#PlainTalkHistory

E PLURIBUS UNUM.

#PlainTalkHistory is a meeting place where scholars, educators, and designers are creating the digital materials we’ve all been waiting for.

You can help:

CREATE IT WITH US

Hello, teachers!

GIVE US FEEDBACK

OUT OF MANY, ONE.

The United States is a multiracial democracy. It stands in a long line of nations on this continent to seek its harmony and prosperity through self-government.

We declare these ideals we stand for — but our textbooks seem too afraid to teach the real lessons that a citizenry would need to understand one another and share in the blessings of liberty.

Those writers are too stuck to a script to acknowledge one simple truth: our history was written by the choices and worth of people of every kind. What happened on this continent has been a massive experiment of people encountering their differences. It hasn’t gone smoothly.

*It’s time to tell this differently.

“History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read.”

And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it... and history is literally present in all that we do. … It is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations.

— James Baldwin

1965

History is an act of citizenship

#PlainTalkHistory is building a home to host the critical history lessons of a multiracial democracy. Guided by a distinguished Board of Advisors and funded by auut studio, in 2020-2022 we will assemble here the best digital history contributed by historians and teachers Gr. 9-12. These are the deeper stories glossed over in standard textbooks (and actually more interesting). Each is packaged here ready for teachers’ use or for anyone who has an hour to spare. To rectify the narrative, these stories are often about and centered on people of color who wove the fabric that ties us all together as the people of the United States.

We celebrate many voices,

and the

joy of learning something new,

and a

respect for so many shoulders we stand on.

Develop the skills for historical inquiry:

a hand-drawn horizontal line across the width of the page

Get your hands in an archive*

Stories here will examine primary-source data and documents, so students can form historical arguments about what happened. They’ll also meet the archivists who made this possible.

*no special white gloves needed.

Confront common misconceptions about history

Many of the narratives our parents learned are... — well, it turns out the story is more complicated than that. Nuance is traditionally set aside for history majors, but we believe that any young person can understand that the world was complicated (just like today’s).

Move beyond the PDF and practice spatial reasoning

These histories are told with interactive maps and timelines. A key part of understanding how events unfolded is to observe how close (or far apart) the actors were and how they moved — in relation to forbidding geography and contested land.

Graphics allow students to perceive patterns over space and time, adding a new tool in their analytical toolkit.

We. Need. Your. Help.

In 2020-2021 we’re in the construction phase. We’re assembling the best on a wide range of events in U.S. History. And we need your help... join us!

CREATE WITH US

how does a

Young citizen know what to believe?

photo of three students reading quietly from tablet screens

Evidence.

In this photo we see the future voters of 2028. Like anyone, they have a desire to be inspired and to feel respected for the complicated world they maneuver. A modern media explosion makes both of those much noisier.
#PlainTalkHistory knows there are multiple perspectives behind the messiest historical events. Stories on this site provide many explanations of causation, and allow students to evaluate which perspectives are better supported by the evidence.

‘‘The Civil War was fought over slavery.’’

‘‘It was about the economy & states’ rights.’’

‘‘It was failure to compromise that caused the Civil War.’’

map showing towns and Indian Reservations in the Pacific Northwest

The things unsaid.

Maps tell a story. But they also can mislead, because every map makes unspoken implications about importance and control.

#PlainTalkHistory is leading the way for maps that are conscious of what’s being included AND excluded. Every element in our maps is chosen to support the story. Our cartography is multi-narrational: it recognizes that there are multiple relationships of people present on the same area of land.

Evidence.

#PlainTalkHistory knows there were multiple perspectives behind the messiest historical events. Stories on this site provide many explanations of causation, and allow students to evaluate which perspectives are better supported by the evidence.

‘‘The Civil War was fought over slavery.’’

‘‘The Civil War was about the economy & states’ rights.’’

‘‘It was failure to compromise that caused the Civil War.’’

The things unsaid.

Maps tell a story. But they also can mislead, because every map makes unspoken implications about importance and control.

we’re here asking

Two BIG questions

What makes for better citizens?

We are fascinated by stories of heroism and difficult decisions that never make it into the textbook. If these powerful lessons are missing from class discussions, it is almost certain they go missing from our national discourse.

#PlainTalkHistory exists to empower the public to be proud participants — in a nation for the people, by the people, of the people.

…What’s so great about a $10 word?

“Never use a long word where a short word will do.” Yet much of digital history is created in the academy, where sounding smart is what gets rewarded, and the audience is in the dozens.

#PlainTalkHistory thinks bigger than that — like in the 100,000s. We shine in digesting lots of information and nuance down to the essence of what is relevant, and important, and interesting.

We let historical figures introduce themselves in their own words, but otherwise we speak the language of laypeople.

What makes for better citizens?

#PlainTalkHistory exists to empower the public to be proud participants — in a nation for the people, by the people, of the people.

What’s so great about a $10 word?

“Never use a long word where a short word will do.” Yet much of digital history is created in the academy, where sounding smart is what gets rewarded, and the audience is in the dozens.

#PlainTalkHistory thinks bigger than that — like in the 100,000s. We shine in digesting lots of information and nuance down to the essence of what is relevant, and important, and interesting.

We let historical figures introduce themselves in their own words, but otherwise we speak the language of laypeople.

we invite you to