Laura Helton

You busy April 9-10? There's going to be an amazing conference at Rutgers celebrating the (beta) rollout of the Black Bibliography Project database. Here's the agenda: globalracialjustice.rutgers.edu/sites/defaul...
Registration can be found here: globalracialjustice.rutgers.edu/event/networ...

Our research at @aaslh.org suggests that among the 21k+ public history organizations (history museums, historical societies, historic sites) in the US:

- 2/3 are private nonprofits, 1/3 govt
- Among nonprofits, 80% have less than $200k in annual revenue (and thus no paid, full-time staff)

If Federal Museums Aren’t Allowed to Tell the Truth About the Past, it’sTime to Start Supporting… By Michelle Caswell and Bergis Jules

I just read Michelle Caswell and Bergis Jules' on funding for community archives, and you should too.

Their argument: we need a strategy for large-scale private philanthropy to sustain community archives and ensure the survival of the stories they tell.

medium.com/community-ar...

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

And we continue to celebrate #DouglassDay with our global transcribe-a-thon to make Black history open for all!

Transcribe the Colored Conventions
www.zooniverse.org/projects/dou...

Hasn’t all been restored yet, alas! Updates via @dael.bsky.social

UD restores collection of research on slavery, history following report University of Delaware has restored elements of student research, work and academic materials on slavery and Newark history taken offline.

Local news update. Note: contrary to the headline and the claims made in the article, the research has *not* been restored to the website, at least of the time of this post. (See screenshots, to follow)

THIRD PRINTING ALERT: This is my first book and @wehere.bsky.social's first book. The response has been overwhelming (two small printing selling out in a matter of days), but also has meant a bit of lead time in-between. If you've read and enjoyed, please share this out so more folks can explore!

As the article notes, UD removed my students' research from public access on the internet in July 2025.

However, you can see a pre-deletion version of their work on the Wayback Machine: web.archive.org/web/20250612...

(Of course, any further work on these projects within UD has stopped.)

UD removes student research on slavery, Newark history amid federal pressure Over the past year, UD has reacted to pressure under a second Trump administration, while tuning a “long-term strategy” on campus inclusion.

Today, in local news (paywalled alas)

Kelly Powers, “UD Removes Student Research on Slavery, Newark History amid Federal Pressure,” The News Journal, February 3, 2026,

www.delawareonline.com/story/news/e...

Philly sues Trump admin over removal of slavery exhibit The exhibit included the names and other biographical details about the nine people enslaved by the Washingtons at the presidential mansion.

Philadelphia sues Trump admin over removal of slavery exhibit at former George Washington residence

https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/01/philadelphia-slavery-trump-administration-criticism-george-washington-federal-government/

Black Studies on 135th Street A centennial celebration of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and its vital role in the development of Black Studies In 1926, the Afro–Pu...

Forthcoming from @yalepress.bsky.social in April 2026:
"Black Studies on 135th Street---The Founding and Future of the Schomburg Collection" Edited by Barrye Brown, @lehelton.bsky.social and Vanessa K. Valdes yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

I'll say again: some Americans have been trying to silence this history from the very beginning. Yet it's also true that—while Washington was still alive and every time after—other Americans criticized him and reminded the public of his legacy of slavery. We've been arguing over this for 250 years.

15 Must-Visit Minneapolis Bookstores Whatever you're looking for, chances Minneapolis has a bookstore that will suit you. Check out our top picks for local independent bookstores in the city.

Over the weekend, you could support a local indie bookstore by ordering a book online, if there’s one you’ve been thinking about picking up.

Erica Armstrong Dunbar's Never Caught about Ona Judge needs to be made into a biopic. The Washingtons pursued Oney, who self emancipated, as a fugitive until they died.

Hercules Posey, the cook, also self emancipated. He is why we were so upset about that children's book 10 years ago.

