BMCC History

05/01/2026

A shout-out from The New York Times of the late Jesse Lemisch, professor for many years at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with whom we are articulated.

Yale’s Bicentennial Schlock collection offers a window into the star-spangled commercialism that swept the country 50 years ago.

04/10/2026

“The war with Iran drove up monthly US inflation threefold in March, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report, released Friday morning.”

Consumer prices increased by 0.9% last month due to spiraling energy costs from the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

02/24/2026

02/05/2026

We will probably be seeing a lot more going down the memory hole as the 250th anniversary rolls around.

The administration took a crowbar to a site that focused on George Washington and slavery. But can the contradictions of the Founding Era be erased?

01/21/2026

The Spring 2026 semester starts this coming Monday, January 26th!

Do you need a history, social sciences, or gender and women’s studies elective course for graduation? Are you interested in learning more about women’s contributions to history? Sign up for the synchronous, online course His 225: History of Women: Women and Gender in World History, with Dr. Lopez-Jantzen! Women have been fundamental to society and major historical movements since the beginning of written history, despite their contributions frequently being overlooked. In this class, we’ll discuss why women’s achievements are less often highlighted, and analyze documents written by women across time and space. Finally, all students will have the opportunity to research in greater depth a topic they are most interested in for the final project.

The below image, of women on strike in the early 20th century, is from the Tenement Museum's collection - the museum itself fairly close to BMCC! www.tenement.org

08/08/2025

"For the president and the right-wing culture warriors who are pushing these revisions, the real offense of these museums is that they finally tell the truth about American history — who benefited and who suffered — in an unsparing way."

Art can only be effective at illuminating and healing if it is unconstrained by authority.

07/24/2025

'The bulk of the content identified for review in the internal documents addresses the struggle for equality of Black Americans, from slavery to the civil rights movement....

At Cane River Creole National Historical Park in Louisiana, a park official noted an exhibit about slaves who tried to escape but were captured. The official was concerned because the exhibit identified the enslavers by name and mentioned that returned slaves were publicly whipped.

Rolonda Teal, an anthropologist who has studied the Cane River park, said that Congress established it in 1994 to preserve the history of two plantations that housed hundreds of slaves for over 200 years.

“If you don’t talk about the names of the slaves, the names of the enslavers, the whipping of the slaves, then you’re only telling white history in America,” Dr. Teal said.

“Why would you visit a plantation if you don’t want to hear the whole story, and how could it be a plantation if there weren’t slaves?” she added. “So that’s the ridiculousness of it all.”'

Descriptions and displays at scores of parks and historic sites have been flagged for review in connection with an executive order from President Trump.

04/03/2025

"“Groceries, I used it on the campaign. It’s such an old-fashioned term, but a beautiful term. Groceries. It’s a bag with different things in it,” he said."

Please, make it stop...

President Donald Trump wanted the entire world to know about his self-branded “Liberation Day” on Wednesday, during which he announced—in a 48-minute rambling speech, no less—a slew of new tariffs on imported goods.

04/01/2025

The American Historical Association has released a statement in support of the Smithsonian Institution, the target of the recent executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” This order “egregiously misrepresents the work of the Smithsonian Institution” and “completely...

03/13/2025

The American Historical Association (AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH) have released a joint statement condemning federal censorship of American history.

02/05/2025

The OAH & American Historical Association advocate for the importance of history in American public life and for education that prepares students for informed citizenship and work. We have issued a joint statement on the EO “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling." 🔗 https://ow.ly/t1fj50UUl1z