John Garrison Marks
@johngmarks.com
Historian and writer. New book about how Americans remember George Washington and slavery forthcoming April 2026 w/ @uncpress.bsky.social. Vice President of Research & Engagement at AASLH. www.johngmarks.com
Pinned
John Garrison Marks
@johngmarks.com
· Sep 21
My book exploring how generations of Americans have fought over how to understand George Washington and slavery officially has a pre-order page up! a.co/d/j5sBjLH
Got to briefly shake @vanhollen.senate.gov’s hand at a Thanksgiving parade last weekend. Didn’t get a chance to tell him then so saying it here: this guy so, so clearly gets it. Glad to have one of the good senators.
Wow — Senators Van Hollen, Smith, Murphy, Sanders, Warren, Markey, Merkley, Heinrich have created an official internal "Fight Club."
They're challenging Schumer & Gillibrand's leadership, arguing the party is using an old, corporate-friendly playbook insufficient to take on Trump or win elections.
They're challenging Schumer & Gillibrand's leadership, arguing the party is using an old, corporate-friendly playbook insufficient to take on Trump or win elections.
Chuck Schumer Faces Pushback From a ‘Fight Club’ of Senate Democrats
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Got to briefly shake @vanhollen.senate.gov’s hand at a Thanksgiving parade last weekend. Didn’t get a chance to tell him then so saying it here: this guy so, so clearly gets it. Glad to have one of the good senators.
The George Washington tricentennial birthday is just a bit over 6 years away, Ken!
I figure Ken Burns has one, maybe two big documentary series in him before he fully retires. What do you think they should be? My votes include Football, Hip-Hop, World War 1, Reconstruction (though Skip Gates did this one well), Iraq/Afghanistan, 19th Century Expansionism.
November 25, 2025 at 1:04 AM
The George Washington tricentennial birthday is just a bit over 6 years away, Ken!
Inspired. "This work reaches beyond restoration. It asks a harder question: what does it mean to be a people who remember? Facing the past honestly is not an act of guilt; it is an act of shared responsibility—a recognition that history belongs to all of us and demands something from each of us."
The Emmett Till Interpretive Center has purchased and protected the barn near Drew, MS, where Emmett Till was brutally beaten and murdered. It will be preserved not merely as a structure, but as sacred ground. Read our open letter here: www.emmett-till.org/barn
November 24, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Inspired. "This work reaches beyond restoration. It asks a harder question: what does it mean to be a people who remember? Facing the past honestly is not an act of guilt; it is an act of shared responsibility—a recognition that history belongs to all of us and demands something from each of us."
My 3 year old has a tough time with “th” sounds so keeps calling the upcoming holiday “Skanksgiving,” and I go back and forth between thinking he’s in Mean Girls and that he’s a a Ska kid. Not sure which would be worse.
November 23, 2025 at 6:09 PM
My 3 year old has a tough time with “th” sounds so keeps calling the upcoming holiday “Skanksgiving,” and I go back and forth between thinking he’s in Mean Girls and that he’s a a Ska kid. Not sure which would be worse.
The story here of selectively choosing Jefferson’s words in a way that framed his involvement with slavery to fit political and cultural needs of the moment is something I’ve seen over and over in my research on George Washington. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
The secret history of how Jefferson’s words were doctored inside his memorial
Eight decades ago, a presidential commission guided by Jefferson’s great-great-grandson selectively edited the Founding Father’s words to present him as an abolitionist without mentioning he had ensla...
www.washingtonpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 PM
The story here of selectively choosing Jefferson’s words in a way that framed his involvement with slavery to fit political and cultural needs of the moment is something I’ve seen over and over in my research on George Washington. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
I’ll be talking about my book in Albany next month (12/13), before the NY State Museum closes out their exhibit about Washington in myth and memory. nysm.nysed.gov/programs/joh...
Thy Will Be Done: John Marks on George Washington, Slavery, and American Memory | The New York State Museum
nysm.nysed.gov
November 21, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I’ll be talking about my book in Albany next month (12/13), before the NY State Museum closes out their exhibit about Washington in myth and memory. nysm.nysed.gov/programs/joh...
In 1843, William Lloyd Garrison told a crowd that among Christians, “either Jesus or Washington must be rejected.” He went on: “Shall a stain be cast on…Jesus Christ, in order to screen the reputation of Washington…who chains, enslaves, and crushes a portion of the human race?”
November 21, 2025 at 3:56 PM
In 1843, William Lloyd Garrison told a crowd that among Christians, “either Jesus or Washington must be rejected.” He went on: “Shall a stain be cast on…Jesus Christ, in order to screen the reputation of Washington…who chains, enslaves, and crushes a portion of the human race?”
