In the news this week, historian William H. Goetzmann has passed away, the AHA has joined with a number of individuals and organizations to unseal Nixon Testimony, and the National Book Festival has released its schedule.  We also link to three videos this week, featuring James McPherson, the Library of Congress’s collections, and “citizen archivists” at National Archives. Then, read about journalism and history, analog tools, the bygone tradition of pocket notebooks, theflow of the Mississippi River, and two new exhibits. Finally, just for fun, hear alternatives to the RateMyProfessor.com site’s “red-hot chili peppers,” and check out a new game at EDSITEment.

News

• William H. Goetzmann, Pulitzer-Winning Historian, Dies at 80
  William H. Goetzmann, author of Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West, passed away on September 7, at the age of 80.
• Historians Want Court To Unseal Nixon Testimony
  Read coverage of the efforts of the AHA along with other historians and scholarly societies “to unseal the 1975 grand jury testimony of former President Richard Nixon.” The Council made the decision to support this legal effort in June. See also this article from the Richard Nixon Foundation, as well as the actual text of the petition.

• 2010 National Book Festival – Schedule
  The complete schedule for presentations and book signings at the 2010 National Book Festival, on September 25, 2010, is now online. For instance from the History and Biography section, Gordon S. Wood presents from 10:00-10:20 a.m. and signs books from 11:00 a.m. to noon, while  Nell Irvin Painter gives her presentation from 11:10-11:40 and signs books from 1-2 p.m.

Videos

• Book TV: James McPherson on his Writing Habits
  Book TV interviews James McPherson about his writing habits. Hat tip.
• Fascinating Finds in Three Minutes
  The Library of Congress worked with The History Channel to create three-minute videos profiling items from their collections. Now you can seem them all online at the History Channel’s site and the Library of Congress’s site.
• Are you a citizen archivist?
  The National Archives notes a video from its YouTube channel that features “citizen archivists” who have shared their discoveries from NARA records. 

More

• A Report From the Borderland Between History and Journalism
  Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Ian Johnson discuss journalistic and academic writing, and the space between in this article from The Chronicle.
• 5 Analog Tools I Can’t Live Without (And Why)
  While we often highlight digital history, and recently noted some useful iPhone history apps, we do appreciate, just like Prohacker, analog tools as well.
• The Pocket Notebooks of 20 Famous Men
  Take a fascinating and detailed look at the use of pocket notebooks by famous figures including Mark Twain, George S. Patton, Thomas Jefferson, and others.
• Twisted History: The Wily Mississippi Cuts New Paths
  NPR takes a look at 1944 a cartographer;s map of how the Mississippi River flowed then.

Exhibits

• History of a Dress, Chinese Style
  The New York Times takes a look at an exhibit, “The Evergreen Classic: Transformation of the Qipao,” at the Hong Kong Museum of History.
• Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs of the 1930s
  The National Building Museum in D.C. opens a new exhibit on America’s World Fairs of the 1930s, beginning in October.

Fun

• RateMyProfessor’sAppearance.com
  Kerry Soper at The Chronicle suggests some humorous alternatives to the “red-hot chili peppers” denoting attractiveness at RateMyProfessors.com. For example, “The Pizza Slice” for faculty who try and fail to be hip. Or, “The Pocket Protector” for a professor who is “unabashedly (or unconsciously) nerdy in his or her appearance.”
• Mission U.S.
  Preview this new free game about American history from EDSITEment. The full launch of the game occurs next week on September 21.

Contributors: David Darlington, Elisabeth Grant, and Vernon Horn

This post first appeared on AHA Today.