American Social History Project/Center for Media & Learning, CUNY

Every election is consequential and determining who has the right to vote has been a struggle since the founding of the nation. Over the course of U.S. history, the stakes of some elections have been higher than others, especially in times of a national political, social, economic, or health crisis. Elections can also indicate the vitality of democracy itself, testing the structures of government as well as the public’s embrace of democratic principles. For those wanting to b...etter understand this history, we have gathered a number of documents and teaching resources related to elections in the United States. Some of the collected materials describe the efforts of men and women to expand voting rights in order to realize the nation’s ideals of freedom and democracy, for example, the campaign to win women’s suffrage. The movement to secure voting rights for African American and Mexican American residents showed the bravery, tenacity and patriotism of activists. All of these voting rights campaigns also reveal persistent efforts to constrict the electorate in order to maintain white supremacy and keep political power in the hands of those with race and economic privilege. Other materials focus specifically on past elections, highlighting moments when the media and political campaigns developed new ways to persuade voters or to forecast election outcomes. Finally, given the contentious 2020 Supreme Court confirmation process, a section addresses the issue of Supreme Court nominations and how the composition of the Court became politicized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in an attempt to advance the New Deal. At the bottom of the page, we share links to other digital archives and resources that examine these, and many other issues, in more depth. Follow the link for more: http://ashpc.ml/8h4f6v

Interested in graphic novels, Indigenous history, and decolonization of the Colonial U.S. past? Join Weshoyot Alvitre, Lee Francis IV, and Will Fenton as they discuss "Ghost River: The Fall and Rise of the Conestoga" (Red Planet Books & Comics), a graphic novel that tells the story of Indigenous victims, survivors, and kin of the Paxton massacres in 1763. Their conversation will explore how artistic reinterpretation of colonial records enabled the team to create imagine a n...arrative that re-centers the Indigenous past and present in studies of colonial America. Free and open to all, RSVP here: https://publicslab.gc.cuny.edu//ghost-river-decolonizatio/. Hosted by the Publics Lab at the The Graduate Center, CUNY, co-sponsored by ASHP/CML.

Today, take a moment to reflect on the harrowing events of September 11th, 2001 with the 9/11 Digital Archive (http://ashpc.ml/bkp97v). The digital archive, linked above and below, contains the voices of everyday people from NYC and around the country. There are interviews, photographs, fliers, art, e-mails, and more that document how people and organizations made sense of, and responded to, the day and its aftermath. The archive was organized by ASHP and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, and has since been accepted into the The Library of Congress, assuring its long-term preservation.

57 years ago today, hundreds of thousands protestors joined the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They demanded human rights and anti-poverty measures for Black Americans, a poignant reminder about how far there is to go in ensuring equal treatment and opportunity for all. Crucially, the 1963 March was a product of decades of activism and built upon the March on Washington Movement (MOWM). In a 1941 pamphlet for the MOWM, Black labor leader A. Philip Randolph called for a "an all-out thundering march on Washington, ending in a monster and huge demonstration at Lincoln's Monument will shake up white America," and that "nothing counts but pressure, more pressure, and still more pressure." For more teaching materials and documents on the two marches, follow this link: http://ashpc.ml/mv7sp2

From our home offices in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, the staff of ASHP have watched the protests following the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, with outrage and sorrow, as well as admiration at the determination of tens of thousands calling for justice and change. At times, we have joined the protests and supported them in other ways. As educators and scholars, we recognize the power of history to provide an understanding of the... past that can help transform our present lives and shape our future. For that purpose, we want to share with you some resources (https://ashp.cuny.edu/historicizing-black-resistance-us) that we have compiled for those who want to better understand the history of both black oppression and black resistance that make up the U.S. story. This very selective compilation highlights materials drawn from our own collections, plus links to other freely accessible documents, collections, lesson plans, and items suitable for students, teachers, researchers, public historians, and the interested public. We hope you will share this site widely, and check back as we plan to update and expand the collection. #BlackLivesMatter

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and as we reach the end of the month, it's a good time for some historical reflection! First, probe the social, political, and cultural impetuses and implications of the Philippine War, with ASHP's "Savage Acts: Wars, Fairs, and Empire 1898-1904." Our documentary is available to stream and download for free: http://ashpc.ml/kpq47y Then, delve into the many documents collected on HERB, our free, online database of pri...mary sources and classroom activities. In this doc, Mexican laborers in Oxnard, California stand with their Japanese "brothers" when facing discrimination from the American Federation of Labor: http://ashpc.ml/6y4wpn Finally, explore different voices from NYC's Chinatown neighborhood as residents reflect on 9/11. Located just ten blocks from Ground Zero, Chinatown was the largest residential area affected by the attacks. Read the recollections of neighbors who discuss the day's effect on their air quality and health, their civic and social engagement, and more: http://ashpc.ml/65zpx7

Today is Workers' Memorial Day, when we honor workers who have died or been injured while on the job. It is particularly salient this year, amidst a global health crisis that places so manynurses, delivery people, grocery store clerks, sanitation workersat risk. Reflect on the power of organized labor to ensure safe and fair working conditions, today and every day! Photo: An outdoor STFU meeting, 1937, by Louise Boyle. Courtesy of the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives in the ILR School at Cornell University.

While the The Graduate Center, CUNY is closed due to COVID-19, ASHP staff are fortunate to be able to work from home. So the writing, designing, and programming continues on "Who Built America? Open Educational Resource," as does the production of Mission US 6 and 7. We are also helping develop LGBTQ+ teaching materials for the NYC Department of Education, and continue to assist student work at the New Media Lab. For more info on what we've been up to, and for a primer on all of our publicly available resources for teaching and learning, read (and subscribe to!) our newsletter: ashpc.ml/cxh3nt. Photo: Mexican laborers in Imperial Valley, California. By Dorothea Lange, June 1935, courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning at the City University of New York Graduate Center will host a two-week NEH Summer Institute for college and university faculty in July 2020 on the Visual Culture of the American Civil War and Its Aftermath. Applications to participate will be accepted via mail, e-mail, and our online application system until March 1, 2020 (postal mail must be postmarked by March 1). The Institute will focus on the era's arra...y of visual media--including the fine arts, ephemera, and photography--to examine how information and opinion about the war were recorded and disseminated, and the ways visual media expressed and shaped Americans' understanding on both sides of the conflict. Guided by a team of three faculty that represents the range of work in the field, Institute participants will hear daily lectures and presentations by noted historians, art historians, and archivists; and take part in hands-on sessions in significant museums and archival collections. These Institute activities will introduce participants to the rich body of scholarship that addresses or incorporates Civil War era visual culture, encourage them to explore avenues for further research in the field, and assist them in developing their own research and/or teaching projects. Full details and application information are available on the ASHP/CML Institute website at http://ashp.cuny.edu/nehinstitute/ See more

APPLY NOW! NEH Summer Institute, The Visual Culture of the American Civil War and Its Aftermath (July 2020 in New York City) -- March 1st deadline. ashpc.ml/8fwzv6

New from The Gotham Center for New York City History and the CUNY Digital History Archive: in April 1969, Black and Puerto Rican students at City College challenged the school's admissions policies that heavily favor white students. Read more about their "Five Demands" below! https://www.gothamcenter.org//from-the-cuny-digital-histor

Wonder what it takes to erect a public memorial in New York City? ASHP has you covered! Listen in as Mary Anne Trasciatti, president of Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, walks us through the complex process of involved in creating a monument from the ground up. Streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and our site: ashpc.ml/6jm8hx