Had to finally get one.
November 21, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Had to finally get one.
They busted out the fancy lights for this one.
November 20, 2025 at 11:18 PM
They busted out the fancy lights for this one.
Headed down to the opening of the brand new @archivesfdn.bsky.social exhibit and ”experience” they’ve developed for the 250th. After almost 9 years working on this anniversary, finally getting some perks!
November 20, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Headed down to the opening of the brand new @archivesfdn.bsky.social exhibit and ”experience” they’ve developed for the 250th. After almost 9 years working on this anniversary, finally getting some perks!
Reposted by John Garrison Marks
If you want to learn about the two specific and opposing memories or narratives of the Revolution that Ken Burns is trying to mash together in this documentary…
Hey #skystorians, what are the classic or new books you're recommending when your non-specialist friends are watching Ken Burns and want to read more?
I'm saying 1.) Elizabeth Fenn's Pox Americana and
2.) @michaelhattem.bsky.social 's Memory of '76.
I'm saying 1.) Elizabeth Fenn's Pox Americana and
2.) @michaelhattem.bsky.social 's Memory of '76.
The Memory of ’76
The surprising history of how Americans have fought over the meaning and legacy of the Revolution for nearly two and a half centuries Finalist, George Wash...
yalebooks.yale.edu
November 20, 2025 at 5:05 PM
If you want to learn about the two specific and opposing memories or narratives of the Revolution that Ken Burns is trying to mash together in this documentary…
Reposted by John Garrison Marks
I've been working on this project for months and I'm extremely excited to be able to offer this preview of our findings. We now know more than we've ever known about the public history workforce.
More at the link below, and more detailed reports, infographics, and programming to come in 2026.
More at the link below, and more detailed reports, infographics, and programming to come in 2026.
Here's a preview of what we found in the National Survey of History Practitioners, which 3,700 people completed this spring. We'll have more to share in early 2026. Learn more about this project at aaslh.org/research.
November 19, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I've been working on this project for months and I'm extremely excited to be able to offer this preview of our findings. We now know more than we've ever known about the public history workforce.
More at the link below, and more detailed reports, infographics, and programming to come in 2026.
More at the link below, and more detailed reports, infographics, and programming to come in 2026.
Reposted by John Garrison Marks
My book officially exists here in the physical universe. Cannot wait to hold one of these advance reader copies. Getting closer!
(Thanks for the 📸 @sonyabonczek.bsky.social!!)
(Thanks for the 📸 @sonyabonczek.bsky.social!!)
November 19, 2025 at 5:59 PM
My book officially exists here in the physical universe. Cannot wait to hold one of these advance reader copies. Getting closer!
(Thanks for the 📸 @sonyabonczek.bsky.social!!)
(Thanks for the 📸 @sonyabonczek.bsky.social!!)
Reposted by John Garrison Marks
The publication date for my book on the history of policing American slavery has been moved up a month! Now available May 12, 2026! Thanks so much to those who have preordered! The Press is offering 30% off with the code, 01UNCP30
uncpress.org/978146969484...
uncpress.org/978146969484...
White Power
Beginning in the colonial era and growing through the American Revolution and the Southern plantation system, slaveholders’ violent police regime continued...
uncpress.org
November 20, 2025 at 11:55 AM
The publication date for my book on the history of policing American slavery has been moved up a month! Now available May 12, 2026! Thanks so much to those who have preordered! The Press is offering 30% off with the code, 01UNCP30
uncpress.org/978146969484...
uncpress.org/978146969484...
Has anyone seen other examples of these kinds of real-time “historical markers”?
Seen in Washington DC, capital of the land of the free
November 20, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Has anyone seen other examples of these kinds of real-time “historical markers”?
Many, many people over the years have said it was divine providence that delivered the “bulletproof” George Washington through two wars, to deliver the U.S. into existence. #HATM
November 20, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Many, many people over the years have said it was divine providence that delivered the “bulletproof” George Washington through two wars, to deliver the U.S. into existence. #HATM
Sometimes when I hear the harpsichord transitions in the new Ken Burns film, I like to imagine that a TLC / Destiny’s Child song is about to start. Always disappointed!
November 19, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Sometimes when I hear the harpsichord transitions in the new Ken Burns film, I like to imagine that a TLC / Destiny’s Child song is about to start. Always disappointed!
Begging this man to stop talking about George Washington. I can't make anymore revisions.
Trump: My pollsters said, 'sir, if George Washington and Abraham Lincoln came back from the dead and they aligned and they went for the president, vice president as a combination, you'd be beating them by 25 points.'
