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Publishing your work

Written in 2014-15 by Professor Peter Mandler (RHS President, 2012-16)

Everyone wants to publish their work, and not only for ‘career progression’; what’s the point of doing your research if no-one reads it? By the same token, you want to publish your work in places and formats that will reach the widest audiences. But if this were all publishing was about, then you would just post your work online (on a site such as academia.edu or on your own webpage or site) and let people come to it.

In fact, publishing isn’t just about disseminating your work – it’s about improving it, and about ‘kitemarking’ it (getting marks of quality attached to it that will suggest to potential readers that it’s worth reading). It is these two additional criteria that cause many historians – especially those just starting out in their publishing career – to submit to journals. There are other ways of publishing article-length papers – notably as chapters in books.

Ultimately, most historians want to tackle a ‘long-form’ publication similar to their PhD thesis – that is, a book of one’s own. These are the main forms of publication, but they hardly exhaust the range of outlets – there are many other formats. If you’re a UK scholar, you’ll also be interested in thinking about how your publications are likely to be assessed for purposes of the REF.

1. Journals

Journals provide a miraculously free and civic-spirited service that aims to improve your work – peer review. When you submit a paper to a journal, the editors ought to send it out to at least two peer reviewers (sometimes several – practices differ). They ought to have some specialist knowledge of your subject. If your subject is controversial, one ought to be ‘on your side’, another perhaps hostile or at least neutral. Ideally, peer-review is ‘double-blind’ – the reviewer doesn’t know your identity, you don’t know theirs. READ MORE

Submitting to a journal

What makes a good journal article? First, it must stand on its own. It may be a version of a chapter of a PhD dissertation, but it has to be self-contained. Second, it ought to have a strong and distinctive argument. The standard way to demonstrate this is by reference to the historiography – but it’s not enough (or even, really, at all persuasive) to say that your subject has been ‘neglected’ by the historiography.   READ MORE

Publishing in a journal

Once a journal has accepted your work, you still have some time to polish it up (e.g. by adding references to the most recently published work, or by tinkering with your prose, or by addressing lesser criticisms in your readers’ reports). Most journals now process accepted manuscripts through a software system that will let you upload your final manuscript and will subsequently lead you through the publication process. READ MORE

After publication

Nothing at all may happen. If you’re lucky, a few readers may write to you – expressing interest, asking questions about your sources and methods, perhaps disagreeing with you. Mostly, though, readers read and digest on their own. READ MORE

2. Chapters in books

Unlike the practice of many other disciplines, historians publish a lot in collections of essays – normally not all their own essays, but collections ‘from divers hands’ edited by one or two colleagues. READ MORE

3. A book of one’s own

For good reasons, a book of your own – now sometimes called a ‘monograph’, although this really only means a specialist work by a single author (and so technically could apply to a journal article) – is widely seen as the gold standard of historiography.   READ MORE

Publishing a Book (I)

Book publishing remains fairly traditional, not as affected by the digital revolution as journal publishing. As with journals, however, there are a range of book publishers that you can probably array in a quality sequence depending on your own experience of your own field. Generally, though, they break down into three types: i) university presses; ii) big commercial presses; iii) boutique commercial presses. READ MORE

Publishing a book (II)

If an editor has agreed to review a proposal on its own, you may get a response in a month or so, as a short proposal does not receive a lot of scrutiny from reviewers. If you have submitted a complete manuscript, six months is not unusual. It takes a long time for a peer reviewer to find the space to give a full book manuscript the attention it deserves. READ MORE

Unlike with journal articles, you are almost guaranteed to get some feedback, at least within the first year, in the form of book reviews. Your publisher will ask you for a list of journals that are relevant to your book – you’re entitled to give them a reasonably long list, though make sure that they really are relevant and do publish book reviews. READ MORE

4. Other formats

A very large majority of the work published by historians appears in one of these three formats – journal articles, chapters in books, books. These formats allow for the evidence intensive and subject-extensive treatment that history favours. But there are lots of other ways to publish, especially online, and these alternative formats tend to cater to other needs than the simple presentation of research. READ MORE

If you are a UK scholar, or seeking employment in the UK, you will need to pay some minimal attention to the REF (the Research Excellence Framework, the current name for the periodic assessment of academic research undertaken by the UK funding bodies). READ MORE

HEADER IMAGE: A printer’s workshop: on the left a printing press, on the right and centre workmen engaged in various tasks, the scene numbered for a key. Engraving after L.J. Goussier. Wellcome Trust, public domain

The Public Historian, is a quarterly journal sponsored by the National Council on Public History and the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is published by the University of California Press. It is the flagship journal in the field of public history. It emphasizes original research, fresh conceptualizations, and new viewpoints. The journal’s contents reflect the considerable diversity of approaches to the definition and practice of public history.

The Public Historian provides practicing professionals and others the opportunity to report the results of research and case studies and to address the broad substantive and theoretical issues inherent in the practice of public history. The journal aims to provide a comprehensive look at the field.

The Public Historian publishes a variety of article types, including research articles, essays, and reports from the field. Research articles deal with specific, often comparatively framed, public historical issues. They employ public history methodologies (material culture analysis, oral history, participant observation) in addition to traditional historical research to shed new light on historical questions and issues. These articles should be around thirty pages double-spaced, exclusive of footnotes (about 10,000 to 12,000 words). Essays are reflective commentaries on topics of interest to public historians. Their length varies, but they are usually about twenty-five pages. Reports from the Field are intended to convey the real-world work of public historians by highlighting specific projects or activities in which the author is directly involved; these articles may describe new or ongoing projects, introduce or assess new methodologies, or bring in-the-field dilemmas (methodological, ethical, and historical) into print. Reports from the Field vary widely in length (from about fifteen to thirty pages). Additionally, The Public Historian occasionally publishes roundtables, which are shorter essays in conversation with each other about a specific topic.

In its review section, The Public Historian assesses current publications by and of interest to public historians, including government publications, cultural resources management reports, and corporate histories, as well as scholarly and trade press publications. The journal also reviews films and documentaries, digital and electronic media productions, museums, exhibitions, and podcasts. We do not accept unsolicited reviews; we do, however, welcome suggestions for material to review (please email [email protected] ). If you are interested in becoming a reviewer, please visit the Reviewer page.

The editors welcome the submission of manuscripts by all those interested in the theory, teaching, and practice of public history, both in the United States and internationally. We are looking for manuscripts that make a significant contribution to the definition, understanding, and/or professional and intellectual progress of the field of public history. We conceive of the term public history broadly, as involving historical research, analysis, and presentation, with some degree of explicit application to the needs of contemporary life.

Research articles, essays, and reports from the field are subject to anonymous peer review and revisions will be suggested before the editors will accept an article for publication.

Only manuscripts not previously published will be accepted. Submitted articles must not be under consideration at another journal. Authors must agree not to publish elsewhere, without explicit written consent, an article accepted for publication in The Public Historian.

The Public Historian encourages letters to the editor that expand the discussion of topics covered in the journal. If a letter specifically concerns an article or review published in The Public Historian , the author or reviewer will be invited to respond. Letters responding to reviews may not exceed 250 words; letters responding to articles may not exceed 750 words. The editors reserve the right to refuse to publish any letter whose tone or content are inconsistent with the conventional standards of scholarly discourse expected in a historical journal.

Please note that all authors whose papers are accepted for publication are required to sign an Author Agreement.

Please submit manuscripts and letters to the editors by email to the editor at the address below.

See guidelines here.

Editorial Offices: Sarah H. Case, Editor (UC Santa Barbara)   Teresa Barnett, Special Editor (independent historian) Jennifer Dickey, Book Review Editor (Kennesaw State University) Jennifer Scott, Museum and Exhibitions Editor (Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem) Taylor Stoermer, Film and Digital Editor (Johns Hopkins University)

Contact: Sarah Case, Editor Department of History University of California Santa Barbara, California 93106 805/893-3667 E-mail: [email protected]

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How to Write a History Essay

Last Updated: December 27, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA . Emily Listmann is a private tutor in San Carlos, California. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 242,899 times.

Writing a history essay requires you to include a lot of details and historical information within a given number of words or required pages. It's important to provide all the needed information, but also to present it in a cohesive, intelligent way. Know how to write a history essay that demonstrates your writing skills and your understanding of the material.

Preparing to Write Your Essay

• The key words will often need to be defined at the start of your essay, and will serve as its boundaries. [2] X Research source
• For example, if the question was "To what extent was the First World War a Total War?", the key terms are "First World War", and "Total War".
• Do this before you begin conducting your research to ensure that your reading is closely focussed to the question and you don't waste time.

• Explain: provide an explanation of why something happened or didn't happen.
• Interpret: analyse information within a larger framework to contextualise it.
• Evaluate: present and support a value-judgement.
• Argue: take a clear position on a debate and justify it. [3] X Research source

• Your thesis statement should clearly address the essay prompt and provide supporting arguments. These supporting arguments will become body paragraphs in your essay, where you’ll elaborate and provide concrete evidence. [4] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source
• Your argument may change or become more nuanced as your write your essay, but having a clear thesis statement which you can refer back to is very helpful.
• For example, your summary could be something like "The First World War was a 'total war' because civilian populations were mobilized both in the battlefield and on the home front".

• Pick out some key quotes that make your argument precisely and persuasively. [5] X Research source
• When writing your plan, you should already be thinking about how your essay will flow, and how each point will connect together.

