W. Caleb McDaniel
@wcaleb.org
Professor of History at Rice University and author of "Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" (Pulitzer Prize, 2020).
Cross-posting from https://updates.wcaleb.org
Cross-posting from https://updates.wcaleb.org
Pinned
There’s a burn ban in effect at our campsite, so my teenager improvised.
November 26, 2025 at 1:32 AM
There’s a burn ban in effect at our campsite, so my teenager improvised.
I’m looking forward to being a keynote lecturer at the HHL Student Research Conference at UH-Downtown on December 1. My working title, with apologies to Sam Wineburg, is “AI (Archival Investigation) in an Age of Artificial Intelligence; or, Why Study History When There’s a Chatbot on your Phone.”
November 22, 2025 at 2:58 PM
I’m looking forward to being a keynote lecturer at the HHL Student Research Conference at UH-Downtown on December 1. My working title, with apologies to Sam Wineburg, is “AI (Archival Investigation) in an Age of Artificial Intelligence; or, Why Study History When There’s a Chatbot on your Phone.”
My dog seems especially interested in the lyrics to James Taylor’s “The Walking Man.”
November 22, 2025 at 2:08 AM
My dog seems especially interested in the lyrics to James Taylor’s “The Walking Man.”
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: J. H. Townsend.
November 19, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: J. H. Townsend.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Elias Dibble, Richard Brock.
November 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Elias Dibble, Richard Brock.
And here’s another interesting find from the New Orleans Advocate about another Emancipation Park founder, Richard Brock: an information wanted ad, apparently seeking news about family members.
"Information wanted of H... https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/11/17/and-heres-another-interesting-find.html
"Information wanted of H... https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/11/17/and-heres-another-interesting-find.html
November 18, 2025 at 3:02 AM
And here’s another interesting find from the New Orleans Advocate about another Emancipation Park founder, Richard Brock: an information wanted ad, apparently seeking news about family members.
"Information wanted of H... https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/11/17/and-heres-another-interesting-find.html
"Information wanted of H... https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/11/17/and-heres-another-interesting-find.html
Well this is pretty cool: a sermon delivered by Rev. Elias Dibble. Born enslaved, Dibble ministered to Houston’s first independent Black Methodist church and is remembered as one of the founders of Emancipation Park. His sermon appeared in the New Orleans Advocate on March 3, 1866. (Hat tip.)
November 17, 2025 at 11:07 PM
One of the pieces of software I use most often as a historian is the simple command-line Unix program cal. It’s short for “calendar.” So if, for example, I want to say what day of the week June 19, 1866, was on, I just type cal jun 1866 at the command line, and I get the calendar for that month.
November 17, 2025 at 2:21 PM
One of the pieces of software I use most often as a historian is the simple command-line Unix program cal. It’s short for “calendar.” So if, for example, I want to say what day of the week June 19, 1866, was on, I just type cal jun 1866 at the command line, and I get the calendar for that month.
Checking in at today’s gala event for Olivewood Cemetery, hosted by Descendants of Olivewood at the historic DeLuxe Theater in Houston’s Fifth Ward.
November 16, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Checking in at today’s gala event for Olivewood Cemetery, hosted by Descendants of Olivewood at the historic DeLuxe Theater in Houston’s Fifth Ward.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Elias Dibble.
November 13, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Elias Dibble.
Now surveying the name badge options at the SHA.
November 6, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Now surveying the name badge options at the SHA.
Surveying the airport snacks in Houston while waiting to board my flight for the Annual Meeting of the SHA.
November 6, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Surveying the airport snacks in Houston while waiting to board my flight for the Annual Meeting of the SHA.
Always a good day to get an email from a special collections librarian who has been busily working away on a question you asked in May, and has turned up new sources to help! Thank you, librarians!
November 5, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Always a good day to get an email from a special collections librarian who has been busily working away on a question you asked in May, and has turned up new sources to help! Thank you, librarians!
Grateful to Rosie Nguyen for this video and news report on the Second Foundings Conference held here in Houston, October 10-13.
November 5, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Grateful to Rosie Nguyen for this video and news report on the Second Foundings Conference held here in Houston, October 10-13.
Just got my annual reminder from a stranger’s email that my Generic Syllabus Maker needs to be updated to include the next calendar year. Done! Now I just have to figure out why the Rice-specific one isn’t working …
October 31, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Just got my annual reminder from a stranger’s email that my Generic Syllabus Maker needs to be updated to include the next calendar year. Done! Now I just have to figure out why the Rice-specific one isn’t working …
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: AAHRC at Gregory School, Elias Dibble, Sandy Parker.
October 31, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: AAHRC at Gregory School, Elias Dibble, Sandy Parker.
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Elias Dibble, Houston Evening Star, Houston Fire Festival, Juneteenth, Sandy Parker.
October 30, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Elias Dibble, Houston Evening Star, Houston Fire Festival, Juneteenth, Sandy Parker.
LSU Press reminds me that today is officially publication day for the book! Thanks @lsupress.bsky.social. See https://bit.ly/secondfounding for more.
October 22, 2025 at 8:02 PM
LSU Press reminds me that today is officially publication day for the book! Thanks @lsupress.bsky.social. See https://bit.ly/secondfounding for more.
The Rice Thresher has a write-up today about the Second Foundings conference, which wrapped up on October 13. Grateful to all who came!
October 22, 2025 at 2:16 PM
The Rice Thresher has a write-up today about the Second Foundings conference, which wrapped up on October 13. Grateful to all who came!
It looks like you can preorder Slavery, Segregation, and the Second Founding of Rice University right now for 40% off if you use the code SAVE40LSU when checking out here.
October 10, 2025 at 12:40 PM
It looks like you can preorder Slavery, Segregation, and the Second Founding of Rice University right now for 40% off if you use the code SAVE40LSU when checking out here.
It was wonderful to celebrate Jan West at her recent retirement party at Rice, where a photo from her student days was prominently displayed. One of the true founders of the university we enjoy today.
October 6, 2025 at 7:32 PM
It was wonderful to celebrate Jan West at her recent retirement party at Rice, where a photo from her student days was prominently displayed. One of the true founders of the university we enjoy today.
Wistar Cotton: https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/10/03/wistar-cotton.html
October 3, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Wistar Cotton: https://updates.wcaleb.org/2025/10/03/wistar-cotton.html
Only one more week to the start of the Second Foundings conference, which I and others have been working on for more than a year. I’m especially looking forward to this.
October 3, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Only one more week to the start of the Second Foundings conference, which I and others have been working on for more than a year. I’m especially looking forward to this.
Yesterday on the free books cart in the library, I found a retired colleague’s undergraduate copy of Becker’s Heavenly City of the 18th Century Philosophers (L). Then, in my office, I discovered that some 35 years later, I had underlined the same sentence in my undergraduate copy (R).
October 3, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Yesterday on the free books cart in the library, I found a retired colleague’s undergraduate copy of Becker’s Heavenly City of the 18th Century Philosophers (L). Then, in my office, I discovered that some 35 years later, I had underlined the same sentence in my undergraduate copy (R).