Today’s What We’re Reading features historians’ reactions to the Hobby Lobby SCOTUS ruling, the birthplace of plastic surgery, changes afoot at the Mellon Foundation, a medieval workout plan, and much more!
“Guardian of Law” by James Earle Fraser, US Supreme Court, Washington, DC, USA.
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
AHA Roundtable: Historians Weigh in on Hobby Lobby
Historians Ruth Bloch and Naomi Lamoreaux, Alonzo Hamby, and John Fea interject historical thinking into the discussion over the recent Supreme Court ruling.
Lauren MacIvor Thompson guest authors for Nursing Clio and recalls the long legal story of the fight over reproductive rights.
For Independence day, a debate about the Declaration
If Only Thomas Jefferson Could Settle the Issue: A Period Is Questioned in the Declaration of Independence
The New York Times reports on Danielle Allen’s work on the punctuation of our founding document.
Allen offers a more extended explication of thoughts (and evidence), in a piece for the Institute for Advanced Study.
A Contrarian Take on the Mystery of the Missing Period
A piece by Joseph Adelman arguing that “twenty-first century readers, ascribe much more regularity and meaning to punctuation than did eighteenth-century readers, printers, or typesetters.”
History Links
Watch Phil Collins Donate His Enormous Collection of Alamo Artifacts ‘to the people of Texas’
Hayy Was Here, Robinson Crusoe
How a 12th-century Arabic novel inspired Enlightenment thinkers, including, perhaps, Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe.
The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of Salmon P. Chase
Rick Beard retraces the difficult and melodramatic relationship between Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase and President Abraham Lincoln in the heat of the Civil War.
The Amazing Story of a 4,000-Year-Old Necklace Found in a Dumpster
Two thieves who stole a necklace that was worn by kings in Ireland threw it in a dumpster, and detectives searched through the trash to find it.
The Birthplace of Plastic Surgery
“Indian physicians have been performing skin grafts, rhinoplasty and other plastic surgery techniques since 1500 B.C.E.,” writes Sean Braswell.
Research & the Humanities
The grant maker is studying its strategy for saving the humanities.
How Race-Studies Scholars Can Respond to Their Haters
Stacy Patton offers some food for thought (as usual).
Fun and Off-Beat
Decameron 1432-cooking on spit. Public Domain.
Historically Accurate Medieval Workout Plan
“Lift like a serf, eat like a baron, flee like a cathar.”
Author Megan Kate Nelson writes entertainingly about the similarities between two books—a historical biography and a vampire novel—that on the surface would appear to have nothing more in common than their title.
As Germany and France prepare to clash at the Maracana in Rio, Hegel and Marx square off against Foucault and Derrida in some decidedly highbrow World Cup humor.
This post first appeared on AHA Today.
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