Doing Your Research

• Primary source material refers to any texts, films, pictures, or any other kind of evidence that was produced in the historical period, or by someone who participated in the events of the period, that you are writing about.
• Secondary material is the work by historians or other writers analysing events in the past. The body of historical work on a period or event is known as the historiography.
• It is not unusual to write a literature review or historiographical essay which does not directly draw on primary material.
• Typically a research essay would need significant primary material.

• Start with the core texts in your reading list or course bibliography. Your teacher will have carefully selected these so you should start there.
• Look in footnotes and bibliographies. When you are reading be sure to pay attention to the footnotes and bibliographies which can guide you to further sources a give you a clear picture of the important texts.
• Use the library. If you have access to a library at your school or college, be sure to make the most of it. Search online catalogues and speak to librarians.
• Access online journal databases. If you are in college it is likely that you will have access to academic journals online. These are an excellent and easy to navigate resources.
• Use online sources with discretion. Try using free scholarly databases, like Google Scholar, which offer quality academic sources, but avoid using the non-trustworthy websites that come up when you simply search your topic online.
• Avoid using crowd-sourced sites like Wikipedia as sources. However, you can look at the sources cited on a Wikipedia page and use them instead, if they seem credible.

• Who is the author? Is it written by an academic with a position at a University? Search for the author online.
• Who is the publisher? Is the book published by an established academic press? Look in the cover to check the publisher, if it is published by a University Press that is a good sign.
• If it's an article, where is published? If you are using an article check that it has been published in an academic journal. [8] X Research source
• If the article is online, what is the URL? Government sources with .gov addresses are good sources, as are .edu sites.

• Ask yourself why the author is making this argument. Evaluate the text by placing it into a broader intellectual context. Is it part of a certain tradition in historiography? Is it a response to a particular idea?
• Consider where there are weaknesses and limitations to the argument. Always keep a critical mindset and try to identify areas where you think the argument is overly stretched or the evidence doesn't match the author's claims. [9] X Research source

• Label all your notes with the page numbers and precise bibliographic information on the source.
• If you have a quote but can't remember where you found it, imagine trying to skip back through everything you have read to find that one line.
• If you use something and don't reference it fully you risk plagiarism. [10] X Research source

Writing the Introduction

• For example you could start by saying "In the First World War new technologies and the mass mobilization of populations meant that the war was not fought solely by standing armies".
• This first sentences introduces the topic of your essay in a broad way which you can start focus to in on more.

• This will lead to an outline of the structure of your essay and your argument.
• Here you will explain the particular approach you have taken to the essay.
• For example, if you are using case studies you should explain this and give a brief overview of which case studies you will be using and why.

Writing the Essay

• Try to include a sentence that concludes each paragraph and links it to the next paragraph.
• When you are organising your essay think of each paragraph as addressing one element of the essay question.
• Keeping a close focus like this will also help you avoid drifting away from the topic of the essay and will encourage you to write in precise and concise prose.
• Don't forget to write in the past tense when referring to something that has already happened.

• Don't drop a quote from a primary source into your prose without introducing it and discussing it, and try to avoid long quotations. Use only the quotes that best illustrate your point.
• If you are referring to a secondary source, you can usually summarise in your own words rather than quoting directly.
• Be sure to fully cite anything you refer to, including if you do not quote it directly.

• Think about the first and last sentence in every paragraph and how they connect to the previous and next paragraph.
• Try to avoid beginning paragraphs with simple phrases that make your essay appear more like a list. For example, limit your use of words like: "Additionally", "Moreover", "Furthermore".
• Give an indication of where your essay is going and how you are building on what you have already said. [15] X Research source

• Briefly outline the implications of your argument and it's significance in relation to the historiography, but avoid grand sweeping statements. [16] X Research source
• A conclusion also provides the opportunity to point to areas beyond the scope of your essay where the research could be developed in the future.

Proofreading and Evaluating Your Essay

• Try to cut down any overly long sentences or run-on sentences. Instead, try to write clear and accurate prose and avoid unnecessary words.
• Concentrate on developing a clear, simple and highly readable prose style first before you think about developing your writing further. [17] X Research source
• Reading your essay out load can help you get a clearer picture of awkward phrasing and overly long sentences. [18] X Research source

• When you read through your essay look at each paragraph and ask yourself, "what point this paragraph is making".
• You might have produced a nice piece of narrative writing, but if you are not directly answering the question it is not going to help your grade.

• A bibliography will typically have primary sources first, followed by secondary sources. [19] X Research source
• Double and triple check that you have included all the necessary references in the text. If you forgot to include a reference you risk being reported for plagiarism.

Sample Essay

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.historytoday.com/robert-pearce/how-write-good-history-essay
• ↑ https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/writing-a-good-history-paper
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/thesis_statement_tips.html
• ↑ http://history.rutgers.edu/component/content/article?id=106:writing-historical-essays-a-guide-for-undergraduates
• ↑ https://guides.lib.uw.edu/c.php?g=344285&p=2580599
• ↑ http://www.hamilton.edu/documents/writing-center/WritingGoodHistoryPaper.pdf
• ↑ http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/
• ↑ https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/hppi/publications/Writing-History-Essays.pdf

About This Article

To write a history essay, read the essay question carefully and use source materials to research the topic, taking thorough notes as you go. Next, formulate a thesis statement that summarizes your key argument in 1-2 concise sentences and create a structured outline to help you stay on topic. Open with a strong introduction that introduces your thesis, present your argument, and back it up with sourced material. Then, end with a succinct conclusion that restates and summarizes your position! For more tips on creating a thesis statement, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Out of the Classroom and Into the World: 70-Plus Places to Publish Teenage Writing and Art

By Katherine Schulten

• Nov. 15, 2018

June, 2021: Updated with new opportunities.

When we ask teachers why they bring their classes to our site, we always hear one answer first: Posting in our public forums gives young people an “authentic audience” for their voices and ideas.

We’re honored to serve that role, and this week we’ll be talking about it on a panel at the National Council of Teachers of English conference . As a companion to our talk, on the theme of “Why You Should Publish Student Work — and Where and How to Do It,” we’ve compiled this list of opportunities specifically for teenage writers and visual artists. We hope, with your help, to crowdsource even more.

The list begins with our own offerings and those of our N.C.T.E. panel partner, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards , and goes on to name dozens more that are open to young people in the United States — though many, including ours, also accept work from students around the world.

Please note what we did NOT include: In-person events or competitions; sites that do not seem to be taking submissions now or in the near future; opportunities open only to those from a specific state or region; opportunities open only to members of specific organizations; or competitions that require the use of paid products.

But, of course, we know this list is incomplete. What should we add? Let us know in the comments, or by writing to [email protected], and thank you.

Note: The descriptions below have been taken directly from the sites themselves. Please check the rules and requirements for each to decide if they are right for your students.

Places to Submit Teenage Writing and Visual Art

★ The New York Times Learning Network

Daily writing prompts:

Our Student Opinion question and Picture Prompt offer anyone 13 to 19 years old a place to publicly post writing that is read by our editors and other students around the world. We are not looking for formal work here; instead, we encourage students to use these forums to hone their voices, ideas and opinions; show us their thinking; and participate in civil discussion about issues from politics to pop culture. Each week, we publish a roundup of favorite responses .

Annual contests:

Our annual contests are places to submit more formal work across genres. Here is what we are offering in the 2020-21 school year, but please visit our Contest Calendar to find details, related lesson plans, and links to the work of the winners for each as they are announced: Special Contest: Coming of Age in 2020 Election 2020: Civil Conversation Challenge Personal Narrative Writing Contest Vocabulary Video Contest Review Contest STEM Writing Contest Editorial Contest Podcast Challenge Summer Reading Contest

★ Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

The nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teenagers in grades 7 to 12. In 2018, students submitted nearly 350,000 works of visual art and writing to the Scholastic Awards; more than 90,000 works were recognized at the regional level and celebrated in local exhibitions and ceremonies. The top art and writing at the regional level were moved onto the national stage, where more than 2,800 students earned National Medals. National Medalists and their educators were celebrated at the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Categories include: Critical Essay ; Dramatic Script ; Flash Fiction ; Humor ; Journalism ; Novel Writing ; Personal Essay & Memoir ; Poetry ; Science Fiction & Fantasy ; Short Story ; Writing Portfolio (graduating seniors only) ; Architecture & Industrial Design ; Ceramics & Glass ; Comic Art ; Design ; Digital Art ; Drawing & Illustration ; Editorial Cartoon ; Fashion ; Film & Animation ; Jewelry ; Mixed Media ; Painting ; Photography ; Printmaking ; Sculpture ; Video Game Design ; Art Portfolio (graduating seniors only) and Future New .

★ The Adroit Journal

The journal has its eyes focused ahead, seeking to showcase what its global staff of emerging writers sees as the future of poetry, prose and art. We’re looking for work that’s bizarre, authentic, subtle, outrageous, indefinable, raw, paradoxical. We’ve got our eyes on the horizon.

★ Amazing Kids Magazine

The online publication is known for featuring quality, creative, thoughtful and often thought-provoking written and artistic work written and edited by children and teenagers. Accepts writing, art, photography or videography from young people who are 5 to 18 years old.

★ The Apprentice Writer

The best writing and illustrations from entries we receive each year from secondary schools throughout the United States and abroad. Every September we send copies printed by The Patriot News in Mechanicsburg, Pa., to approximately 3,000 schools. Susquehanna University and the Writers Institute invite high school students to submit fiction, memoir, personal essay, photography and/or poetry.

★ The Daphne Review

Publishes the work of high-school-age writers and artists from around the globe. All forms of original writing and art are accepted as submissions for our biannual journal.

