Bobby Lee
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bobbylee.bsky.social
Bobby Lee
@bobbylee.bsky.social
2K followers 800 following 270 posts
Historian of the United States, mostly in the 19th c., colonialism, land, GIS. American abroad
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bobbylee.bsky.social
Bobby Lee @bobbylee.bsky.social · Jun 12
My latest article just published and is open access, for now at least.

It’s about how Brown got reparations for property made by slaves after the American Revolution. 🗃️
direct.mit.edu/tneq/article...
Justice for the Edifice: Praying Compensation for Rhode Island College, 1770–1800
In 1770, Rhode Island College, now Brown University, erected the biggest building in Providence. Donations tied to the slave trade funded the College Edifice, now University Hall. Some donors grew ric...
direct.mit.edu
bobbylee.bsky.social
Does this say what I think it says?
November 25, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
mhs1791.bsky.social
Research fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year are now open! Join our scholarly community and enrich your historical scholarship at the MHS. Apply now: masshistfellowships.slideroom.com?fbclid=IwY2x...
Image of the MHS reading room with researchers sitting at desks. MHS staff librarians patrol the room, assisting researchers as needed.
November 24, 2025 at 9:45 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
Watching Swap Shop, mainly for the sweet Tennessee landscapes
November 24, 2025 at 8:41 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
So has the statute of limitations now run out on the Comey charges?
November 24, 2025 at 7:23 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
A bit of normalcy for once
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr...
Live updates: Judge dismisses against James Comey and Letitia James
A judge rules the US attorney, who brought the case against Trump's political foes, was improperly appointed.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
ihrc-umn.bsky.social
The recording of our Hidden Histories of Unauthorized Migrations from Europe to the US webinar is now available at cla.umn.edu/ihrc/news-ev...
@iehs.bsky.social @migrationcollab.bsky.social @illinoispress.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
Apparently, part of the deal ending the shutdown involved only reopening the National Parks for 10 weeks in the dead of winter before another funding shortfall hits www.npca.org/articles/112...
The Longest Government Shutdown in US History Has Ended. What’s Next for National Parks?
After the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, NPCA breaks down the impact to national parks and what’s next for these national treasures.
www.npca.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
nellstra.bsky.social
New book from @ucpress.bsky.social:

Extracting the Future: Lithium in an Era of Energy Transition by Mark Goodale

www.ucpress.edu/books/extrac...
November 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
Not sure what my Mamdani/Pope skeet had that my one praising the research in a 40 year-old historical monograph didn’t
November 24, 2025 at 6:54 AM
bobbylee.bsky.social
Crazy that the mayor-elect of NYC and the Pope are pretty much the two most beloved political figures right now
November 23, 2025 at 6:38 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
I don’t know who these historians are but the Tea Act of 1773 reduced prices to discourage smuggling. Trump’s tariffs increase prices and encourage smuggling
fortune.com/2025/11/23/t...
'All over again, taxation without representation': Tea enthusiasts, historians argue tariff regime is the same as the American Revolution | Fortune
Bruce Richardson of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum says, “Congress is avoiding the issue by simply allowing the president to act like George III.”
fortune.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:34 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
Reading William G. McLoughlin’s Cherokee Renascence today. One of those load-bearing books, still essential decades after publication
archive.org/details/cher...
Cherokee renascence in the New Republic : McLoughlin, William Gerald : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
xxii, 472 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : 24 cm
archive.org
November 23, 2025 at 5:14 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
This should be the top story in the world right now. Tehran has more than 10x the population of Washington DC
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
Iran's capital must relocate due to dire water situation, president insists
Tehran's troubles are a red flag for thirsty cities around the globe.
www.motherjones.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:12 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
Just saw episode 1 of Burns’ American Revolution. A fairly standard account anchored by NE. Might have missed it, but don’t think there was a mention of Lord Dunmore’s War? Guessing it will be threaded in later…
November 22, 2025 at 6:20 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
Wow journalism’s going though some things right now
November 22, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
zoegriffith.bsky.social
Really, really agree with this piece from Huffpo. We don't have to accept the aura of AI inevitability. We can, and should, refuse to engage with it in our classrooms (and elsewhere, but especially in the classroom!)
disabilitystor1.bsky.social Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 4d
There is something intensely bleak about students using gAI in an assignment asking them to respond to a text about enslaved people--so sad.
Students are being misled into stripping themselves of the ability to read, write, think by our own universities and Big Tech
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I assigned Douglas Egerton’s book “Gabriel’s Rebellion,” which tells the story of the thwarted rebellion of enslaved people in 1800, and asked the students to describe some of the author’s main points. Nothing too in-depth, as it’s a freshman-level survey course. They were asked to use either the suggestions I provided or to write about whatever elements of Egerton’s argument they found most important. I received 122 paper submissions. Of those, the Trojan horse easily identified 33 AI-generated papers. I sent these stats to all the students and gave them the opportunity to admit to using AI before they were locked into failing the class. Another 14 outed themselves. In other words, nearly 39% of the submissions were at least partially written by AI.
November 20, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
colnet.bsky.social
"Slaves in Paris: A Digital Mapping Project" - a partnership between Miranda Spieler and Colonial Networks slavesinparis.org. Created with the support of our Kress Foundation Digital Art History Grant. Officially launched today in Paris at #GCFHSResist
Screenshot of the website header for slavesinparis.org comprising a drawing of the Place des Victoires in 18th-century Paris
July 17, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
h-net-humanities.bsky.social
Turtle Island Journal of Indigenous Health is currently accepting submissions! They're looking for topics that discuss ongoing exploitation of Indigenous lands and knowledge impacts on Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Submissions close January 9th.

networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

#edusky #academia
November 20, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
haydenlnelson.bsky.social
Interested in beavers, the fur trade, and environmental history? I was honored to be a guest on the Minnesota Historical Society’s award-winning podcast, Minnesota Unraveled, on their most recent episode: “Beaver Tales: From Minnesota’s Ice Age to the Present.” Give it a listen!
November 20, 2025 at 12:51 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
This is sad. One of those wonderful, bizarre spots where people would gather round to watch
November 20, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
jasonheppler.org
Western historians: consider this CFP for the digital history lightning round at the 2026 WHA conference in Portland! Great format for discussing work in progress with a supportive audience. Happy to answer any questions. Respond by Wed., Dec. 3. #AmWest 🗃️
WHA 2026 Digital Scholarship Lightning Round - Expression of Interest
Please complete the form below. Someone from the Digital Scholarship Committee will contact you to confirm your acceptance to the lightning round. Contact Sean Fraga, [email protected], with questions.
forms.gle
November 20, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
miriamposner.com
WE JUST KEEP WINNING. (UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program RESTORED!!!!)
On official UC letterhead: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA James B. Milliken President Office of the President 1111 Franklin Street Oakland, CA 94607 universityofcalifornia.edu CAMPUSES Berkeley Davis Irvine UCLA Merced Riverside San Diego San Francisco Santa Barbara Santa Cruz MEDICAL CENTERS Davis Irvine UCLA San Diego San Francisco NATIONAL LABORATORIES Lawrence Berkeley Lawrence Livermore Los Alamos DIVISION OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES November 18, 2025 Dear Chancellors: I'm writing with regard to the President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) and the program's associated faculty hiring incentive. As you know, for more than 40 years, PPFP has provided postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development, and faculty mentoring to scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service advance the academic and research missions of the University of California. Since 2003, UC campuses that hire current and former PPFP fellows into ladder-rank positions have been eligible for a hiring incentive funded by the University that provides support for newly hired fellows for five years. Since the creation of the incentive, more than $162 million has been invested by the University to support PPFP faculty hires. This commitment has enabled our campuses to successfully recruit and retain outstanding faculty across a range of disciplines. Given the myriad challenges currently facing UC - including disruptions to billions of dollars in annual federal support, as well as uncertainty around the state budget- reasonable questions were raised in recent months about whether the University could maintain the commitment to current levels of incentive funding. After considering a recommendation to sunset the incentive program due to these significant fiscal constraints, I consulted with all of you as well as faculty and campus academic administrators and systemwide Academic Senate leadership. [continued on next image] After learning more about the history and success of the program and weighing the thoughtful perspectives that have been shared, I have concluded that barring extraordinary financial setbacks, the PPFP faculty hiring incentive program will continue while the University continues to assess the program's structure as well as its long-term financial sustainability. As a result of our continuing consultation and review, there may be consideration of some changes to elements of the program including the total number of incentives supported, a number that has fluctuated significantly over the years, and how the awards are distributed among campuses. In the meantime, the University will continue to fund the PPFP faculty hiring incentive program and campuses may continue to take advantage of these incentives. We will have an opportunity to discuss any potential changes prior to adoption. As we look to the future, I will continue to engage with faculty leaders, program stakeholders, and UC community members about this important program. I especially appreciate the thoughtful perspectives shared in recent weeks by Academic Council Chair Palazoglu and Vice Chair Scott, the Council of Graduate Deans, UC faculty members, and you as our campus leaders. Sincerely, James B. Milliken President
November 18, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Bobby Lee
jimmyskuya.bsky.social
Today is publication day for my book, Mixed-Blood Histories: Race, Law, and Dakota Indians in the Nineteenth-Century Midwest, through the University of Minnesota Press!
www.upress.umn.edu/978151792034...
Mixed-Blood Histories
An unprecedented study that puts mixed-ancestry Native Americans back into the heart of Indigenous history Historical accounts tend to neglect mixed-ancestry...
www.upress.umn.edu
November 18, 2025 at 2:04 PM
bobbylee.bsky.social
For some reason, there’s a 15 foot tall statue of Tony Soprano at a Lithuanian train station
November 18, 2025 at 6:57 AM
bobbylee.bsky.social
Like Bamboo: Why Your Substack Needs an Editor
November 18, 2025 at 6:41 AM