by Karin Wulf This week I learned, via a paper my son is writing, that the molecules in rubber are polymers, meaning that they are shaped like a chain. In a resting state those molecules bunch up in a chaotic tangle, but, when you stretch them, like when you stretch a rubber band, the chains sort themselves into clean… Read More
Every year, the United States holds elections. Often these elections are for city, town, and state offices. Every two years, the United States holds federal elections, where the American people elect those who will represent and serve them in their national government. How did elections in the United States develop? Who is American democracy for and who gets to… Read More
Want to learn more about elections and voting in early America? We’ve compiled a list of suggested books, articles, and online resources that you might find helpful. We either used these works ourselves for production research or they were suggested by our guests. Happy researching! Books Richard R. Beeman, The Varieties of Political Experience in Eighteenth-Century America Christopher M. Read More
Charlie Kreh (W&M Class of 2021) is a History major. He plans to pursue a degree in law after he completes his BA. When I first learned of the Omohundro Institute (OI) and the accomplished scholars who work there, I knew I wanted to participate in any capacity I could. With the help of my advisor, Dr. Nicole Dressler,… Read More
For the last years the OI team—staff, Board, and Council, with feedback from the community—has been thinking about how to serve ever wider public and scholarly communities. We have expanded short-term and longer-term fellowship offerings through partnerships. We have expanded opportunities for students and early career scholars in particular to share their research. And we have rethought some of… Read More
One painfully obvious fact as one scrolls through Colonial Virginia Portraits is that the faces are overwhelmingly white. Colonial Virginia Portraits includes more than 500 recorded portraits of which approximately 95 are documented but no longer extant. Only four of the total represent a non-white person. Three of these feature unnamed individuals who are included in the portraits… Read More
By Ann M. Little, Colorado State University Professor Little was awarded an Omohundro Institute—– Georgian Papers Programme fellowship in 2016 and conducted research in the archives at Windsor Castle in summer 2017. Applications for the fall 2020 round of Georgian Papers Programme fellowships will be posted on the OI website later in August. Amidst our twenty-first century… Read More
If Early American history had a traditional newspaper a number of events over the last months would have produced top-of-the-fold, all-caps headlines about Native American and Indigenous Studies. One of these was the April publication of an exchange in the American Historical Review entitled “Historians and Native American and Indigenous Studies.” Begun as a review of Lisa Brooks’s… Read More
How can you record remote guests and phone calls? These were two questions people sent my way on Twitter when I asked what questions people had about mics, lighting, and sound for their virtual programs and courses. In this last post of our three-post series on the subject of… Read More
I’ve seen a lot of questions about mics, lighting, and sound floating around on Twitter as more museums and institutions move their public programming online and as educators move their teaching online. Many people want to know how they can record the best audio and video for their projects. Today’s post is the second in a three-post series… Read More
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the world to adapt from in-person activities, such as work and school, to at-home activities. With many museums and institutions moving their public programming online and educators moving their teaching online, I’ve seen a lot of questions about mics, lighting, and sound floating around on Twitter. These are areas I know quite well… Read More
Declaration of Independence, Dunlap Broadside (1776) Over the past few years, we’ve steadily grown our collection of readings related to U.S. Independence Day as well as Ben Franklin’s World episodes detailing the early American history of the Fourth of July. It’s time we put it all in one place. Frederick Douglass famously questioned Americans in 1852, “What to… Read More