★ elementia

elementia is a literary arts magazine published to represent and uplift young adults. We accept original poetry, fiction, nonfiction, graphic stories, photography and illustrations.

Kalopsia is a literary and arts journal run by students from all over the world who aim to promote art and writing among (seemingly) ordinary people.

An international teen anthology of poetry and art. In print for 20 years, we accept submissions from teenagers from around the world. Each year we publish the best of all entries received.

★ The NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO)

A yearlong achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students. ACT-SO includes 32 competitions in STEM, humanities, business, and performing, visual and culinary arts. Almost 300,000 young people have participated from the program since its inception.

★ National Young Arts Competition

The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 to identify and nurture the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, design and performing arts, and assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development. YoungArts’ signature program is an annual application-based award for emerging artists ages 15 to 18 or in grades 10 to 12 from across the United States in categories that include cinematic arts; classical music; dance; design arts; jazz; photography; theater; visual arts; voice; and writing.

★ Parallax Literary Magazine

Parallax Literary Magazine has been published by the Creative Writing department of Idyllwild Arts Academy since 1997. Idyllwild Arts Academy is a college preparatory boarding high school dedicated to the passion of young artists. Created, designed, and run by students, Parallax has always championed the high school writer by publishing the best of Idyllwild students’ creative writing and visual art. In 2011 Parallax expanded by adding an online component, which accepts submissions from high school students worldwide. The website also showcases student book reviews and writer interviews for the first time.

★ Periphery

A multilingual student-founded magazine for high schoolers living in the outer neighborhoods of cities across America.

★ River of Words: Youth Art and Poetry Inspired by the Natural World

Our free, annual, international youth poetry and art contest — the largest in the world — inspires children ages 5 to 19 to translate their observations into creative expression.

★ Sandpiper

Sandpiper is a journal of literature and art devoted to uplifting the voices of those emerging and underrepresented in the literary scene, including but not limited to those of class, race, ability, gender, sexual orientation, and intersectional identity. However, all submissions are welcome. Sandpiper accepts poetry, prose, art, and photography.

★ Skipping Stones

We are a nonprofit magazine for youth that encourages communication, cooperation, creativity and celebration of cultural and environmental richness. It provides a playful forum for sharing ideas and experiences among youth from different countries and cultures. We are an ad-free, ecologically-aware, literary magazine printed on recycled paper with soy ink. Accepts many kinds of writing, including essays, stories, letters to the editor, riddles and proverbs, as well as drawings, paintings and photos.

A national teen magazine, book series, and website devoted entirely to teenage writing, art, photos, and forums. For over 25 years, Teen Ink has offered teenagers the opportunity to publish their creative work and opinions on issues that affect their lives — everything from love and family to school, current events, and self-esteem. We have no staff writers or artists; we depend completely on submissions from teenagers around the world for our content. Teen Ink has the largest distribution of any publication of its kind.

★ #USvsHate

Students are invited to create public anti-hate messages in any media for their school communities. Our national challenge then amplifies student voices for a nationwide audience. You can submit 5 entries max per class, to each challenge! In 2020-21, our #USvsHate challenge deadlines are December 11 and March 12.

Places to Submit Teenage Writing

Across Genres

★ The Adroit Prizes for Poetry and Prose

The Adroit Prizes are awarded annually to two students of secondary or undergraduate status. We’re fortunate to receive exceptional work from emerging writers in high school and college, and the best of the best will be recognized by the Adroit Prizes.

★ Bennington College Young Writer Awards

Bennington launched the Young Writers Awards to promote excellence in writing at the high school level. Our goal with this competition is to recognize outstanding writing achievement by high school students. Each year, students in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades are invited to enter poetry, fiction or nonfiction.

★ Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine

An open space for youth writing & mental health discussion

★ The Creative Writing Awards

A scholarship program from Penguin Random House, in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, dedicated to furthering the education of students with unique and diverse voices. Open to seniors attending a public high school in the United States, five first-place $10,000 prizes are awarded in the categories of fiction/drama; poetry; personal essay/memoir; and spoken-word poetry, through the Maya Angelou Award. In recognition of the Creative Writing Awards previously being centered in New York City, the competition awards an additional first-place prize to the top entrant from the NYC area. Runners up are also honored.

Ember is a semiannual journal of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction for all age groups. Submissions for and by readers aged 10 to 18 are strongly encouraged.

★ Ephimiliar

Created and edited by teenagers, Ephimiliar focuses on work by unpublished voices and students of all ages. We publish on a rolling basis at the convenience of everyone’s urgent yet sporadic writing processes. We are open to working with writers to edit a submission that we feel is a near-fit because we know that neither party would benefit from that rejection.

★ Hanging Loose Press

Fiction and poetry for a general audience, but has a regular section devoted to writing by talented high school writers.

★ Hypernova Lit

Hypernova Lit is an online journal dedicated to publishing the writing and visual art of teenagers. We seek to cast light on the brilliant work produced by teenagers. We are deeply committed to honesty and fearlessness in the work we publish, with a particular emphasis on teenagers telling their own difficult truths. Out of respect for our writers and artists, we do not censor for language or content.

★ The Foredge Review

A literary magazine for young writers with a focus on those in Asian countries, The Foredge Review aims to support teen interest in writing and reading by providing a platform for receiving recognition. We welcome submissions of poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction from anyone 13-18.

★ NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing

To encourage high school juniors to write and to publicly recognize the best student writers.

★ The Norman Mailer High School Writing Award

Since 2009, the Norman Mailer Center has collaborated with the National Council of Teachers of English to present the Mailer Student and Teacher Writing Awards. Awards are given for fiction, nonfiction writing, and poetry. National winners in each category receive a cash prize presented at an award ceremony. Recognition is also extended to writers whose work earns top scores in early evaluation rounds.

★ Polyphony Lit

A student-run, international literary magazine for high school writers and editors, which invites submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from high school students worldwide. Our student editors provide feedback to all submissions, including the ones we do not accept for publication. In addition, we offer two other opportunities: The Polyphony Lit Cover Art Contest: High school students from around the world are encouraged to submit visual art for the cover of their annual literary magazine. The Claudia Ann Seaman Awards for Young Writers: Annual awards to high school students in poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. Each year, a distinguished panel of professional published authors choose one winner and two honorable mentions in each genre. The winners are awarded a $200 cash prize. Students from around the world are encouraged to submit.

★ Rider University Annual High School Writing Contest

Accepts essays, fiction and poetry. All finalists will receive a Certificate of Honorable Mention. All winners will be considered for publication in Venture, Rider’s literary magazine.

★ Write the World Competitions

We’re a community of young writers (ages 13 to 18), hailing from over 120 countries. Join our global platform, and explore our ever-changing library of prompts as you establish a regular writing practice and expand your repertoire of styles, all while building your portfolio of polished work. Enter competitions for the chance to receive feedback from authors, writing teachers, and other experts in the field.

Academic Research

★ The Concord Review

The Concord Review, Inc., was founded in March 1987 to recognize and to publish exemplary history essays by high school students in the English-speaking world. With the Fall Issue (#118), 1,196 research papers (average 7,500 words, with endnotes and bibliography) have been published from authors in 45 states and 40 other countries. The Concord Review remains the only quarterly journal in the world to publish the academic history papers of secondary students.

★ The Curieux Academic Journal

The Curieux Academic Journal is an academic journal written entirely by high school students.

★ National History Day

Each year more than half a million students participate in the National History Day Contest. Students choose a historical topic related to the annual theme, and then conduct primary and secondary research. You will look through libraries, archives and museums, conduct oral history interviews, and visit historic sites. After you have analyzed and interpreted your sources, and have drawn a conclusion about the significance of your topic, you will then be able to present your work in one of five ways: as a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary, or a website.

★ The Scribe Review

A quarterly online journal dedicated to publishing the academic English essays of high school students.

★ The Milking Cat

The Milking Cat is dedicated to providing weekly comedic pieces from a variety of aspiring high school comics. With pieces ranging from comics and movies to stories and satires, The Milking Cat is the place to be for young comedians.

Current Events and Culture

INKspire is a place for youth to share their stories and offer perspectives on relevant, contemporary issues. Young people can learn from one another, share their stories, thoughts and ideas while connecting with other youth around the world.

Please see the description at the top of this list.

★ Teen Opinions

Teenopinions.org is a platform for teens and tweens worldwide to share their opinions, ideas, reflections and perspectives with the world. Our mission is to give every teen and tween an opportunity to freely publish their perspectives in a non-competitive environment.

★ Young Post

Young Post is a teen print news and English-teaching product that is part of the South China Morning Post. While we are a Hong Kong product, we do welcome students from around the world in our pages and on our site. We have a Junior Reporters club , in which students learn reporting skills, and pitch and contribute stories. We have local members who have moved overseas for senior school or university who still contribute, but it would be wonderful to hear from more students interested in sharing stories that matter to them with their Asian peers.

★ Youth Voices Live

We are a site for conversations. We invite youth of all ages to voice their thoughts about their passions, to explain things they understand well, to wonder about things they have just begun to understand, and to share discussion posts with other young people using as many different genres and media as they can imagine!

★ American Foreign Service Association National High School Essay Contest

Why Diplomacy and Peacebuilding Matter: In a 1,000- to 1,250-word essay, identify two cases — one you deem successful and one you deem unsuccessful — where the U.S. pursued an integrated approach to build peace in a conflict-affected country.

