Annette Gordon-Reed
@agordonreed.bsky.social
Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard, Author of, among other books, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings:An American Controversy,The Hemingses of Monticello,, Vernon Can Read: A Memoir with Vernon Jordan, On Juneteenth
Just returned from an overnight stint in the hospital. Apparently, consultants have taught them to associate “hospital” with “hospitality” services.The personnel were super nice. Actually, I’ve noticed this just visiting hospitals. So different from when my mother was ill & hospitalized years ago.
November 18, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Just returned from an overnight stint in the hospital. Apparently, consultants have taught them to associate “hospital” with “hospitality” services.The personnel were super nice. Actually, I’ve noticed this just visiting hospitals. So different from when my mother was ill & hospitalized years ago.
My experience has been with adults and young people alike, is that Americans want a history that tells the bad along with the good. They are smart enough to know that that is the nature of life.
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
Tell Students the Truth About American History
We owe it to Americans of all ages to be honest about the country’s past, including its contradictions.
www.theatlantic.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:01 PM
My experience has been with adults and young people alike, is that Americans want a history that tells the bad along with the good. They are smart enough to know that that is the nature of life.
Reposted by Annette Gordon-Reed
If you ask historians of medicine what keeps them up at night, many will not say a new plague or bioterrorism, they will answer, "antibiotic resistance."
November 16, 2025 at 7:02 PM
If you ask historians of medicine what keeps them up at night, many will not say a new plague or bioterrorism, they will answer, "antibiotic resistance."
Reposted by Annette Gordon-Reed
My lovely colleague Serena Zabin is featured in Ken Burns's new documentary series, "The American Revolution," that premieres on PBS tonight. Here's more information and how to watch it for free 🗃️: www.pbs.org/kenburns/the...
The American Revolution | Premieres Nov. 16 | PBS
The American Revolution, a landmark documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, premieres Nov. 16, 2025.
www.pbs.org
November 16, 2025 at 8:04 PM
My lovely colleague Serena Zabin is featured in Ken Burns's new documentary series, "The American Revolution," that premieres on PBS tonight. Here's more information and how to watch it for free 🗃️: www.pbs.org/kenburns/the...
I had many interviews in hotel rooms and thought nothing of it. I was so focused on the interaction that I didn’t think of it. I can have tunnel vision sometimes, as people who know me will attest.
If you are not in academia, you might not know this, but job interviews used to be held at conferences IN HOTEL ROOMS. Women candidates in a hotel room alone with often all-male committees. People sitting on beds! The horror stories I've heard.
I thing I sometimes thing about is that university departments were still doing job interviews in hotel rooms in the mid aughts
November 16, 2025 at 11:20 PM
I had many interviews in hotel rooms and thought nothing of it. I was so focused on the interaction that I didn’t think of it. I can have tunnel vision sometimes, as people who know me will attest.
I don’t think I’ve ever done an interview or —on either side—in a hotel room that was not a suite. The interviews were conducted in the living room area. Think twice about an employer that cannot spring for a suite.
I thing I sometimes thing about is that university departments were still doing job interviews in hotel rooms in the mid aughts
November 16, 2025 at 8:49 PM
I don’t think I’ve ever done an interview or —on either side—in a hotel room that was not a suite. The interviews were conducted in the living room area. Think twice about an employer that cannot spring for a suite.
Wow
I have no knowledge of what happened at UVA. I do know Jim Ryan and regard him with deep respect. I can't believe he would do anything other than tell the truth just as he experienced it. This seems likely to go down as one of the most sordid chapters in the history of American academic freedom.
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Wow
Reposted by Annette Gordon-Reed
A podcast conversation (and transcript) with the terrific Lydia Polgreen of the NYT about my new book, The Second Emancipation, and about Africa's place in the world of today and tomorrow. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/o...
Opinion | Africa Is Rising. The World Shouldn’t Turn Its Back.
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:16 PM
A podcast conversation (and transcript) with the terrific Lydia Polgreen of the NYT about my new book, The Second Emancipation, and about Africa's place in the world of today and tomorrow. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/o...
It’s tough enough figuring out what to fix for dinner every night for the adult humans. It’s a drag figuring out what to give the very picky dog.
November 13, 2025 at 11:10 PM
It’s tough enough figuring out what to fix for dinner every night for the adult humans. It’s a drag figuring out what to give the very picky dog.
