In an era of "don't say gay" laws, Dr. Pippa Holloway, chair of the University of Richmond's Department of History, believes in the relevance and importance of teaching LGBT history to students for what they learn about courts, the Constitution, civil rights, and America as a whole.
What happens to a community that experiences political factionalization, religious fervor, and racial anxiety and starts to look for an enemy within? These three factors and more culminated in the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 when a group of young girls started to suffer afflictions and parents understood that the threat of Satan arrived in their Puritan community. In this talk, Dr. Dan Howlett, Adjunct Lecturer of History, tells his family history about the scapegoating and violence committed in 17th century Massachusetts. Between nine and eleven generations ago, one of his great-grandfathers diagnosed the witchcraft afflictions while others defended Rebecca Nurse from accusations, one cousin accused over 80 people while another relative fled after her conviction. This talk will cover what happened and why neighbor turned against neighbor and why we still need to care about this story in 2025.
In 2015, members of the LGBTQ+ community rejoiced when the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution protected the right of same-sex couples to marry. Many of the celebrants on the court steps held signs that read "Love Is Love," which reflected the movement’s argument that marriage rights were meant to respect and support the emotional bonds between devoted partners. But although the campaign for marriage equality was about love, it was also about money. Same-sex couples’ inability to marry imposed significant financial harms on queer households. This lecture highlights the overlooked fights for economic equality that predated the movement for marriage rights, revealing how these battles ultimately helped produce the Supreme Court’s historic decision recognizing same-sex marriage.
Jesse Helms (1921-2008) dominated the political landscape of North Carolina during the last half of the twentieth century. Though Helms’s more than thirty years in the US Senate are most remembered for what he opposed rather than what he achieved, he was a central figure in modern conservativism. Helms innovated strategies for consolidating political power by using broadcast media to generate grassroots outrage. In addition, Helms’s National Congressional Club successfully raised a powerful warchest that could be used in television attack ads. Anticipating the rise of MAGA, Helms’s career-long penchant for race-baiting and homophobic rhetoric created many opponents, but even they acknowledged his uncanny ability to piece together slender electoral majorities in a rapidly changing nation.
This lecture will be given by the 2025-2026 Visiting Cornerstones Chair in History, Bill Link.
Michelle Kahn, associate professor of history, was selected as a finalist by the German Studies Association for two book prizes, including the 2025 DAAD/GSA Book Prize for the Best Book in History and Social Sciences, and the 2025 David Barclay Book Prize for her book, Foreign in Two Homelands: Racism, Return Migration, and Turkish-German History.
Michelle Kahn, associate professor of history, was awarded the Community-Engaged Teaching Award by the Bonnor Center for Civic Engagement at the eighth annual Engage for Change Awards.
Michelle Kahn, associate professor of history, has been awarded a fellowship from the American Jewish Archives for 2025-26 to support research for her book tentatively titled Neo-Nazis in Germany and the United States: An Entangled History of Hate, 1945-2000.
Eric S. Yellin, associate professor of history, participated in the American Historical Association’s Congressional Briefing, offering historical perspectives on the federal civil service.
History professor Eric Yellin is quoted.
Historian and president emeritus Edward Ayers is quoted.
History professor Michelle Lynn Kahn is interviewed.
History professor Eric Yellin is quoted.
Mailing address:
History Department
Humanities Building
106 UR Drive
University of Richmond, VA 23173
Phone: (804) 287-6041
Fax: (804) 287-1992
Department Chair: Dr. Pippa Holloway
Academic Administrative Coordinator: Catherine Hash