History

History

WWJD?

Who first asked the question: What Would Jesus Do? Hint: he went to Brown.
History

No Bonfires, Please

Archibald "Archie" Delany spent a lot of his time preventing students from burning down the campus.
History
A vintage photograph of a bear in a stroller, from 1948.

Ursus Brownicus

In the old days, bears were not always volunteers.
History
Photo of David Kertzer ’69

Pope Addict

David Kertzer ’69 has attracted Steven Spielberg with his sagas of papal drama
History
Photograph of Norman Eisen ’85 crossing a street in Washington D.C.

House Secrets

Twentieth-century history told through the inhabitants of a Prague mansion
History
Bathsheba Demuth in Rhode Island

Unfrozen

Professor Bathsheba Demuth on the environment and dog-mushing in the Yukon.
Humanities & Culture
Mark Gillen ’77 and his wife, Delmafe Festin, standing at the Manila American Cemetery between stone columns

Set in Stone

Undertaking a huge restoration project in the Philippines
Humanities & Culture
Image from one of the board games

Big Game Hunting

One family’s passion for collecting Victorian table games
Humanities & Culture
Illustration of a colorful dragon

Toilet Papers

A course on the history and science of human excrement is not a “gut.”
History
photo of John Brown House at dusk

Northern Aggression

A Brown symposium looks at the key role Rhode Island—and all of New England—played in the slave trade.
History
Matthew Carrano ’91 grins alongside some dinosaur teeth

Mr. Dinosaur

Paleontologist Matthew Carrano ’91 and the Smithsonian’s “Deep Time” exhibit. 
History
Photograph of John F. Kennedy Jr. ’83 as a child with his grandmother

An American Tragedy

A new book chronicles the life of John F. Kennedy ’83
History
illustration of student being arrested at a demonstration

Fighting for Their Future

Lauren Maunus ’19 and Emma Bouton ’20 have been on the front lines of the growing youth environmental movement.
The Arts
Image of books by Karen Dukess ’84, Akemi Johnson ’04, and Susan Rebecca White ’99

Fresh Ink

Books by Karen Dukess ’84, Akemi Johnson ’04, and Susan Rebecca White ’99
History
Jessica Pearce Rotondi

Family Secrets

In a new book, Jessica Pearce Rotondi ’07 pieces together the decades-long search for her uncle gone missing in Vietnam.
History
portrait of John M. Barry ’68

Lessons from 1918

An expert on last century’s influenza pandemic shares what history could have told us about COVID-19... if we’d been willing to listen.
History
detail of a photo of Prof Mermel's door showing a postcard featuring a gargoyle

The 30-Year Warning

A med school professor has been talking pandemic preparedness for decades
History
Illustration of a riot scene

NOW!

Brown alums on this year’s nationwide demands for racial justice & the urgent need for lasting change
History
Portrait of Edward Ball ’82

Under the Hood

A Klansman's descendent probes his background to expose larger truths about white America history.
Humanities & Culture
Illustration by Raymond Biesinger

Everything Old Is New Again

Technology and new questions bring long-studied archaeological sites to life.
Politics & Law
photo of Professor Seth Rockman on campus

Capitalism on the Couch

A history course analyzes the social, political, and cultural underpinnings of our economic system.
History
Brian C. Muraresku with priest at Chiesa e Convento di San Francesco

The Quest

A bestselling new book searches for evidence that early Christianity may have been powered by psychedelics.
History
illustration of nefarious CIA agent

Ghost Dose

The true story of the CIA’s secret experiment with LSD in the search to create a Manchurian Candidate
History
A WWI nurse lights the cigarette of a wounded soldier

Lit.

How nicotine, alcohol, amphetamines, opium, cocaine, and even caffeine have fueled the world’s wars
History
illustration of the first Delta line at Brown

Black Girl Magic

In the wake of the 1968 Black Student Walkout, a chapter of the politically engaged, storied Black sorority Delta Sigma Theta was born at Brown.
History
Image of Alexa Howard ’20

Working Class Hero

A senior thesis on a legendary Panamanian boxer
Science & Tech
Image of Doug MacDonald at Yellowstone Lake

Manufactured Wilderness

Creating Yellowstone Park meant evicting longtime Native American residents
History
image of Alpha Phi Alpha in 1923

Brown’s First Black Fraternity

The 11 men of Alpha Phi Alpha
The Arts
Image from The Young Lords

The Young Lords

A new award-winning book from Johanna Fernandez ’93
Ever True
Image of three men from Brown class of 1888

The Well-Accessorized Student
The Arts
Image of Nathaniel Philbrick's dog Dora looking at waterfalls

George Slept Here

Retracing President Washington’s journeys
Science & Tech
Image of Mark Agostini on a beach

Dinosaurs!

