W. Caleb McDaniel
@wcaleb.org
Professor of History at Rice University and author of "Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" (Pulitzer Prize, 2020).
Cross-posting from https://updates.wcaleb.org
Cross-posting from https://updates.wcaleb.org
There’s a burn ban in effect at our campsite, so my teenager improvised.
November 26, 2025 at 1:32 AM
There’s a burn ban in effect at our campsite, so my teenager improvised.
My dog seems especially interested in the lyrics to James Taylor’s “The Walking Man.”
November 22, 2025 at 2:08 AM
My dog seems especially interested in the lyrics to James Taylor’s “The Walking Man.”
Well this is pretty cool: a sermon delivered by Rev. Elias Dibble. Born enslaved, Dibble ministered to Houston’s first independent Black Methodist church and is remembered as one of the founders of Emancipation Park. His sermon appeared in the New Orleans Advocate on March 3, 1866. (Hat tip.)
November 17, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Checking in at today’s gala event for Olivewood Cemetery, hosted by Descendants of Olivewood at the historic DeLuxe Theater in Houston’s Fifth Ward.
November 16, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Checking in at today’s gala event for Olivewood Cemetery, hosted by Descendants of Olivewood at the historic DeLuxe Theater in Houston’s Fifth Ward.
Now surveying the name badge options at the SHA.
November 6, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Now surveying the name badge options at the SHA.
Surveying the airport snacks in Houston while waiting to board my flight for the Annual Meeting of the SHA.
November 6, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Surveying the airport snacks in Houston while waiting to board my flight for the Annual Meeting of the SHA.
LSU Press reminds me that today is officially publication day for the book! Thanks @lsupress.bsky.social. See https://bit.ly/secondfounding for more.
October 22, 2025 at 8:02 PM
LSU Press reminds me that today is officially publication day for the book! Thanks @lsupress.bsky.social. See https://bit.ly/secondfounding for more.
The Rice Thresher has a write-up today about the Second Foundings conference, which wrapped up on October 13. Grateful to all who came!
October 22, 2025 at 2:16 PM
The Rice Thresher has a write-up today about the Second Foundings conference, which wrapped up on October 13. Grateful to all who came!
It was wonderful to celebrate Jan West at her recent retirement party at Rice, where a photo from her student days was prominently displayed. One of the true founders of the university we enjoy today.
October 6, 2025 at 7:32 PM
It was wonderful to celebrate Jan West at her recent retirement party at Rice, where a photo from her student days was prominently displayed. One of the true founders of the university we enjoy today.
Wistar Cotton: https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/10/03/wistar-cotton.html
October 3, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Wistar Cotton: https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/10/03/wistar-cotton.html
Yesterday on the free books cart in the library, I found a retired colleague’s undergraduate copy of Becker’s Heavenly City of the 18th Century Philosophers (L). Then, in my office, I discovered that some 35 years later, I had underlined the same sentence in my undergraduate copy (R).
October 3, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Yesterday on the free books cart in the library, I found a retired colleague’s undergraduate copy of Becker’s Heavenly City of the 18th Century Philosophers (L). Then, in my office, I discovered that some 35 years later, I had underlined the same sentence in my undergraduate copy (R).
It was a good mail day. The book is here! And the cover design may well be the best part.
September 30, 2025 at 2:22 AM
It was a good mail day. The book is here! And the cover design may well be the best part.
The two great-horned owls who live in the front of campus were out on the same limb this morning, a rare treat.
September 11, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The two great-horned owls who live in the front of campus were out on the same limb this morning, a rare treat.
Well, that’s one way to measure … (From Flake’s Bulletin (Galveston, TX), June 1, 1866.)
August 29, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Well, that’s one way to measure … (From Flake’s Bulletin (Galveston, TX), June 1, 1866.)
The Second Foundings conference in Houston is fast approaching, October 10-13, 2025. Registration & hotel rooms are still available! Come for keynotes by Ruth J. Simmons and Crystal R. Sanders, plus more than 25 sessions on slavery, universities, and struggles for justice. More info …
August 22, 2025 at 8:35 PM
The Second Foundings conference in Houston is fast approaching, October 10-13, 2025. Registration & hotel rooms are still available! Come for keynotes by Ruth J. Simmons and Crystal R. Sanders, plus more than 25 sessions on slavery, universities, and struggles for justice. More info …
Today while waiting for my coffee at Rice Coffeehouse, I noticed that the endpapers of the 2024 Campanile yearbook contain artists' interpretations of the redesigned academic quad.
Before (in the front):
After (in the back):
... https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/08/06/today-while-waiting-for-my.html
Before (in the front):
After (in the back):
... https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/08/06/today-while-waiting-for-my.html
August 6, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Today while waiting for my coffee at Rice Coffeehouse, I noticed that the endpapers of the 2024 Campanile yearbook contain artists' interpretations of the redesigned academic quad.
Before (in the front):
After (in the back):
... https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/08/06/today-while-waiting-for-my.html
Before (in the front):
After (in the back):
... https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/08/06/today-while-waiting-for-my.html
Found an inscription by my late colleague Thomas Haskell to another of my dear colleagues on the library’s free books cart today, inside this volume. It asks a good question!
July 30, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Found an inscription by my late colleague Thomas Haskell to another of my dear colleagues on the library’s free books cart today, inside this volume. It asks a good question!
Essie Hart Lawrence and the National Park Service at Arlington House in Virginia, 1975: https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/07/30/essie-hart-lawrence-and-the.html
July 30, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Essie Hart Lawrence and the National Park Service at Arlington House in Virginia, 1975: https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/07/30/essie-hart-lawrence-and-the.html
I’ve spent much of today trying to identify the woman leaning against an Arlington House pillar in this photo, which shows President Gerald R. Ford signing a bill to restore the citizenship of Robert E. Lee in 1975. I’m ending the day with some working theories, but no firm answers yet.
July 30, 2025 at 2:48 AM
I’ve spent much of today trying to identify the woman leaning against an Arlington House pillar in this photo, which shows President Gerald R. Ford signing a bill to restore the citizenship of Robert E. Lee in 1975. I’m ending the day with some working theories, but no firm answers yet.
“Tell me you’re a historian without telling me you’re a historian.”
Opens photos app …
Opens photos app …
July 26, 2025 at 12:34 AM
“Tell me you’re a historian without telling me you’re a historian.”
Opens photos app …
Opens photos app …
Recently I posted about a seldom recalled source about the first celebration of Juneteenth as a holiday, in Houston. That post was about a transcription of the source. Today, I looked at the original! More soon as I process what I found.
July 25, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Recently I posted about a seldom recalled source about the first celebration of Juneteenth as a holiday, in Houston. That post was about a transcription of the source. Today, I looked at the original! More soon as I process what I found.
Great morning with K-12 teachers and fellow presenters Lisa Tetrault and Ashley Farmer at the LBJ library’s workshop on teaching voting rights history. I’m leaving with more ideas than I brought!
July 25, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Great morning with K-12 teachers and fellow presenters Lisa Tetrault and Ashley Farmer at the LBJ library’s workshop on teaching voting rights history. I’m leaving with more ideas than I brought!
Every page-proofing adventure uncovers some surprising (to me) update to the Chicago Manual of Style guide: This time, it was in the section on colons.
June 26, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Every page-proofing adventure uncovers some surprising (to me) update to the Chicago Manual of Style guide: This time, it was in the section on colons.