan or ideological teaching is a widespread problem.🗃️

How do we think about the American Revolution in 2025? Historians examine the history and consequences of the American Revolution on its 250th anniversary.

I haven't had a chance to read any of it, but this looks like a wonderful resource for teachers and anyone else interested in the history and memory of the American Revolution. 🗃️ apps.bostonglobe.com/opinion/idea...

Lulu Merle Johnson (1907–95) – AHA Lulu Merle Johnson, historian and higher education administrator, died in 1995.

In #AHAPerspectives, read a Long Overdue tribute to Lulu Merle Johnson, a historian and the first African American woman to earn a doctorate in Iowa, who died in 1995. 🗃️

Teaching the Vietnam War, Fifty Years On Fifty years after the fall of Saigon in April 1975, we investigate the challenges and opportunities of teaching the Vietnam War and the ways that understanding the war has changed.

On the latest episode #HistoryinFocus, @danieljstory.bsky.social and @syrussolojin.bsky.social speak with the four contributors from the AHR's March 2025 forum "The Vietnam War Fifty Years On," and pay a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. 🗃️

screenshot for the website neh for all, with "impact" "local perspectives" and "resources" options.

The @humanitiesall.bsky.social has a resource, NEH for All, w data about the impact of the NEH locally and nationally. Yes, it is important to right now use the contact and advocacy resources, but it's also critical, imho, to read, gather, & share this info w family &community. www.nehforall.org

Book Proposal Development Grants

Scholarly authors in the humanities and social sciences, apply for this incredible grant from Princeton University Press!

Work with writing coaches like me to craft a solid book proposal. Proud to be part of a program centering the voices of diverse scholars. press.princeton.edu/book-proposa...

Zine Archives Preserve Trans Survival and Storytelling In private collections and public libraries, the pages of these handmade publications hold a wealth of queer history and community.

This piece highlights a number of academic and independent archives that contain incredible zines that document and preserve trans history, community, survival and storytelling 🗃️ #TransDayOfVisibility 🏳️‍⚧️
via @atlasobscura.com: www.atlasobscura.com/articles/que...

We’re watching Glory too. 😭

Can’t wait till the semester is over so I can read this!

Today is my lecture on the Gettysburg Address and I just might cry.

Thanks Carlos!

YouTube video by American Historical Association Allysa Crum: Why History Matters

Creek Wood High School student Allysa Crum produced this video for a class assignment. She writes, “I want to show that historians and the study of history are needed, and organizations like the AHA are key in helping people continue to do the important work of sharing the past with the world." 🗃️

Awards & Prizes - AHA Awards for Publications These prizes honor exceptional books, articles, films, and digital works on a wide range of historical topics. Awards for Scholarly and Professional Distinction These awards re...

Submit nominations for the AHA’s awards and prizes by May 15. The AHA recognizes outstanding historical work of many types, including exceptional books, distinguished teaching and mentoring, film, and digital projects and resources. 🗃️

Quarantine Scenes in Staten Island History — The Gotham Center for New York City History Quarantine Scenes in Staten Island History By Carlos Santiago New York City’s borough of Staten Island has a long history of quarantines and public reactions to them. Just over five miles from Man...

Exciting news! My article, "Quarantine Scenes in Staten Island History," is now live on the Gotham Center for NYC History Blog! From yellow fever in the 1700s to COVID, S.I. has long been at the center of NYC’s quarantine battles, which sometimes sparked rebellion. Read & share! #publichistory #nyc