March 25, 2010
What We’re Reading: March 25, 2010 Edition
Take a look back at U.S. presidents’ approval ratings and views on healthcare in our links to the “Presidential Job Approval Center” and a recent blog post from the Historical Society blog. We also link to two articles on the controversial Texas Curriculum issue from the New York Times and HNN. In museum news, the German-American Heritage museum in Washington, D.C. recently opened while the National Museum of Natural History celebrates 100 years in existence. Then, read about filing manuals from NARA, learn about Civil War photographer Charles Moore, and examine a century of eating habits.
U.S. Presidents
- Presidential Job Approval Center
A well presented and interactive site that compares “Gallup data on presidential job approval ratings from Truman to Obama.” - Some Historical Perspectives on National Healthcare
The Historical Society blog takes a look at U.S. presidents and healthcare from 1912 to now.
Texas Curriculum
- In Texas Curriculum Fight, Identity Politics Leans Right
In the fight over curriculum, conservatives in Texas have more in common with liberals than they think. - Eric Foner & Stephen Colbert Discuss a Texas Edjukashun
HNN reposts video of Stephen Colbert poking fun at Texas for their recent textbook revisions and then speaks with Eric Foner on the consequences of this.
Museums
- German-American Heritage Museum promotes culture, doesn’t tell whole story
A new museum on German-American Heritage has opened up in D.C., but Marc Fisher at the Washington Post raises concerns about “deconstructing history into ethnically separate stories that can hardly make sense when each is told in its own building.” - The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is 100 years old!
On March 16, 2010, the National Museum of Natural History celebrated its 100th birthday. Hat tip.
More
- Filing Manuals online!
The National Archives has posted “filing manuals from the War Department, the Army, the Navy, the Coast Guard, the Marine Corps, the State Department, the Department of the Interior, the Federal Works Agency, and the National Archives and Records Administration.” On their blog they’re asking which other ones readers would like to see.
- Remembering Civil Rights Photographer, Charles Moore
Charles Moore, renown for his photographic ability to capture raw moments during the civil rights movement, passed away last week at the age of 79. Be sure to flip through NPR’s online photo gallery, listen to the story on Morning Edition, and watch a documentary that shares Moore’s experiences in Alabama during the 1960s.
- Guess Who’s Turning 100? Tracking a Century of American Eating
Amber Waves, a publication of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, analyzes “food availability data” from the past 100 years.
Contributors: David Darlington, Elisabeth Grant, Vernon Horn, Jessica Pritchard, and Robert B. Townsend