★ The American Prospect 2020 Essay Contest

High school juniors and seniors may write 1,000 to 1,600 words on one of these two books: “ Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few ” by Robert B. Reich or “ The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration ” by Isabel Wilkerson High school freshmen and sophomores may write up to 1,200 words on one of these two books: “ Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City ” by Matthew Desmond or “ Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America ” by Barbara Ehrenreich

★ Goi Peace Foundation International Essay Contest for Young People

Guidelines for the 2019 International Essay Contest for Young People will be announced at the end of January 2019.

★ Profile in Courage Essay Contest

Describe and analyze an act of political courage by a US elected official who served during or after 1917.

★ Represent Magazine

A publication by and for youth in foster care, the stories in Represent give inspiration and information, while offering staff insight into those teenagers’ struggles.

★ We the Students Essay Contest

What are the essential qualities of a citizen in your community in 21st-century America? We encourage you to bring emotion, creativity, specific examples (including current events), and well-researched facts into what you write. A good essay will demonstrate how citizenship is not an abstract idea, but is, in fact, action inspired by constitutional principles. We can’t wait to see what citizenship looks like in your community!

★ NaNoWriMo Young Writer’s Program

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, empowering approach to creative writing. The challenge: draft an entire novel in just one month. For 30 wild, exciting, surprising days, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create! Our Young Writers Program supports under-18 writers and K-12 educators as they participate in our flagship event each November, and take part in smaller writing challenges year-round. Summer Writing: Stay cool and creative all summer long by participating in Camp NaNoWriMo’s July session—either online here or over at Camp NaNoWriMo , or offline by using our writer-friendly, print-out-able Summer Writing Program resources. Choose a project you care about, set an ambitious goal, get feedback on your progress, and receive support from an international community of fellow writers.

★ One Teen Story

An award-winning quarterly literary magazine that features the work of today’s best teen writers (ages 13-19).

★ Ringling College Storytellers of Tomorrow Creative Writing Contest

We’re inviting all high-school age students to submit unpublished, original English-language stories of up to 2,000 words in length for the 4th Annual “Storytellers of Tomorrow” Contest. The criteria for earning prizes in this contest is simply overall quality, meaning that well-edited, engaging, and evocative stories have the best chance of winning over the judges.

★ Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Awards

These awards are offered to recognize superior work by student journalists usually as individuals but sometimes as an entire staff working with either print or online media.

★ National Scholastic Press Association Individual Awards

Each year, the National Scholastic Press Association presents the Individual Awards, honoring the best individuals in scholastic journalism. There are six categories. Entries are judged by teams of professionals with experience and expertise in the area of each particular contest. The contests are open to any student on staff of an N.S.P.A. member publication.

★ Quill & Scroll Awards

We encourage, support and recognize individual student initiative and achievement in scholastic journalism, regardless the medium.

★ Dear Poet Project

A multimedia education project that invited young people in grades 5 through 12 to write letters in response to poems written and read by some of the award-winning poets who serve on the Academy of American Poets Board of Chancellors.

★ New York Times Opinion Section Letter to the Editor Contest

A letter-writing competition for high school students that runs from March 31, 2019 to April 8, 2019. We invite you to submit a letter to the editor in response to a Times news article, editorial, column or Op-Ed in the last few days. We will publish a selection of our favorites.

★ YCteen Writing Contest

YCteen is written by a staff of teen writers who work in our New York City newsroom. But writing is a form of conversation, and we want you to join in. We invite you to submit letter to the writer, responding to their story. This is an opportunity to express your opinion or present your own point of view on a story you’ve read.

Playwriting

★ Princeton University Ten-Minute Play Contest

Eligibility for this annual playwriting contest is limited to students in the 11th grade in the U.S. (or international equivalent of the 11th grade).

★ VSA Playwright Discovery Program Competition

Young writers with disabilities and collaborative groups that include students with disabilities, in the U.S. grades 6-12 (or equivalents) or ages 11-18 for non-U.S. students, are invited to explore the disability experience through the art of writing for performance — in the form of plays, screenplays, or music theater. Writers are encouraged to craft short (10 minute) works from their own experiences and observations in the style of realism, through the creation of fictional characters and settings, or writing metaphorically or abstractly about the disability experience.

★ Writopia Lab’s 10th AnnualWorldwide Plays Festival

An annual Off-Broadway festival of one-act plays written by playwrights ages 6 to 18 and produced, designed, directed, and acted by New York theater professionals.

★ Young Playwrights Festival

The Young Playwrights Festival takes place each spring at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. If your play is selected for the festival, you will work with a creative team composed of National Theater Institute alumni — a director, dramaturg, designer, and actors to develop and stage your script.

★ Youth Plays New Voices One-Act Competition

We welcome submissions of challenging, entertaining plays and musicals that are appropriate for teen and younger actors and/or audiences.

★ Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest

Sponsored by Hollins University, the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest provides scholarships, prizes, and recognition for the best poems submitted by high-school-aged women.

★ The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers

Recognizes outstanding young poets and is open to high school sophomores and juniors throughout the world. The contest winner receives a full scholarship to the Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop.

★ Poetry Matters Project Lit Prize

Whether you are a published poet, have never written a poem, or have the writing of a poem on your bucket list, the Poetry Matters Project invites you to take the “ Poetry Month Challenge” where participants challenge their friends, and family to write a poem of no more than 30 lines in 30 days. Entries can be posted at You can send your entry as an audio recording, document file, mp3, or video file.

★ Princeton University High School Poetry Prize

The Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize recognizes outstanding work by student writers in the 11th grade in the U.S. or abroad.

Science Writing

★ curiousSCIENCEwriters

An innovative, extracurricular program that trains creative high school communicators to bring complex science to the general public through the power of story. Science and technology are advancing exponentially, yet fewer than 7 percent of American adults are scientifically literate. With growing medical, environmental and social issues facing us all, it is essential that the next generation of communicators be prepared to help people make sense of emerging science that affects their personal health and well-being, as well as that of the world around them.

★ EarthPlex

EarthPlex is the climate platform for teens founded by a fourteen-year-old. Any teenager can submit a post about climate change or read quality content about the environment, ways we can protect it, the impact of corporations, and more. Our mission is to give those under eighteen a voice in the battle against climate change.

★ EngineerGirl Writing Contest

Every year, the EngineerGirl website sponsors a contest dealing with engineering and its impact on our world. The topic and detailed instructions for the contest are posted in the fall with a deadline for submissions early the following year. Winners are announced in the spring.

THINK is an annual science research and innovation competition for high school students. Rather than requiring students to have completed a research project before applying, THINK instead caters to students who have done extensive research on the background of a potential research project and are looking for additional guidance in the early stages of their project. The program is organized by a group of undergraduates at MIT.

Places to Submit Teenage Visual Arts

★ Congressional Art Competition

Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. Students submit entries to their representative’s office, and panels of district artists select the winning entries. Winners are recognized both in their district and at an annual awards ceremony in Washington. The winning works are displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol.

★ Doodle 4 Google

Calling all K-12 students — bring your creativity to life in a Doodle of the Google logo, using any medium you choose for the chance to be a Doodle 4 Google winner. The National Winner’s artwork will be featured on the Google home page.

★ The Gutenberg Award

The Gutenberg Award recognizes exceptional achievement in the field of graphic arts. Awards are available for printed items, websites, and photographs. Entries may be submitted by graphic arts students at any educational level including those in university, college, community-college, postsecondary technical school, high school vocational, high school technology education, and junior high/middle school technology education programs. There are three different Gutenberg competitions: print, website, and photography.

★ N.S.H.S.S. Visual Arts Competition

High school students may submit visual art and photography, painting, drawing, ceramics, glass, sculpture, mixed media, printmaking, weaving, digital and 35mm photography.

Film, Video and GIFs

★ All American High School Film Festival

The All American High School Film Festival is the largest student film festival in the world. Our festival offers an unparalleled experience designed specifically to promote and empower the future of film. Each October, thousands of student filmmakers join us in New York City for an action-packed weekend of resources and entertainment, including our Teen Indie Awards Show, where we hand out over $400,000 in prizes and scholarships.

★ American Youth Film Festival

The American Youth Film Festival is an opportunity for the youth to showcase their movie making skills. Categories include animation; comedy; commercials; documentary; feature; music video; public service announcements; science fiction; and short.

★ Boulder International Film Festival

The Boulder International Film Festival is currently accepting entries of short films made by teenagers (ages 12-18) for the Boulder International Film Festival Youth Pavilion. Winners must be present at Teen Opening Night the evening of March 1.

★ Breakthrough Junior Challenge

Make a three-minute video explaining a big idea in physics, life sciences, mathematics or the science of the Covid-19 pandemic.

★ CineYouth Festival

Cinema/Chicago’s CineYouth Film Festival is designed to encourage youth filmmakers in their creative endeavors. CineYouth provides opportunities for young filmmakers to articulate themselves artistically, and have their voice heard. Held annually in Chicago, CineYouth is a three-day festival celebrating and fostering the creativity of filmmakers 22 years old and younger by screening officially selected work and encouraging their creative endeavors by presenting a filmmaking workshop, discussions and panels.

★ GIF IT UP

GIF IT UP is an annual international gif-making campaign that encourages people to create new, fun, and unique gif artworks from digitized cultural heritage materials. Entrants are invited to search, discover, adapt, and reuse public domain and openly licensed video clips, images, art, documents, or other materials found in D.P.L.A . or international partner libraries Europeana, Trove, and DigitalNZ.

★ Heartland High School Film Competition

The High School Film Competition encourages tomorrow’s filmmakers to create films that inspire filmmakers and audiences through the transformative power of the art form. Students may submit short films under 15 minutes in length that are documentary or narrative; live-action or animated.

