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Contemporary (1950 CE - Present)

Link to source page for AAAS Letter
Teaching

Short Teaching Module: Science, Technology, and the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex during the Cold War

For decades, the relationship between science and the U.S. government during the early Cold War years was understood largely as a story of a militaristic state persecuting and co-opting scientists and scientific institutions to serve national security interests.

Link to source page for Harvard Letter
Source

Harvard Physics Department asserts that investigations threaten national security, 1950

This document is the response of the Harvard University Physics Department to a proposed Congressional amendment in 1950 requiring that the FBI investigate scientists’ “loyalty” before they could receive government contracts.

Link to source page for NAS Letter
Source

National Academy of Sciences objects to political persecution of Condon, 1948

This document from 1948 expresses concern by members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) over the political persecution of Edward Condon, a physicist and director of the Bureau of Standards.

Link to source page for AAAS Letter
Source

AAAS Defends Edward Condon from HUAC, 1948

This document from 1948 circulates to members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) the organization’s position on the political persecution of Edward Condon, a physicist and director of the Bureau of Standards.

Photo shows women working at sewing machines on both sides of 2 long tables.
Teaching

Short Teaching Module: Portraying Women Workers: Beyond Norma Rae

Starting at the turn of the twentieth century, U.S. and insular government offices and textile and garment businesses incorporated women of the New South and Puerto Rico into manufacturing in distinct yet interrelated ways.

Image of the Mahabodhi Temple: a stepped pyramid with round dome-shaped structure (stupa) on top
Methods

Analyzing Travel Records

In a way, all historical thinking and all historical writing deal with travel accounts.

The label on a vinyl copy of Strange Fruit. Circular label is red with Commodore: classics in swing at the top and the title Strange Fruit.
Source

"Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday (1939)

Based on a poem by Abel Meeropol published in January 1937, “Strange Fruit” was a song protesting the lynching of African America

A image of a kasai velvet textile, woven in a diamond pattern in cream and black
Source

Kasai Velvet, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Despite its name, Kasai velvet, or velours du kasai, is not actually a velvet.

A detail of the Bayeux Tapestry, depicting two horsemen in battle
Methods

Analyzing Primary Sources on Women in World History

Traditionally, historical writing focused on elites and often rendered women invisible unless they were queens or empresses.

Thumbnail of a propaganda poster that features two Black men, one with his arm raised and the other resisting a baton wielded by a white gloved hand
Source

"Resolutely support the just struggle of the American Blacks!" Propaganda Poster, 1963

The title of this Chinese propaganda poster is “Resolutely support the just struggle of the American Blacks!” (Jianjue zhichi Meiguo heirende zhengyi douzheng!).