-
Eight Pieces of Advice for Early-Career Historians from the IHR Scholarly Community
Originally published 20 October 2022 with On History, the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) Blog | By Clare V. Church This blog post was written by Clare V. Church, Summer 2022 Intern for the IHR Stories project, and PhD student in History and Welsh History from Aberystwyth University. If you had the opportunity to speak with…
-
Defending Vera: Troops Came to the Defense of the Forces’ Sweetheart After Attacks from Parliament (1944)
Originally published August 22, 2022 with Adam Matthew, Blog | By Clare V. Church Dame Vera Lynn is celebrated worldwide for her accomplishments in popular music throughout World War Two. Also known as the ‘Forces’ Sweetheart,’ Lynn sang to the British troops at home and abroad from 1939-1945 and is best remembered for her romantic…
-
Joséphine Baker: artist, activist, resistance fighter and now honoured in France’s Panthéon
In the midst of the Second World War, at the edge of the vast Saharan desert, Joséphine Baker took the stage. Her backdrop was a midnight sky, painted with stars.
-
Songs of Resistance
Violent storm clouds and blistering winds gathered around Germaine Sablon. As her silk scarf wavered in the wind, she clenched her fists to the sky and sang, “Ce soir l’ennemi connaîtra la prix du sang et des larmes.” Tonight, the enemy will know the price of our blood and tears.
-
Let’s Stop Romanticizing Mr. Darcy When There Are Way Better Options in Literature
Question: What’s more attractive than an intelligent, compassionate, rugged Professor, who has tumbling brown hair, cares for orphans, and loves to hear about your work? Answer: A rich, rude snob, who despises dancing, scoffs at your family, and calls you “tolerable, but not handsome enough,” behind your back.
-
Confronting Memories of Nazi-Occupied France
Early last year, France opened its WWII police archives for the first time. More than 200,000 documents, formerly available only to select scholars and officials, became open to the public after 76 years of secrecy.
-
Indigenous women brave the storm to begin talks at UN CSW
Published March 16, 2017 on openDemocracy | By Clare Church This week, the frigid temperatures and blustery winds of winter storm Stella shut down New York City. On Tuesday, the second day for the 61st Commission on the Status of Women, the United Nations Headquarters closed its complex, while most of the planned events were postponed. But one Mission…
-
Native American Women: “Original Resisters and Ultimate Survivors”
Published February 26, 2017 on Civic Ideas | By Clare Church NEW YORK – In the sea of pink pussy hats, waves of cornflower blue folded through the Women’s March on Washington, the day after Donald J. Trump was sworn in as president. Although not included in the first phase of organizing the protest, Native…
-
Watch this New Series Showing the Ordinary and Extraordinary Lives of Muslim New Yorkers
Published February 23, 2017 on Philanthropy New York | By Clare Church Imam Khalid Latif urged his wife not to get off the plane with him on the way to their honeymoon in St. Lucia. “You don’t want to go through this,” he pleaded. Latif, on previous occasions, had been stopped for random checks; escorted…
-
The Feud Between the Millionaire and the ‘King of the Hoboes’
Published January 4, 2017 on Bedford + Bowery | By Clare Church Heckles and howls echoed through the meeting rooms of 64 East 4th Street on February 1, 1913. “Down with How and his postage stamp philanthropy!” yelled Jeff Davis, the self-proclaimed King of the Hoboes. “He has never given us any of his mythical millions!” Davis further…
-
View from Canada: Your elections are too damn long!
Published November 6, 2016 on Salon.com | By Clare Church Sometimes I think I’ve adapted successfully to the American way of life. I can tell the temperature in Fahrenheit and without complaint. I have eliminated “shreddies,” “smarties” and “ketchup chips” from my diet. I don’t even visibly cringe anymore when a complete stranger stops me mid-sentence…
-
A Leaderless Movement: Gordon Brown on Globalization
Published October 12, 2016 on the Journal of Political Inquiry | By Clare Church The room was filled with an impatient buzz. Students and faculty looked around, both admiring their surroundings and hoping to get a glimpse of the world leader who would speak in only a few short minutes. Five journalists in the third…
-
Who will speak for indigenous peoples at the UN General Assembly?
Published September 16, 2016 on openDemocracy and reprinted by TruthOut | By Clare Church Poverty, displacement, malnutrition. Over the next two weeks, these three concerns will be discussed as agenda items at the United Nations’ annual gathering. And yet, indigenous peoples, who suffer at disproportionately high rates from these issue, will not be invited to…
-
Introducing our Muslim Neighbors, One Story at a Time
Published August 18, 2016 on Philanthropy New York | By Clare Church This summer’s headlines, tweets and cable TV shouting matches have been unrelenting against Muslims. Not surprisingly, a study recently found that more than 80 percent of media coverage of Muslims is negative, and media coverage of Muslims is more negative now than it…
-
Closer to home than you think
Published July 8, 2016 on the London Free Press | By Clare Church NEW YORK – Living in the land of Donald Trump, I’ve almost become numb to the unrelenting onslaught of Islamophobia. It’s in politics, it’s in the news, and it’s on the streets. But I never thought it would be in my Canadian hometown. After growing…
-
Most Rapes of Native American Women Go Unpunished; Communities and Police Debate Solutions
Published June 20, 2016 on Civic Ideas | By Clare Church NEW YORK – When a Native American woman is raped, her case can easily disappear into a jurisdictional black hole. “Over and over again, we see that nothing happens,” said Kristen Ruppel, associate professor of Native American Studies at Montana State University. “Some women…
-
One in Three Native American Women Report Rape – Rarely See Justice
Published June 20, 2016 on the Journal of Political Inquiry | By Clare Church In April, Joseph Dean Lee was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for sexually assaulting a Native American woman on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana. Although Lee will serve time in prison, often those who rape Native American women…
-
So you want to move to Canada, eh?
Published March 7, 2016 on the Journal of Political Inquiry | By Clare Church Well, well, well. How the tables have turned. It was only last month that I was still getting a constant barrage of “You’re Canadian?! That’s so cute!” or “You say ‘about’ funny!” or even better, “Is Canada even a real country?”…
-
Backstage at a Fest That’s ‘Experimenting With the Idea of Experimental Theater’
Published January 27, 2016 on Bedford + Bowery | By Clare Church and Esme Montgomery Last week, we gave you the heads up about Exponential Festival, a cavalcade of local productions that are “all experimental and strange in nature, but in a way that’s experimenting with the idea of experimental theater,” according to founder Theresa Buchheister.…
-
A Rebuilt Home for the Holidays
Published December 25, 2015 on Pavement Pieces | By Clare Church Three Christmases after Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc in New York, Staten Island couple Helena and John Mahon have something to be merry about. Thanks to the gift of mild weather this December, construction on the Mahons’ home can conclude and the couple will finally…