★ Live Más Scholarship

The Live Más Scholarship is not based on your grades or how well you play sports. No essays, no test scores, no right or wrong answers. We’re looking for the next generation of innovators, creators and dreamers who want to make a difference in the world.Submit a video (2 minutes or less in length) that tells us the story of your life’s passion. It could be a short film, animation or just a simple testimonial. This is not about how well you can make a film – we just want you to show us your passion and explain why you should be considered for a Live Más Scholarship.

★ Nashville Film Festival

An international competition for narrative, nonfiction and animated films under 40 minutes in length created by filmmakers aged 18 and under.

★ Newport Beach Film Festival

Celebrates the cinematic works, visions, and perspectives of young people from around the world. Through the exhibition of youth-created media, the festival seeks to create a forum for young filmmakers and encourage freedom of expression through cinema. The free event features a screening of short films created by filmmakers 18 years and younger.

★ Seattle International Film Festival

Filmmakers who are age 18 and under can send work to FutureWave Shorts.

★ World of 7 Billion Student Video Contest

Create a short video – up to 60 seconds – about human population growth that highlights one of the following global challenges: Preserving Biodiversity, Sustainable Resource Use, Protecting Human Rights.

Photography

★ High School Physics Photo Contest

The A.A.P.T. High School Physics Photo Contest is an international competition for high school students. For many years this contest has provided teachers and students an opportunity to learn about the physics behind natural and contrived situations by creating visual and written illustrations of various physical concepts. Students compete in an international arena with more than 1,000 of their peers for recognition and prizes.

★ Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Wildlife Photographer of the Year uses photography to challenge perceptions about the natural world, helping to promote sustainability and the conservation of wildlife. We celebrate biodiversity, evolution and the origins of life, and aim to inspire a greater understanding of nature. We champion ethical wildlife photography. This means we advocate faithful representations of the natural world that are free from excessive digital manipulation, accompanied by honest captions and that display total respect for animals and their environments.

★ Rocky Mountain School of Photography High School Photo Contest

Rocky Mountain School of Photography trains students of all ages to become passionate image-makers through practical, hands-on learning environments for all skill levels. The R.M.S.P. High School Photo Contest is an annual opportunity for students aged 14-18 to submit their best images for the chance to win a new camera and other prizes. The contest opens Dec. 1 and closes Feb. 28.

★ SONY World Photography Awards Youth Competition

We are looking for the next generation of talented photographers! The Youth competition, for everyone aged 12-19, recognizes that a love for photography often starts at a young age. The competition helps young photographers grow and flourish into the next stages of their careers. Judges are looking for good composition, creativity and clear photography. The 2019 theme is “Diversity”: In one single image show the judges an example of diversity. To be understood in its widest sense, the image of diversity could concern people, culture or environment and could be of a local or global concern. All techniques and styles are welcomed, and judges will particularly reward creativity.

Do you have an opportunity to add? Let us know by posting a comment or writing to us at [email protected].

How to Write a History Essay with Outline, Tips, Examples and More

Before we get into how to write a history essay, let's first understand what makes one good. Different people might have different ideas, but there are some basic rules that can help you do well in your studies. In this guide, we won't get into any fancy theories. Instead, we'll give you straightforward tips to help you with historical writing. So, if you're ready to sharpen your writing skills, let our history essay writing service explore how to craft an exceptional paper.

What is a History Essay?

A history essay is an academic assignment where we explore and analyze historical events from the past. We dig into historical stories, figures, and ideas to understand their importance and how they've shaped our world today. History essay writing involves researching, thinking critically, and presenting arguments based on evidence.

Moreover, history papers foster the development of writing proficiency and the ability to communicate complex ideas effectively. They also encourage students to engage with primary and secondary sources, enhancing their research skills and deepening their understanding of historical methodology.

History Essay Outline

The outline is there to guide you in organizing your thoughts and arguments in your essay about history. With a clear outline, you can explore and explain historical events better. Here's how to make one:

Introduction

• Hook: Start with an attention-grabbing opening sentence or anecdote related to your topic.
• Background Information: Provide context on the historical period, event, or theme you'll be discussing.
• Thesis Statement: Present your main argument or viewpoint, outlining the scope and purpose of your history essay.

Body paragraph 1: Introduction to the Historical Context

• Provide background information on the historical context of your topic.
• Highlight key events, figures, or developments leading up to the main focus of your history essay.

Body paragraphs 2-4 (or more): Main Arguments and Supporting Evidence

• Each paragraph should focus on a specific argument or aspect of your thesis.
• Present evidence from primary and secondary sources to support each argument.
• Analyze the significance of the evidence and its relevance to your history paper thesis.

Counterarguments (optional)

• Address potential counterarguments or alternative perspectives on your topic.
• Refute opposing viewpoints with evidence and logical reasoning.
• Summary of Main Points: Recap the main arguments presented in the body paragraphs.
• Restate Thesis: Reinforce your thesis statement, emphasizing its significance in light of the evidence presented.
• Reflection: Reflect on the broader implications of your arguments for understanding history.
• Closing Thought: End your history paper with a thought-provoking statement that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

References/bibliography

• List all sources used in your research, formatted according to the citation style required by your instructor (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago).
• Include both primary and secondary sources, arranged alphabetically by the author's last name.

Notes (if applicable)

• Include footnotes or endnotes to provide additional explanations, citations, or commentary on specific points within your history essay.

History Essay Format

Adhering to a specific format is crucial for clarity, coherence, and academic integrity. Here are the key components of a typical history essay format:

Font and Size

• Use a legible font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.
• The recommended font size is usually 12 points. However, check your instructor's guidelines, as they may specify a different size.
• Set 1-inch margins on all sides of the page.
• Double-space the entire essay, including the title, headings, body paragraphs, and references.
• Avoid extra spacing between paragraphs unless specified otherwise.
• Align text to the left margin; avoid justifying the text or using a centered alignment.

Title Page (if required):

• If your instructor requires a title page, include the essay title, your name, the course title, the instructor's name, and the date.
• Center-align this information vertically and horizontally on the page.
• Include a header on each page (excluding the title page if applicable) with your last name and the page number, flush right.
• Some instructors may require a shortened title in the header, usually in all capital letters.
• Center-align the essay title at the top of the first page (if a title page is not required).
• Use standard capitalization (capitalize the first letter of each major word).
• Avoid underlining, italicizing, or bolding the title unless necessary for emphasis.

Paragraph Indentation:

• Indent the first line of each paragraph by 0.5 inches or use the tab key.
• Do not insert extra spaces between paragraphs unless instructed otherwise.

Citations and References:

• Follow the citation style specified by your instructor (e.g., MLA, APA, Chicago).
• Include in-text citations whenever you use information or ideas from external sources.
• Provide a bibliography or list of references at the end of your history essay, formatted according to the citation style guidelines.
• Typically, history essays range from 1000 to 2500 words, but this can vary depending on the assignment.

How to Write a History Essay?

Historical writing can be an exciting journey through time, but it requires careful planning and organization. In this section, we'll break down the process into simple steps to help you craft a compelling and well-structured history paper.

Analyze the Question

Before diving headfirst into writing, take a moment to dissect the essay question. Read it carefully, and then read it again. You want to get to the core of what it's asking. Look out for keywords that indicate what aspects of the topic you need to focus on. If you're unsure about anything, don't hesitate to ask your instructor for clarification. Remember, understanding how to start a history essay is half the battle won!

Now, let's break this step down:

• Read the question carefully and identify keywords or phrases.
• Consider what the question is asking you to do – are you being asked to analyze, compare, contrast, or evaluate?
• Pay attention to any specific instructions or requirements provided in the question.
• Take note of the time period or historical events mentioned in the question – this will give you a clue about the scope of your history essay.

Develop a Strategy

With a clear understanding of the essay question, it's time to map out your approach. Here's how to develop your historical writing strategy:

• Brainstorm ideas : Take a moment to jot down any initial thoughts or ideas that come to mind in response to the history paper question. This can help you generate a list of potential arguments, themes, or points you want to explore in your history essay.
• Create an outline : Once you have a list of ideas, organize them into a logical structure. Start with a clear introduction that introduces your topic and presents your thesis statement – the main argument or point you'll be making in your history essay. Then, outline the key points or arguments you'll be discussing in each paragraph of the body, making sure they relate back to your thesis. Finally, plan a conclusion that summarizes your main points and reinforces your history paper thesis.
• Research : Before diving into writing, gather evidence to support your arguments. Use reputable sources such as books, academic journals, and primary documents to gather historical evidence and examples. Take notes as you research, making sure to record the source of each piece of information for proper citation later on.
• Consider counterarguments : Anticipate potential counterarguments to your history paper thesis and think about how you'll address them in your essay. Acknowledging opposing viewpoints and refuting them strengthens your argument and demonstrates critical thinking.
• Set realistic goals : Be realistic about the scope of your history essay and the time you have available to complete it. Break down your writing process into manageable tasks, such as researching, drafting, and revising, and set deadlines for each stage to stay on track.

Start Your Research

Now that you've grasped the history essay topic and outlined your approach, it's time to dive into research. Here's how to start:

• Ask questions : What do you need to know? What are the key points to explore further? Write down your inquiries to guide your research.
• Explore diverse sources : Look beyond textbooks. Check academic journals, reliable websites, and primary sources like documents or artifacts.
• Consider perspectives : Think about different viewpoints on your topic. How have historians analyzed it? Are there controversies or differing interpretations?
• Take organized notes : Summarize key points, jot down quotes, and record your thoughts and questions. Stay organized using spreadsheets or note-taking apps.
• Evaluate sources : Consider the credibility and bias of each source. Are they peer-reviewed? Do they represent a particular viewpoint?