November 19, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Begging this man to stop talking about George Washington. I can't make anymore revisions.
I've been working on this project for months and I'm extremely excited to be able to offer this preview of our findings. We now know more than we've ever known about the public history workforce.
More at the link below, and more detailed reports, infographics, and programming to come in 2026.
More at the link below, and more detailed reports, infographics, and programming to come in 2026.
Here's a preview of what we found in the National Survey of History Practitioners, which 3,700 people completed this spring. We'll have more to share in early 2026. Learn more about this project at aaslh.org/research.
November 19, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I've been working on this project for months and I'm extremely excited to be able to offer this preview of our findings. We now know more than we've ever known about the public history workforce.
More at the link below, and more detailed reports, infographics, and programming to come in 2026.
More at the link below, and more detailed reports, infographics, and programming to come in 2026.
My book officially exists here in the physical universe. Cannot wait to hold one of these advance reader copies. Getting closer!
(Thanks for the 📸 @sonyabonczek.bsky.social!!)
(Thanks for the 📸 @sonyabonczek.bsky.social!!)
November 19, 2025 at 5:59 PM
My book officially exists here in the physical universe. Cannot wait to hold one of these advance reader copies. Getting closer!
(Thanks for the 📸 @sonyabonczek.bsky.social!!)
(Thanks for the 📸 @sonyabonczek.bsky.social!!)
Off to a casino outside Annapolis to talk to the international tour guide conference about the US 250th! As one does.
November 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Off to a casino outside Annapolis to talk to the international tour guide conference about the US 250th! As one does.
Reposted by John Garrison Marks
‘Marooned’ in Baltimore: Crew of ship that destroyed Key Bridge are still here 19 months later, not permitted to leave. “A few have been granted permission to temporarily return home, including one for his own wedding.” By @hayesgardner.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/economy/dali...
Deal between Dali and U.S. has left crew ‘marooned’ for 19 months
The NTSB will discuss probable cause of the Key Bridge collapse during a meeting Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, nine crew members of the Dali ship that struck the bridge are stuck in Baltimore...
www.thebanner.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:19 PM
‘Marooned’ in Baltimore: Crew of ship that destroyed Key Bridge are still here 19 months later, not permitted to leave. “A few have been granted permission to temporarily return home, including one for his own wedding.” By @hayesgardner.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/economy/dali...
Reposted by John Garrison Marks
Boy, do I have specific opinions about the use of the term advocacy here.
NEH, where I worked for several years, was prohibited by institutional policy from funding projects of political or social advocacy. Staff saw first-hand how this policy plays out when wielded by political actors.
NEH, where I worked for several years, was prohibited by institutional policy from funding projects of political or social advocacy. Staff saw first-hand how this policy plays out when wielded by political actors.
'Courses that “advocate race or gender ideology, sexual orientation, or gender identity” now require presidential approval at Texas A&M system campuses, the system Board of Regents decided Thursday.'
Much will rest on interpretations of 'advocate' and 'ideology'. Or will it? 1/4
Much will rest on interpretations of 'advocate' and 'ideology'. Or will it? 1/4
Texas A&M Requires Approval for Courses That “Advocate” Certain Ideologies
Many faculty members decried the new restrictions on race- and gender-related courses as an assault on academic freedom. Meanwhile, the board also discussed a once-per-semester systemwide course revie...
www.insidehighered.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Boy, do I have specific opinions about the use of the term advocacy here.
NEH, where I worked for several years, was prohibited by institutional policy from funding projects of political or social advocacy. Staff saw first-hand how this policy plays out when wielded by political actors.
NEH, where I worked for several years, was prohibited by institutional policy from funding projects of political or social advocacy. Staff saw first-hand how this policy plays out when wielded by political actors.
Had a dream that my book was riddled with factual errors and everyone hated it. Getting close to being done reviewing my proofs I guess.
November 18, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Had a dream that my book was riddled with factual errors and everyone hated it. Getting close to being done reviewing my proofs I guess.
Washington’s will gets published dozens of times in the months after his death, but virtually no one makes any mention of its provision emancipating the people GW enslaved. Everyone knew, nobody drew attention to it. Only the editions published in London call it out specifically.
Oh, they'll never be a final word. Because we don't know. Although he certainly knew his Will would send a message and be interpreted.
November 18, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Washington’s will gets published dozens of times in the months after his death, but virtually no one makes any mention of its provision emancipating the people GW enslaved. Everyone knew, nobody drew attention to it. Only the editions published in London call it out specifically.