Happy Tax Day! In 2007 we took a look back at the history of the American tax tradition, but other than that the rest of today’s What We’re Reading is tax-reference free. Instead, we bring you news on the recent OAH annual meeting, deregulating oral history research, the most recent issue of Common-place, and the launch of the LOC’s redesigned online image catalog. Then, learn of new bloggers and blogs (covering NARA, the New York Times, and the dinner menu of the past), reviews of new books (on U.S. states that might have been and the African Diaspora), and a new album from the band Titus Andronicus that centers on a Civil War theme.

News

• The Moral of the Story
  Inside Higher Ed reports on last week’s Organization of American Historians annual meeting.
• More Universities Deregulate Oral History
  Zach Schrag at Institutional Review Blog highlights important changes in the review policies for oral history at University of Texas Austin, Brigham Young University, and Princeton University.
• Down and Out in Antebellum America
  The latest issue of Common-place takes up the issue of “Hard Times”–exploring the historical antecedents of our recent economic troubles and efforts to address them.
• Pictures 2.0
  The Library of Congress announces the launch of their Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, which offers “ new ways to browse [the LOC’s] 1.25 million online prints and photos.”

New Blogs

• Cultivating Citizen Archivists
  David Ferrerio, the new Archivist of the United States, has joined the community of bloggers discussing new acquisitions and issues of government openness. Hat tip.
• Sunday Magazine
  Take a look back (100 years back) to articles from the New York Times.
• Four Pounds Flour
  While this blog is not exactly new (about a year old), it’s new to us.  Check out some fascinating posts on historic gastronomy. Hat tip.

New Books

• Beyond 50: American States That Might Have Been
  NPR reviews Michael J. Trinklein’s new book, “Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It.”
  
• Patrick Manning, “The African Diaspora: A History Through Culture”
  Former AHA Vice President Pat Manning discusses his new book on the African Diaspora in the latest installment of New Books in History.

New Music

• Stickles’ Folly: Titus Andronicus, ‘The Monitor’
  The band Titus Andronicus releases a new album with songs packed with “references both obvious and obscure to American history.” The title of the opening song? “A More Perfect Union.”

Contributors:  Elisabeth Grant and Robert B. Townsend

This post first appeared on AHA Today.