Establish a Viewpoint

By establishing a clear viewpoint and supporting arguments, you'll lay the foundation for your compelling historical writing:

• Review your research : Reflect on the information gathered. What patterns or themes emerge? Which perspectives resonate with you?
• Formulate a thesis statement : Based on your research, develop a clear and concise thesis that states your argument or interpretation of the topic.
• Consider counterarguments : Anticipate objections to your history paper thesis. Are there alternative viewpoints or evidence that you need to address?
• Craft supporting arguments : Outline the main points that support your thesis. Use evidence from your research to strengthen your arguments.
• Stay flexible : Be open to adjusting your viewpoint as you continue writing and researching. New information may challenge or refine your initial ideas.

Structure Your Essay

Now that you've delved into the depths of researching historical events and established your viewpoint, it's time to craft the skeleton of your essay: its structure. Think of your history essay outline as constructing a sturdy bridge between your ideas and your reader's understanding. How will you lead them from point A to point Z? Will you follow a chronological path through history or perhaps dissect themes that span across time periods?

And don't forget about the importance of your introduction and conclusion—are they framing your narrative effectively, enticing your audience to read your paper, and leaving them with lingering thoughts long after they've turned the final page? So, as you lay the bricks of your history essay's architecture, ask yourself: How can I best lead my audience through the maze of time and thought, leaving them enlightened and enriched on the other side?

Create an Engaging Introduction

Creating an engaging introduction is crucial for capturing your reader's interest right from the start. But how do you do it? Think about what makes your topic fascinating. Is there a surprising fact or a compelling story you can share? Maybe you could ask a thought-provoking question that gets people thinking. Consider why your topic matters—what lessons can we learn from history?

Also, remember to explain what your history essay will be about and why it's worth reading. What will grab your reader's attention and make them want to learn more? How can you make your essay relevant and intriguing right from the beginning?

Develop Coherent Paragraphs

Once you've established your introduction, the next step is to develop coherent paragraphs that effectively communicate your ideas. Each paragraph should focus on one main point or argument, supported by evidence or examples from your research. Start by introducing the main idea in a topic sentence, then provide supporting details or evidence to reinforce your point.

Make sure to use transition words and phrases to guide your reader smoothly from one idea to the next, creating a logical flow throughout your history essay. Additionally, consider the organization of your paragraphs—is there a clear progression of ideas that builds upon each other? Are your paragraphs unified around a central theme or argument?

Conclude Effectively

Concluding your history essay effectively is just as important as starting it off strong. In your conclusion, you want to wrap up your main points while leaving a lasting impression on your reader. Begin by summarizing the key points you've made throughout your history essay, reminding your reader of the main arguments and insights you've presented.

Then, consider the broader significance of your topic—what implications does it have for our understanding of history or for the world today? You might also want to reflect on any unanswered questions or areas for further exploration. Finally, end with a thought-provoking statement or a call to action that encourages your reader to continue thinking about the topic long after they've finished reading.

Reference Your Sources

Referencing your sources is essential for maintaining the integrity of your history essay and giving credit to the scholars and researchers who have contributed to your understanding of the topic. Depending on the citation style required (such as MLA, APA, or Chicago), you'll need to format your references accordingly. Start by compiling a list of all the sources you've consulted, including books, articles, websites, and any other materials used in your research.

Then, as you write your history essay, make sure to properly cite each source whenever you use information or ideas that are not your own. This includes direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. Remember to include all necessary information for each source, such as author names, publication dates, and page numbers, as required by your chosen citation style.

Review and Ask for Advice

As you near the completion of your history essay writing, it's crucial to take a step back and review your work with a critical eye. Reflect on the clarity and coherence of your arguments—are they logically organized and effectively supported by evidence? Consider the strength of your introduction and conclusion—do they effectively capture the reader's attention and leave a lasting impression? Take the time to carefully proofread your history essay for any grammatical errors or typos that may detract from your overall message.

Furthermore, seeking advice from peers, mentors, or instructors can provide valuable insights and help identify areas for improvement. Consider sharing your essay with someone whose feedback you trust and respect, and be open to constructive criticism. Ask specific questions about areas you're unsure about or where you feel your history essay may be lacking.

History Essay Example

In this section, we offer an example of a history essay examining the impact of the Industrial Revolution on society. This essay demonstrates how historical analysis and critical thinking are applied in academic writing. By exploring this specific event, you can observe how historical evidence is used to build a cohesive argument and draw meaningful conclusions.

FAQs about History Essay Writing

How to write a history essay introduction, how to write a conclusion for a history essay, how to write a good history essay.

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Submissions

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Perspectives on History welcomes pitches on all aspects of the practice of history—from the public square to the private study. Perspectives publishes articles by all kinds of historians (including but not limited to those working at colleges and universities, K–12 schools, museums, and archives), at all degree levels, and of all professional ranks. We strive to be a place for historians across the discipline to share their ideas and enthusiasm.

Perspectives on History is the AHA’s newsmagazine, published in print nine times a year and online; Perspectives Daily offers online-only content year-round. Articles for Perspectives on History should be about 1,500 words in length. Perspectives Daily articles are about 800–1,000 words. We prefer a journalistic and conversational style that can engage a wide audience. We welcome ideas for illustrations, but ask that footnotes be kept to a minimum. 

Manuscripts must be original and not submitted elsewhere, including blogs or other online platforms. Neither Perspectives on History nor Perspectives Daily publishes book excerpts, book reviews, or book promotion. Articles that do not follow our submission guidelines, including word count, will not be considered for publication. All pitches and article submissions are subject to editorial review before acceptance and publication.

We recommend that potential authors review articles on our Past Issues page, our submission guidelines (see below), and our copyright policy . Among other topics, we are particularly interested in articles that put current events into historical context, such as “ Colorizing Photos from the Past ” and “ On the Peaceful Transfer of Power .” Additionally, we are always looking for articles on teaching at any level, such as “ Choose Your Professional Path ,” “ Middle Schoolers Take on Columbus ,” or “ Consider the Student View .” (For more info, visit our teaching article guidelines .)  We also encourage submissions related to historians' professional experiences, such as “ The Business of Applied History ” and “ Heterophobia? ” 

We prefer to receive pitches prior to an article's submission to give us a better understanding of the topic and your viewpoint as an author. Guidelines for pitches may be found here . Potential authors should also search our archives to see if we've published any stories on the same topic.

Authors writing for Perspectives on History will be awarded a $100 honorarium. In Memoriam essays, letters to the editor, and all   writing for  Perspectives Daily  are uncompensated.

There are many helpful online resources for writers who wish to pitch editors. Pitches help editors by quickly establishing the nature of the story you’re proposing, its relevance to our readership, your point of view, and the sources you’ll consult. A good pitch also gives the editors a sense of your writing style.

Pitches contain several key elements:

• The topic of the story, the underlying problem or conflict behind it, and your angle on it. You may wish to draw our attention to an unexpected point of view.
• The reason why this story is worth publishing now. What makes it newsworthy, timely, or important for the historical community?
• The “so what”? What’s the big picture? Its relevance to historians is important, and often how it fits into society at large.
• The reason why you are the best person to write this story, with links to relevant publications. (Blog posts are fine.) Do not attach a CV in lieu of this information.

Potential writers should familiarize themselves with the sort of articles we publish and the sections in which they fit. If a story is immediately relevant to discussions about current events, please flag it as a possible contribution to Perspectives Daily if you envision it being published quickly.

Perspectives on History and Perspectives Daily welcome articles by historians from all kinds of institutions (including but not limited to colleges and universities, K–12 schools, museums, and archives), at all degree levels, and of all professional ranks.

Please send pitches to [email protected] . Include the word “pitch” and the topic in the subject heading. 

Articles for Perspectives on History should be about 1,500 words in length. Perspectives Daily articles are about 800–1,000 words. We prefer a journalistic and conversational style that can engage a wide audience.

If you’re not sure whether your article is right for Perspectives or Perspectives Daily , send us a pitch at [email protected] .

Complete Guidelines and Submission form

The American Historical Association welcomes feedback responding to our print and digital publications. Due to space considerations and in the interests of clarity of communication, letters to the editor should be no more than 500 words. Letters to the editor should be guided by the AHA’s  Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct . Please read our complete guidelines.

• “ On ‘A New View of Event History’ ” by Christine Haynes
• “ On ‘Our Colleagues’ ” by Sue Kozel 

In Memoriam essays should be about 650 words. They should focus on the subject’s professional life, but above all should be a historian’s appreciation of a fellow historian, including their influence on colleagues, institutions, their field, and the discipline. The subject of the essay need not be an AHA member.

Authors of In Memoriam essays must submit a portrait photograph of the subject as a high-resolution digital image. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to publish the photo.

• “ Jenny Tone-Pah-Hote ”
• “ Richard Polenberg ”

Essays for the Everything Has a History section should be about 500 words. They should focus on a single physical item (objects, documents, flora, and fauna are fair game—we are open to it all). You must be able to write about the object with enthusiasm and in a personal, reflective tone.

Additionally, we must be able to reproduce an image of the item. Anything under copyright or archival restriction will not work for this section. Please indicate with your submission what image would be paired with the article and, if possible, provide the image for consideration with the submission. Images should be horizontal, rather than vertical, to the extent possible.

