Drawing on primary sources from the Truman Library, the National Security Archive, and the Interim Committee report, this article reconstructs how President Truman and his advisors decided to use the atomic bomb in 1945, and how the decision was seen at the time.
Drawing on period accounts and historical records, this article reconstructs the daily news routines of American families in the 1930s and 1940s—when radio, newspapers, and newsreels shaped public understanding of the Great Depression and World War II.
Oral histories capture the voices of ordinary people, but they demand careful analysis. This article draws on official guides to explain how historians collect, interpret, and verify personal memories as historical evidence.
Drawing on letters, diaries, and personal testimonies, this article reconstructs the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire as experienced by those who lived through it, offering a vivid primary-source portrait of shock, fear, and resilience.
Drawing on the Linsley family letters, Benjamin Roth’s diary, the Bean Ticket letters, and desperate pleas to an Atlanta newspaperwoman, this article reveals how ordinary Americans documented their struggles, fears, and daily life during the Great Depression.
This article explores the Vietnam War through the raw, personal voices of soldiers, medics, and civilians as captured in letters, diaries, and photographs—primary sources that preserve the chaos, terror, and humanity of the conflict.
On July 14, 1958, a military coup in Baghdad toppled the Hashemite monarchy, ending a British-backed dynasty and launching the Iraqi Republic. Drawing on radio broadcasts, CIA briefings, and eyewitness accounts, this article reconstructs the day as it was lived, feared, and understood.
Drawing on front pages, reporter memoirs, and personal recollections from October 1962, this article reconstructs how Americans experienced the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis—what they knew, feared, and expected as the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war.
Drawing on contemporary newspapers, diaries, and official records, this article reconstructs how people in the 1910s experienced a decade of war, technological marvels, and social upheaval—before the future they imagined was shattered by the Great War.
Drawing on contemporary accounts and modern scholarship, this article traces the brief but legendary Pony Express—from its March 1860 founding to its October 1861 end—revealing what riders, entrepreneurs, and the public experienced and believed during its eighteen months of operation.