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Uncommon Sense

ICYMI: Doing History "To the Revolution!" sneak peek!

We are excited to announce a second year of collaboration with Liz Covart, creator of Ben Franklin’s World, in 2017. Together we bring you Doing History: To the Revolution! Professor Mary Beth Norton kicked off the season early with a sneak peek yesterday. Building on her recent article in the William and Mary Quarterly, Professor Norton asks… Read More

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The Year in Publications

Today’s post comes from our interim Editor of Books, Paul W. Mapp. From an editor’s point of view, and, I suspect, from the reading public’s point of view, the exciting feature of 2016 for the Books program here at the Institute was the publication of a good number of excellent titles. Equally heartening are the numerous and strong volumes… Read More

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Pay it Forward: The OI’s Digital Collections Fellowship

by Karin Wulf   It’s clear that #VastEarlyAmerica includes not only an expansive conceptual, geographical, and chronological scope, but also new and exciting methodologies. The possibilities for doing digital historical scholarship, from research to publication platforms, have expanded exponentially over the last decade; I find this a tremendously encouraging sign about the vitality and future of our field. I… Read More

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R/O?

Today’s post is from Josh Piker, Editor of the William and Mary Quarterly.  There are certain little things about the Quarterly that I will never be able to change.  Some of those—like the journal’s cover—I wouldn’t change if I could.  Of course, Karin Wulf has made it very clear that, forced to choose between the journal’s cover and its Editor,… Read More

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Garter Day in the Archives

Today, Georgian Papers Programme fellow Rachel Banke writes about her experience while conducting research in the Georgian archives at Windsor Castle’s Round Tower. Applications for the next round of GPP fellowships are due February 20, 2017. Scholars at all levels—graduate students, junior and senior faculty, and independent scholars of all ages—are eligible for the award. Apply here. Read More

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Jamestown, Peru?

Today’s post comes from Christopher Heaney, Assistant Professor, Penn State, 2016-2018 Barra Postdoctoral Fellow, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, and WMQ author (October).   “Do we really need a ‘Peruvian Atlantic’ … ?” asked Reader B. For the sake of my argument, I couldn’t help but agree. The original subtitle of what became my essay in this fall’s issue of the… Read More

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The Notes You Don’t Play

Some Reflections on Vastness and the Word Count by Samuel Fisher, WMQ author (October 2016) I suppose it’s safe to say that the vastness of early America is a bit of a preoccupation in these parts. Big, expansive frameworks are the norm now; that much we know. The hard part comes when we try to actually put them to… Read More

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My First Issue

I have been Editor for over two years, and I’ve yet to publish my first issue. I don’t like to rush into things. April 2016’s issue has been out for over five months now, but that wasn’t my first issue. For those of you in the northern hemisphere, July 2016’s issue arrived in your mailbox just as the heady… Read More

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Summing up 3 days of discussion on slavery

The “Region and Nation in American Histories of Race and Slavery” conference took place at Mount Vernon, Virginia, this past weekend (October 6-9, 2016) before a crowd of over 125 people. With over three days of panels and papers as stimulation, the discussions were intense, long, and fruitful. Here a tiny smattering of the 1000+ tweets (#SlaveryMV) tells the… Read More

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Meet the OI apprentices

(Pictured left to right) Frances Bell, Emily Wells, Kaila Schwartz, Cody Nager, Holly Gruntner, Chris Slaby, Mitch Oxford, and Ravynn Stringfield. Not pictured: Rebecca Capobianco The OI partners with the College of William & Mary’s Lyon G. Tyler Department of History to administer the Editorial Apprenticeship Program. The decades-long program introduces entering graduate students to the practices… Read More

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A Mike McGiffert legacy

Next Tuesday, October 4, 2016, we begin a new tradition at the Omohundro Institute: the annual McGiffert Lecture. The lecture series honors the late Michael (Mike) McGiffert who served as editor of the William and Mary Quarterly (WMQ) at the Omohundro Institute from 1972–1997 and also taught at William & Mary. Mike had an enormous influence on the journal, and on… Read More

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Meet OI Fellow Shauna Sweeney

Shauna Sweeney joined the Institute this summer as the 2016-2018 OI-NEH Fellow. Her research focuses on female-centered market networks in the Caribbean and their significance to the rise of Atlantic commerce and the transition from slavery to freedom during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Laurel Daen (William & Mary Ph.D. 2016), sat down recently with Shauna to discuss her work… Read More

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