• “ The Fateh Al-Khayr ” by Fahad Ahmad Bishara 
• “ The Pith Helmet ” by Carina Ray
• “ The Faema E61 Espresso Machine ” by Jonathan Morris

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History Today accepts submissions for articles for inclusion in the magazine. Submissions should be original, exclusive to History Today and offer an engaging and authoritative take on a historical subject.

Prospective contributors should look through our online archive to ensure the proposal or subject area hasn't been written about recently.

The magazine carries three types of article:

• Feature-length articles, which are between 3,000 and 3,400 words;
• Mid-length articles, between 1,300 and 2,200 words;
• History Matters articles, broadly a range of polemics and short articles, of 1,000 words (these also appear in the History Matters section on this website);

Please send a brief email about your proposal, along with a few lines about your career / academic background, to:

[email protected]

Unfortunately we are unable to respond to all submissions.

World Historian Student Essay Competition

Congratulations to Joshua Hangartner of La Jolla Country Day School, the winner of the 2023 World Historian Student Essay Competition for his essay, "World History: A Vehicle for Understanding Ourselves."

2023 World Historian Student Essay Competition Winner: Joshua Hangartner (La Jolla Country Day School)

• The WHA is pleased to announce that Joshua Hangartner of La Jolla Country Day School (La Jolla, CA) is the winner of the 2023 World Historian Essay Competition for his outstanding essay, "World History: A Vehicle for Understanding Ourselves." Focusing on its broad and deep complexities, Mr. Hangartner ably demonstrates how World History's vast and complex scope connects us personally to the sweeping historical themes that shaped the present day and serves as a "uniquely powerful tool" that allows us to discover ourselves in an incredibly complicated world. Congratulations, Joshua!

The World Historian Student Essay Competition is an international competition open to students enrolled in grades  K–12 in public, private, and parochial schools, and those in home-study programs. Membership in the World History Association is not a requirement for submission. Past winners may not compete in the same category again.  Finalist essays will be checked against AI internet components and will be automatically disqualified should stock answers be detected.

The World History Association established this $500 prize to recognize young scholars. A one-year membership in the WHA will also be included with each prize.

Each competitor will submit an essay that addresses one of the following topics and discuss how it relates to you personally and to World History:  Your view of a family story related to a historical event or your personal family cultural background, or an issue of personal relevance or specific regional history/knowledge, such as "My ancestor walked with Abraham Lincoln from Illinois to fight in the Black Hawk War of 1832." 

The committee will judge papers according to the following criteria:

• clear thesis;
• elaboration on the thesis with specific, concrete, personal example(s);
• evidence of critical-thinking, such as synthesis and evaluation, when reflecting on the essay question;
• organization and fluency; and
• overall effectiveness of the student’s ability to communicate his or her personal connection with the study of world history—in other words, how well has the student described the experience of being changed by a better understanding of world history?

To view some of our past winning essays, please click on the links below.

2023 Paper Prize Winner

2019 Paper Prize Winner

2018 Paper Prize Winner

2017 Paper Prize Winner

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Length & format.

Length:  Submissions for the  K–12  World Historian Award should be approximately 1,000 words.

Formatting:  Number all pages except for the title page. All pages are to be double-spaced. Use 12-point Times New Roman Font. Margins are to be 1 inch left and right, and top and bottom.

Submissions must be composed in Microsoft Word.

The author’s identity is to appear nowhere on the paper.

A separate, unattached page should accompany the paper, identifying the author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and name of school.

Papers that do not adhere to these guidelines will be disqualified.

Entries must be emailed or postmarked by the annual deadline of 1 May.

Winning papers will be announced during the summer.

The  WHA  reserves the right to publish in the  World History Bulletin  any essay (or portion thereof) submitted to the competition. It will do so solely at its discretion, but full acknowledgment of authorship will be given. If someone’s essay is published in whole or in part, the author will receive three (3) copies of the  Bulletin.

E-mail submission

Send the following materials as separate attachments (formatted in  MS  Word) in the same e-mail, with the subject line  World Historian Student Essay :

• the paper, and
• a page with identifying information (author, title of paper, home address, telephone number, e-mail address, and name of school).

E-mail to:  Susan Smith <[email protected]> .

Postal submission

Send five copies of the paper and five copies of the page with identifying information. In the lower left hand corner on the front of the envelope write:  World Historian Student Essay.

Susan Smith Maple Grove Senior High 9800 Fernbrook Lane  N. Maple Grove,  MN  55369-9747

WORLD HISTORIAN STUDENT ESSAY COMPETITION COMMITTEE:

• Susan Smith, chair
• Paul Richgruber

PAST WINNERS

• Joshua Hangartner, La Jolla Country Day School (La Jolla, CA) "World History: A Vehicle for Understanding Ourselves"
• Amanda Zhao, Pacific Ridge School (Carlsbad, CA) “History: An Ode to the Bricks of Progress”
• Akram Elkouraichi, Yonkers Middle High School (Yonkers, NY) “The Realization of Impermanence: Ephemerality in World History as a Conceptual Framework”
• Steven Chen, Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School (Vancouver, BC, Canada) “A Human Story: World History as an Optimist”
• Juliana Boerema, Cary Christian School (Cary, North Carolina) “Brilliant Painting: How the Study of World History Changes Perspective”
• Ahmad Aamir, Lahore Grammar School (Lahore, Pakistan) “Learning from History: Cooperation, Belief, Scholarship, & Words”
• Vivian Liu, International School of Beijing (Beijing, China) “History: Bread of the World”
• Vanessa Yan, Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School (Bradenton, Florida) “World History: The Great Macroscope”
• Rachel Hughes, Webber Academy (Calgary, Canada), “Fostering a Universal Understanding of World History is the Key to a Brighter Tomorrow”
• Campbell Munson, The Episcopal School of Dallas, “How History Has Affected My Worldview: Economies, Migration, Causality and Disease”
• Jacob Cooper, North Oconee High School (Bogart, Georgia), “World History: The Basis for Self-Determination, Democracy, and Religion“
• Luke J. Hamilton, Sword Academy (Bridgeport, Nebraska), “The Present: Living History”
• David Kim, Wydown Middle School ( St.  Louis), “History: The Shadow of the World”
• Elizabeth Mello, Dartmouth High School (Dartmouth, Massachusetts), “Out of Many Threads, One Cloth”

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Most Read in History

Join us in celebrating another year of excellence in history research at Oxford University Press. Our 'Most Read in History’ collection brings together the most read content published in our history portfolio in 2022, offering a free selection of journal articles and book chapters from the year's most popular publications.

This content is free until the 31 March 2023, after that date you may access content via your institutional access. If your institution does not yet have access, please recommend to your librarian .

Browse our collections

Browse our journals, browse our books, browse our handbooks, historical thinking and the democratic mind: an apprenticeship approach to teaching narrative complexity in the history classroom, latin america and the radicalization of u.s. abolition, rethinking nationalism, the privilege of family history, poverty, inequality statistics and knowledge politics under thatcher, the last voyage of the gloucester (1682): the politics of a royal shipwreck*, gendered labour, negritude and the black public sphere, town talk: enhancing the ‘eyes and ears’ of the colonial state in british hong kong, 1950s–1975, fiction and disinformation in early modern europe: an introduction, reply: out of the west — and neither east, nor north, nor south, chiefs and rural health services in south-western nigeria, c. 1920—c. 1950s, wilful blindness: sleeping sickness and onchocerciasis in colonial northern ghana, 1909–1957, from particularism to mass murder: nazi morality, antisemitism, and cognitive dissonance, surviving art from terezín: the satirical drawings of pavel fantl, medicine, religion, and the humanitarian ethos: walter b. cannon, unitarianism, and the care of spanish republican refugees in france, fighting a plague: doctors' stories of challenge and innovation combatting the aids epidemic in 1980s new york city, u.s. foreign policy think tanks and women’s intellectual labor, 1920–1950*, the cold war construction of the amerasian, 1950–1982, who is doctor bauer: rematriating a censored story on internment, wardship, and sexual violence in wartime alaska, 1941 - 1944, searching the shadows: thoughts on the west’s political history an extended field note, marianne en guerre, 1913–1923: the french republic in the era of the great war, la cité de demain: french urbanism in war and reconstruction, 1914–1928, prisoners of the world unite: the internationalism of the 2 june movement from berlin moabit prison, ideal men and dream women: computer matchmaking in twen during the west german sex wave, 1967–1970, ethnic jokes: mocking the working irish woman: winning essay, journal of victorian culture graduate essay prize 2021, soldiership, christianity, and the crimean war: the reception of catherine marsh’s memorials of captain hedley vicars, open secrets: the british ‘migrated archives’, colonial history, and postcolonial history, mapping the notting hill riots: racism and the streets of post-war britain, the other little house: the brothel as a colonial institution on the canadian prairies, 1880–93, white ethnicity in the urban crisis: newark’s italian americans, decolonizing britain: an exchange, women, mobility, and education in twentieth-century england and wales: a new analytical approach, gender and the long-run development process. a survey of the literature, the panopticon of germany’s foreign trade, 1880–1913: new facts on the first globalization, dan pagis’ bilingual poem ‘ein leben’ – an ophthalmologic poetics of german–hebrew eye contact, the foundations of constitutional history, labor in hot climates: the seventeenth century, introduction, defeat and internment: the french army in german hands, conceptualising corruption in office, introduction: towards a political ecology of aridity, builders and organizers, christian and literary rhetorics of the early middle ages: emotion as the property of style, introduction elizabeth’s and caty’s failed escapes: the materials of legal meaning, an exhausted soil, introduction: the bbc’s century, networks of cartographic influence, patronage, and reception, introduction: ‘the ever-memorable battle of waterloo’, caste and partition, the mishnah between jews and christians in early modern europe, introduction: republics and the politics of self-governance, climbing the ladder, 1578–1612, introduction: framing nigerian history in the twenty-first century, introduction: a new global history of drugs, introduction: the history of the history of the jewish diaspora, affiliations.