Five minutes with Mark Agostini ’18 AM
Humanities & Culture
Image of Professors Jonathan Collins, Mahasan Offutt-Chaney, and Lynne Joyrich

An Academic Theory Goes Unexpectedly Viral

Brown scholars on Critical Race Theory, the most divisive topic in American education
History
portrait of Arn Chorn Pond playing the flute

Songs of Survival

Arn Chorn-Pond’s flute-playing literally saved his life in a child labor camp in his native Cambodia. Now he helps other children of war and brings once-banned music back to rural villages.
History
Illustration by James Heimer of broken Roman and Grecian statues and columns

Classics: Dead or Alive?

A new course examines ancient Greece and Rome with a 21st-century lens.
Science & Tech
Image of ancient footprints in New Mexico

Ancient Tracks

New Mexico footprints alter the timeline for human habitation in the Americas.
The Arts
Image of Grace Cho and her mother in 1971

Trauma and Taste Buds

An acclaimed memoir recalls how Korean food kept Grace Cho ’93 connected to her mother
History
portrait of Olivia Ward Bush-Banks

Roots, Reconnected.

A book of Afro-Indigenous poetry found in the Hay Library reunites two women across generations.
History
Illustration by Raymond Biesinger of the List Arts Center, Brown University

List: Love It or Hate It?

50 years of Brown brutalism
First Person
Image of Garfinkle with a photo projected behind him on a wall of his great-great-grandparents and their children, including his namesake, Jack.

Tracing Family Trees

Five minutes with Jake Garfinkle ’23
History
Illustration by Tatyana Alanis of a home from the early 1900s and artifacts buried under the house.

Unearthing Rhode Island History

A dig at a 19th-century College Hill home unveils stories about the textile industry, the European immigrant experience, and life in the Gilded Age.
Service & Advocacy
An image of Ruth Simmons clasping her hands together.

Complex Truth Telling

A letter from the President
The Arts
Illustration by Dana Smith of various classic cinematic photos from LGBTQ films.

How to Read a Picture

A course applies seminal texts to classic LGBTQ images and films to show how imagery has been used to fight oppression.
History
A drawing from 1864 of troops lined up in formation by John Tetlow.

When the University Cadets Went to War

From the Archives
History
Image of J. Myrick Howard in front of a historic home in N.C.

Preserving North Carolina’s History
History
Close-up image of Richard Slotkin

Red/Blue America

Are competing national myths the root cause of our divided nation?
History
Archival image of convocation in 1946 on the Main Green.

A Challenge at the Outset

From the Archives
The Arts
Illustration by Tim Cook of individuals reading books.

Share the Knowledge

A roundup of topical new books by Brown faculty
History
An image of Chris Norlund sitting in an empty cafe

Resilience

48 years after "Operation Babylift," Chris Norlund ’03 AM found his Vietnamese family.
Politics & Law
Image of Timothy Snyder standing with an old defunct factory wheel behind him.

Can We Rescue “Freedom”?

A popular historian on our elusive national value
History
Image of the spines of books from Larry Tye, Brianna Craft, and Eric Jay Dolin

Fresh Ink for November–December 2024

Books by Larry Tye ’76, Brianna Craft ’13 MA, and Jay Dolin ’83
Sports & Recreation
Close-up image of a Japanese baseball player from a baseball card from the 1800s.

Curveball

A day at the Tokyo Yakult Swallows’ ballpark changed everything
Ever True
Archival image of 3 members of the Brown Band in 1940

Brown Band 100th

From the Archives
History
Archival image of Charles Evans Hughes and his wife Antoinette

The Brown Alum who Almost Became President

From the Archives
History
Archival image of a student cutting another student's hair in 1970.

From the Archives: Students Respond to “Confused Times”

BAM’s May 1970 article on Vietnam War protests
History
Close-up image of a painting of a man from the 1800s

Land of Six Hundred Thousand Despots

The autobiography of an enslaved man describes 1800s America
History
Illustration by Veronyka Jelinek of two hands reaching for one another and paper in the background

The Banality of Kindness

Professor Emeritus Tony Molho on escaping the Nazis
The Arts
Image of the spines of books

Fresh Ink for June–August 2025

Books by Rita Bullwinkel ’11, Ken Conca ’82, and Scott Allen ’91 MD
Issues

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