{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "W. Caleb McDaniel", "icon": "https://avatars.micro.blog/avatars/2024/21/1620562.jpg", "home_page_url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/", "feed_url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/feed.json", "items": [ { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/05/05/i-never-know-how-to.html", "content_html": "

I never know how to respond when the robot coffee machine in the business school asks me how my day is going.

\n", "date_published": "2026-05-05T09:00:49-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/05/05/i-never-know-how-to.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/04/23/a-student-in-my-civil.html", "content_html": "

A student in my Civil War history course brought by an interesting artifact she once found in a Baltimore used book store. It appears to be a scrapbook kept by a journalist during the 1860s, with an index of topics in the front. Very cool!

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-04-23T16:02:53-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/04/23/a-student-in-my-civil.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/04/18/maybe-its-the-historian-in.html", "content_html": "

Maybe it’s the historian in me, but one of the things I like about Record Store Day is the occasional opportunity to relive the experience of hearing music for the first time on a physical medium, never before available or streamed. I’m old enough to remember that being the way of things, so maybe it’s nostalgia at work. But either way, the newly released Roy Hargrove concert album Bern (recommended here by Nate Chinen, who wrote the liner notes) was worth the hour-long wait in line.

\n", "date_published": "2026-04-18T15:51:45-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/04/18/maybe-its-the-historian-in.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/04/14/i-spoke-about-henrietta-wood.html", "content_html": "

I spoke about Henrietta Wood in an interview with the editors of a special America250 issue of the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.

\n", "date_published": "2026-04-14T06:02:07-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/04/14/i-spoke-about-henrietta-wood.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/04/13/we-all-have-our-coping.html", "content_html": "

We all have our coping mechanisms!

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-04-13T11:19:40-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/04/13/we-all-have-our-coping.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/04/03/updated-some-notes-in-my.html", "content_html": "

Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Arlington House.

\n", "date_published": "2026-04-03T15:32:04-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/04/03/updated-some-notes-in-my.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/31/the-bridge.html", "content_html": "

The bridge.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-03-31T13:38:27-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/31/the-bridge.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/31/tonight-i-will-be-at.html", "content_html": "

Tonight I will be at the NewSouth Bookstore in Montgomery, Alabama, to talk about Sweet Taste of Liberty.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-03-31T09:10:09-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/31/tonight-i-will-be-at.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/30/a-bus-ride-in-montgomery.html", "title": "A Bus Ride in Montgomery", "content_html": "

Today I took the shuttle from the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which was as powerful in person as everyone who has visited said it would be.

\n

On the ride, a guest in the back of the shuttle, a Montgomery local, began speaking to those around him about how much Bryan Stevenson’s development work has transformed the city.

\n

The driver spoke up then to say that Stevenson’s legal work has been transformative too.

\n

He proceeded to share his (the driver’s) personal story of justice denied and restored. Stevenson’s work had secured his own release from prison, his discharge from parole, and only a year or so ago, a complete pardon, allowing him to vote for the first time.

\n

The back row guest spoke up again, this time to say, “Sir, I remember you. I was on that parole board.”

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-30T15:54:35-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/30/a-bus-ride-in-montgomery.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/30/im-in-montgomery-today-visiting.html", "content_html": "

I’m in Montgomery today visiting the EJI Legacy Museum and seeing historic sites. I don’t think I had previously appreciated just how close Dexter Avenue Baptist Church is to the state capitol.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-03-30T13:16:51-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/30/im-in-montgomery-today-visiting.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/28/full-day-of-discussions-in.html", "content_html": "

Full day of discussions in Alabama with USS colleagues, looking back on 20 years since the Brown report and envisioning paths forward. It’s always energizing to be together with this group.

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-28T21:29:10-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/28/full-day-of-discussions-in.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/27/115916.html", "content_html": "

Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Juneteenth.

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-27T11:59:16-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/27/115916.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/27/i-updated-my-post-on.html", "content_html": "

I updated my post on The First Juneteenth in Houston to reflect that the Houston Daily Evening Star, which contains a rare report on the event, is now digitized at the Portal to Texas History. My article on this is forthcoming soon in the Journal of Texas History.

