Beware, beware, today is April Fools’ Day! Check out Wikipedia for a look back at some well known pranks. But while the pranksters are going to be rampant today (especially online), know that the following links and news are all legit. In the news this week, the NEH announces $16 million in available grant money, the BBC reports on the Connected History project, Eric Foner weighs in on the Texas textbooks debate, and a new report finds students retain print information better than material read online.  It seems fitting to recognize other notable dates on a day like today, so check out articles on Ada Lovelace Day, Easter at the White House, and the anniversary of lasers.  We also take a look at the lives of two people: a former slave/possible saint and a 106 year old woman and her look back on history. Finally, read about the future of Wikihistory, a look at public historians, and maps through time.

News

• NEH announces $16 million in awards and offers for 286 humanities projects
  The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced Monday $16 million in grant awards and offers for 286 humanities projects.
• Search engine collects historical resources
  The BBC reports on the Connected History project, which is combining the collections of 12 institutions (and hopefully more in the future) for easier searching.
• Twisting History in Texas
  Eric Foner weighs in on the Texas textbooks debate in The Nation.
• Students Retain Print Information Better
  The Chronicle reports on a recent study that found “students had lower reading comprehension of online material than they did of a print version.”

Notable Dates

• Ada Lovelace Day
  March 24th was Ada Lovelace Day, and a number of bloggers took part in celebrating the history of women in science and technology. See Rob MacDougall’s “Lovelace and Somerville” and Suzanne Fischer’s “Nora Stanton Blatch, engineer and feminist” posts.

• With Easter Monday You Get Egg Roll at the White House
  History of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll event.
• Happy anniversary, lasers!
  The National Museum of American History takes a look at 50 years of lasers.

People

• A Former Slave’s Long Road to Sainthood
  The Archdiocese of New York continues its efforts to make Pierre Toussaint the Catholic Church’s fourth black saint. Toussaint was a Haitian slave before his French master brought him to New York in 1787 where he became a popular hairdresser and eventually took over his master’s business despite his social status. There is also evidence that he cured a five-year old boy of scoliosis, which the Vatican accepted as a miracle in 2003.
• Ella Mae Johnson: Her Story Was History, Too
  Ella Mae Johnson passed away last week at the age of 106. She witnessed firsthand more than a century of civil rights and left behind a legacy through her compassion and perseverance. Hear also the story from NPR’s Morning Edition.

More

• The Future of WikiHistory
  Mills Kelly at edwired points to an interesting new phenomenon–the printed collection of Wikipedia articles (in this case of Slovak history), and ponders what it means for the dissemination of historical research.
• XLVI: The History PhD as Public Historian
  The often thorny problem of defining just who is a public historian and where they are employed is taken up by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes at In the Service of Clio.
• Roundup: Maps through Time
  The Historical Society blog rounds up a number of map resources.

Contributors: Elisabeth Grant, Jessica Pritchard, Pillarisetti Sudhir, and Robert B. Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.