I’ve been writing most of the day. I looked up thinking it was about 8 o’clock. It’s not even 6!
November 11, 2025 at 10:53 PM
I’ve been writing most of the day. I looked up thinking it was about 8 o’clock. It’s not even 6!
Reposted by Annette Gordon-Reed
I'll start
youtu.be/80GKeyIqDW0?...
youtu.be/80GKeyIqDW0?...
The Blinding of Isaac Woodard | Full Documentary | AMERICAN EXPERIENCE | PBS
YouTube video by American Experience | PBS
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
I'll start
youtu.be/80GKeyIqDW0?...
youtu.be/80GKeyIqDW0?...
Reposted by Annette Gordon-Reed
On November 10, 1898, a shocking coup was executed in Wilmington, North Carolina, as white mobs led by former Confederate Col. Alfred Moore Waddell overthrew the city’s elected biracial government and massacred 60 or more Black people.
The Wilmington Massacre of 1898
A shocking coup was executed Wilmington, North Carolina.
eji.org
November 10, 2025 at 2:02 PM
On November 10, 1898, a shocking coup was executed in Wilmington, North Carolina, as white mobs led by former Confederate Col. Alfred Moore Waddell overthrew the city’s elected biracial government and massacred 60 or more Black people.
Reposted by Annette Gordon-Reed
Big thanks to WSRE for a great visit to Pensacola to talk about the Gulf Coast in the American Revolution youtu.be/8cnngurIx08
Conversations with Jeff Weeks | Kathleen DuVal
YouTube video by WSRE PBS (Pensacola, FL)
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Big thanks to WSRE for a great visit to Pensacola to talk about the Gulf Coast in the American Revolution youtu.be/8cnngurIx08
OK, this is kind of a picture of me and the Boss together…
November 10, 2025 at 1:47 AM
OK, this is kind of a picture of me and the Boss together…
This is about right…
November 10, 2025 at 1:24 AM
This is about right…
Reposted by Annette Gordon-Reed
We've got a cover. Coming your way next June!
November 9, 2025 at 5:50 PM
We've got a cover. Coming your way next June!
That’s a great looking cover!
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
That’s a great looking cover!
Edinburgh on Thursday. Sunny, temperate weather, Frederick Douglass, @frankcogliano.bsky.social , and me.
November 8, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Edinburgh on Thursday. Sunny, temperate weather, Frederick Douglass, @frankcogliano.bsky.social , and me.
Thoughtful and well-done piece.
Bruce Springsteen’s Father, Through the Mansions of Fear, Through the Mansions of Pain www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Bruce Springsteen’s Father, Through the Mansions of Fear, Through the Mansions of Pain www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Opinion | Bruce Springsteen’s Father, Through the Mansions of Fear, Through the Mansions of Pain
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Thoughtful and well-done piece.
Bruce Springsteen’s Father, Through the Mansions of Fear, Through the Mansions of Pain www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Bruce Springsteen’s Father, Through the Mansions of Fear, Through the Mansions of Pain www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Is that a real headline?
Nothing latent about it. Overt as hell.
me: no, really, latent misogyny & sexism is still a really big problem! even in elite spaces!
them: wanna post a lil misogyny & sexism in the paper of record?
but seriously - there are still big problems with professional men feeling entitled to harass, demean, & (negatively) stereotype women!
them: wanna post a lil misogyny & sexism in the paper of record?
but seriously - there are still big problems with professional men feeling entitled to harass, demean, & (negatively) stereotype women!
November 7, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Is that a real headline?
Reposted by Annette Gordon-Reed
The Studio Museum of Harlem is at the top of the list of independent cultural institutions we must support. This week the museum offered a preview of the opening of its extraordinary new building on 125th Street. Director Thelma Golden is a leader without parallel. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/a...
Planting a Flag, and a Flagship, for Black Art
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM
The Studio Museum of Harlem is at the top of the list of independent cultural institutions we must support. This week the museum offered a preview of the opening of its extraordinary new building on 125th Street. Director Thelma Golden is a leader without parallel. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/a...
The panel and my co-panelists, Patrick Griffin, Meg Roberts, & Lige Gould.
November 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The panel and my co-panelists, Patrick Griffin, Meg Roberts, & Lige Gould.