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-27T10:35:25-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/27/i-updated-my-post-on.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/27/updated-some-notes-in-my.html", "content_html": "

Updated some notes in my open research notebook: Hawkins Wilson.

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-27T10:25:25-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/27/updated-some-notes-in-my.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/17/spring-break-means-im-working.html", "content_html": "

Spring Break means I’m working from home with records on.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-03-17T08:48:14-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/17/spring-break-means-im-working.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/13/grateful-for-a-generous-review.html", "content_html": "

Grateful for a generous review of Slavery, Segregation, and the Second Founding of Rice University in the History of Education Quarterly.

\n", "date_published": "2026-03-13T10:28:46-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/13/grateful-for-a-generous-review.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/03/13/yesterday-i-had-the-privilege.html", "content_html": "

Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking some Rice students to the law offices of Baker Botts LLP, where we were given a tour of the firm’s historic records by senior partner Bill Kroger.

\n

One of the fascinating things we saw was this law book belonging to firm co-founder Peter W. Gray, into which Gray had apparently cut and pasted General Gordon Granger’s Juneteenth orders from 1865, before a section on the Reconstruction amendments.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-03-13T07:36:47-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/03/13/yesterday-i-had-the-privilege.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/02/25/it-was-an-honor-to.html", "content_html": "

It was an honor to speak with KHOU for a brief local news story about Olivewood Cemetery, Houston’s historic African American burial ground established in 1875. Watch on Youtube …

\n", "date_published": "2026-02-25T16:46:42-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/02/25/it-was-an-honor-to.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/02/24/today-in-hist-i-shared.html", "content_html": "

Today in HIST 246 I shared with students one of my favorite Civil War monuments, memorializing William McKinley and the Battle of Coffee Run. Read more …

\n", "date_published": "2026-02-24T12:12:02-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/02/24/today-in-hist-i-shared.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/02/17/my-essay-slouching-towards-arlington.html", "content_html": "

My essay “Slouching Towards Arlington House” is out now in a special issue of the Journal of the Civil War Era, featuring “Historians of Crisis in a Moment of Crisis.” The whole issue is open access this month, thanks to the good folks at @uncpress.bsky.social.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-02-17T18:09:15-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/02/17/my-essay-slouching-towards-arlington.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/02/16/updated-some-notes-in-my.html", "content_html": "

Updated some notes in my open research notebook: J. H. Townsend.

\n", "date_published": "2026-02-16T19:27:02-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/02/16/updated-some-notes-in-my.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/02/16/delighted-to-learn-this-morning.html", "content_html": "

Delighted to learn this morning that a journal article I wrote on the first Juneteenth, expanding on research that I first shared here, will likely be published in time for this year’s holiday.

\n", "date_published": "2026-02-16T16:43:07-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/02/16/delighted-to-learn-this-morning.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/02/14/updated-some-notes-in-my.html", "content_html": "

Updated some notes in my open research notebook: J. H. Townsend.

\n", "date_published": "2026-02-14T11:56:56-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/02/14/updated-some-notes-in-my.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/02/13/my-amazing-woodworking-dad-previously.html", "content_html": "

My amazing woodworking dad (previously seen here) made us an amazing birdhouse for the backyard. Here’s hoping it catches the eye of a pair looking to nest.

\n\"\"\n", "date_published": "2026-02-13T19:54:49-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/02/13/my-amazing-woodworking-dad-previously.html" }, { "id": "http://wcaleb.micro.blog/2026/02/13/taking-a-coffee-break-to.html", "content_html": "

Taking a coffee break to look in on Douglass Day events with @douglassday.bsky.social. I’m watching the livestream while transcribing some names in the Texas records of the Colored Conventions Project.

\n", "date_published": "2026-02-13T14:39:23-05:00", "url": "https://updates.wcaleb.org/2026/02/13/taking-a-coffee-break-to.html" } ] }