MOUNT VERNON TO PHILADELPHIA: A Path to Freedom-For Some The nine enslaved men and women of the President's House were chosen by Washington to accompany him to Philadelphia. They were separated from their families back in Mount Vernon and rotated out of state regularly to prevent them from gaining freedom under Pennsylvania law. CHARACTERS Christopher Sheels, enslaved attendant to Washington Hercules. enslaved cook Richmond, Hercules' enslaved son Giles, enslaved stable hand Oney Judge, enslaved maid and seamstress to Martha Austin, Ona's enslaved half brother, house servant Paris. enslaved stable hand Moll, enslaved maid to Martha Joe Richardson, enslaved postillion for the presidential coach [Floor plan] SERVANTS' EATING HALL

Here's one of the panels that Trump just removed from the President's House site in Philadelphia. (I took this picture of it last March. A couple of weeks later I led a walking tour that included the site.) Does this information "disparage" the United States?

If they take it down, we will put it back up. This is fucking Philly.

Signs about the history of slavery in the U.S. and the 9 people George Washington enslaved are being removed right now at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, across from Independence Hall, months after the Trump administration threatend to do so.

How far we have not come in 250 years.

Historical photo of a library with people reading; text about Bibliography Week 2026 with a registration notice.

Azure text on a white background detailing a guided tour and exhibition at the Schomburg Center.

Join us on Thursday 22 January at 11am for an in person, guided tour of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture's centennial exhibition, 100: A Century of Collections, Community, and Creativity.

Registration is required and limited to 20 participants - link in bio 🔗

#BibWeek26

Scattered and Fugitive Things | Columbia University Press Winner, 2025 Merle Curti Intellectual History Award, Organization of American HistoriansWinner, 2024 Arline Custer Memorial Book Award, Mid-Atlantic Regional... | CUP

I finally had a chance to read L. Helton's Scattered and Fugitive Things - cup.columbia.edu/book/scatter.... I learned many new things AND it also helped me to see the work that we are doing with the Black Zine Fair more clearly.

Yes! Yes to all the contemporary collecting & access projects, like the Black Zine Fair, that build on this legacy and take it in new directions. So important. 🙏

Yale Announces 2025 Frederick Douglass Book Prize Winner Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition has announced the winner of the twenty-seventh annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize.

macmillan.yale.edu/stories/yale...

An amazing, impressive book by an incredible scholar and fastidious researcher - congratulations Justene!

Last week, ICE arrested and separated a father and son after a routine check-in. Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade at an elementary school in Astoria. Now he's in custody, alone. ICE won't say where. This cruelty serves no one. It must end.

Today! All books in @columbiaup.bsky.social Black Lives in the Diaspora series are 50% off, including THE SOUTHS IN HER by @nimojo.bsky.social; AFTERLIVES OF THE PLANTATION by Jarvis McInnis; and SCATTERED & FUGITIVE THINGS by @lehelton.bsky.social. bit.ly/4rupQx9

"We have classrooms because you have to learn how to sustain a thought aloud— exposed to others and to your own ineloquence— to see that other people can help you reach where you can’t quite go and to see that you can help others reach better clarity…”
- Lauren Berlant to 20 y.o. about college #Lit

Books Not Bars 2025 Holiday Campaign BOOKS NOT BARS FOR THE HOLIDAYS Haymarket Books is committed to making our books available for free to people who are incarcerated. In an effort to support those inside who are dealing with the imm...

Help us send 2,000 books to readers who are incarcerated this winter through our Books Not Bars program

My big news: coming May 19 from @scribnerbooks.bsky.social the book I always knew I would have to write. More info and pre-order links here:

www.simonandschuster.com/books/Keeper...

On Monday, December 1, Columbia University Press will be selling all books at 50% off! (And some books at 70%!) tinyurl.com/7wzhyfmv @columbiaup.bsky.social

I used to handle interlibrary loans for a public library. ILL is a magnificent expression of the idea that readers deserve books, and books deserve readers. It’s libraries everywhere pooling their resources for the benefit of everyone.

Killing IMLS could have killed ILL.

This is great news. 📚