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The Myth and History Behind the Easter Bunny and Its Eggs

We went down a real rabbit hole for this one., nur ibrahim, published march 31, 2024.

As Easter approached at the end of March 2024, we looked into the many origin theories of the Christian holiday. The occasion celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion, and in many countries including the United States, a rabbit or bunny symbolizes the holiday. 

On Easter Sunday, children across the U.S. often search for hidden treats, usually in the form of chocolate Easter eggs, which the Easter bunny may have left behind. Shops also sell chocolate rabbits in abundance, and decorations of the long-eared creature abound over the holiday. 

But where did this connection between eggs and the rabbit/bunny come from? We went down a number of rabbit holes to find the connection, but discovered archaeologists and experts have been unable to find a definitive connection.

Below, we outline our research roadmap, which started with looking at the animal's significance over centuries, as well as the earliest possible references connecting it to Easter, and then to the pagan mythologies that may have surrounded the holiday. 

The Rabbit's Evolving Symbolism

Rabbits and hares — often mistaken for each other but representing  different species within the Leporidae family — have been included in religious iconography for centuries. According to Leviticus 11:6 in the Bible, hares are "unclean." The historic churches of Devon, U.K., some of which date back to 1450, carry the symbol of a circle of three hares joined at the ear. The symbol was also discovered all the way in China's Buddhist cave temples, and in the Middle East.

According to Folklorist Tok Thompson in the Smithsonian , the hare has appeared as a symbol of sexuality in art since the ancient Greeks to the Renaissance. The Virgin Mary was often depicted holding a white hare or rabbit, symbolizing how she overcame sexual temptation. 

Thompson noted that hares were part of ritual burials with humans during the Neolithic age in Europe, and such ritual burials continued into the Iron Age a thousand years later, often as representations of rebirth. In Greek mythology, they were sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and her son, Eros, was often depicted carrying a hare as a symbol of unquenchable desire. 

What Tied the Rabbit to Easter?  

Thompson connects the hare to Easter through the folk traditions of Germany and England. He reported accounts from 1600s Germany in which children searched for eggs hidden by an Easter Hare, as well as written accounts from England, detailing egg hunts and the consumption of hare meat at Easter. He also described Northern European beliefs  about witches taking the form of hares, so eating the hare was part of a tradition of scaring witches away. 

History.com noted the Easter bunny came to the U.S. in the 1700s with German immigrants who brought traditions of an egg-laying hare to Pennsylvania, calling it "Osterhase," or "Oschter Haws." 

A 2018 article in the World Archaeology journal, titled "Celebrating Easter, Christmas and their associated alien fauna," noted that in England the "origin of the association between rabbits and Easter is unclear, although rabbits have a widely reported connection with Lent. Historians reported the French monks in the late 6th century domesticated rabbits as they were given a special dispensation to eat uneviscerated foetal or newborn rabbits during Lent. Such rabbits were considered to be fish rather than meat due to coming from the "watery" womb. 

The article detailed their eventual popularity as an "elite feast food" in England particularly over Christmas in the 13th century. Their appeal grew in subsequent centuries, but over time as the rabbit population grew, the cost of obtaining them dropped, and they began to be considered pests; the wealthy eventually began to replace them with other species, like the turkey. The same paper described the earliest reference to the Easter hare and egg hunts as occurring in 17th-century Germany:

The earliest reference to the Easter hare (later the Easter bunny) does not appear until 1682 in Georg Franck von Franckenau's "De Ovis Paschalibus" ('Concerning Easter Eggs'). von Franckenau describes a tradition of Easter egg hunts (albeit with hens' eggs rather than chocolate eggs) in Heidelberg and surrounding Protestant areas of Germany which is readily recognizable as the antecedent of present-day Easter egg hunts.

Stephen Winick, a folkorist at the Library of Congress, in 2016 analyzed a key origin story behind the Easter hare pertaining to Ostara, the ancient Germanic goddess of the spring, who transformed a bird into a hare, and the hare responded by laying colored eggs for her festival. Winick noted : 

Ostara herself is a shadowy figure in Germanic folklore. Her story begins with Eostre, an early medieval English goddess who is not documented from pagan sources at all, and turns up in only one early Christian source, the writings of the English churchman Bede. Bede may have been right that there was such a goddess, or he may have been spreading the received wisdom of his era, and scholars have debated this point for years. Jacob Grimm [part of the Brothers Grimm literary duo], the brilliant linguist and folklorist, is one of many scholars who took Bede at his word, and in his 1835 book "Deutsche Mythologie", he proposed that Eostre must have been a local version of a more widespread Germanic goddess, whom he named Ostara. It's impossible to tell if Ostara as a goddess ever existed outside Grimm's proposal. As for Eostre, there's no evidence of her worship except in Bede's book, and possibly in place names (which could, however, just mean "east"). There are certainly no ancient stories in which she transforms a bird into a hare.

We found a copy on the Internet Archive of Volume 1 of Grimm's " Teutonic Mythology " (translated from "Deutsche Mythologie") published between 1882 to 1888, and Grimm described Ostara thus: 

Ostara, Eastre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted to the resurrection-day of the christian's God. Bonfires were lighted at Easter, and according to a popular belief of long standing, the moment the sun rises on Easter Sunday morning, he gives three joyful leaps, he dances for joy (Superst. 813). Water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing (Superst. 775. 804) ; here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess.

However, Winick said the earliest connection between Ostara and the hare occurred in an 1874 text also titled " Deutsche Mythologie " by Adolf Holtzmann, which stated: "The Easter Hare is inexplicable to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara; just as there is a hare on the statue of [the Celtic goddess] Abnoba." (Winick's translation)

Winick found an 1883 note in the English journal "Folk-lore" by H. Krebs that offered another connection between the goddess and the hare, the idea of which, he argued, was traced back to Holtzmann:

Easter-Eggs and the Hare.—Some time ago the question was raised how it came that, according to South German still prevailing folk-lore, the Hare is believed by children to lay the Easter-eggs. I venture now to offer a probable answer to it. Originally the hare seems to have been a bird which the ancient Teutonic goddess Ostara (the Anglo-Saxon Eàstre or Eostre, as Bede calls her) transformed into a quadruped. For this reason the Hare, in grateful recollection of its former quality as bird and swift messenger of the Spring-Goddess, is able to lay eggs on her festival at Easter-time (r. Oberle's Ueberreste germanischen Heidentums im Christentum, 8vo, Baden-Baden, 1883, p. 104.)

2020 archaeological research found evidence showing the worship of Eostre in England but none connecting hares to the goddess. The research, conducted by archaeologists from the University of Iceland and University of Exeter, however, found that the existence of "Eostre" in pre-Christian England was controversial:

We [...] accept Ēostre as a historical deity, and as a tutelary goddess her semantic centre would have been focused not on a particular function or role, but on her congregation: she was a local goddess, for local people. However, despite the clear link between lagomorphs [referring to the biological classification of rabbits and hares] and contemporary British Easter traditions (Lauritsen et al., 2018), there is no evidence whatsoever to link Ēostre to hares, and popular suggestions to the contrary appear to be based on misunderstanding or projection. How long the Easter Hare may have existed before it was recorded in seventeenth-century Germany is unclear (von Franckenau, 1682, p. 10); as are its relationships with the early twentieth-century Osterfuchs (Easter Fox) recorded in north-western German folklore (Schnitzler, 1959) and the seemingly Victorian Easter Bunny in Britain.

A 2008 article in The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture by Richard Sermon, the archaeological officer for Bath and North East Somerset, suggested another way in which the term "Easter" entered the German language (emphasis, ours):

More recently it has been suggested that Bede was only speculating about the origins of the festival name, although attempts by various German linguists to find alternative origins have so far proven unconvincing. Nevertheless, there may be a more direct route by which Ostern could have entered the German language. Much of Germany was converted to Christianity by Anglo-Saxon clerics such as St Boniface (C.AD 673–754), who could have introduced the Old English name Eastron during the course of their missionary work. This would explain the first appearance of Ostarun in the Abrogans, a late eighth-century Old High German glossary, and does not require any complex linguistic arguments or the existence of a Germanic goddess Ostara.

Ultimately, the rabbit hole led us nowhere, and the real reasons for a connection between the bunny, Easter, and eggs remain hare-y and as hotly debated as ever. 

"Bible Gateway Passage: Leviticus 11:6 - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition." Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2011%3A6&version=NRSVUE. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

The Folk-Lore Journal. Folk-lore Society, 1883. Accessed 28 March 2024.

"Easter - Lent, Holy Week, Resurrection." Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holiday/Liturgical-observances. Accessed 28 March 2024.

"Easter Symbols and Traditions - Easter Bunny, Easter Eggs & Christianity." HISTORY, 19 Mar. 2024, https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols. Accessed 28 March 2024.

Grimm, Jacob, and James Steven Stallybrass. Teutonic Mythology. London : G. Bell and sons, 1882. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/teutonicmytholog01grim. Accessed 28 March 2024.

Lauritsen, Malene, et al. "Celebrating Easter, Christmas and Their Associated Alien Fauna." World Archaeology, vol. 50, no. 2, Mar. 2018, pp. 285–99. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2018.1515655. Accessed 28 March 2024.

Nildin-Wall, Bodil, and Jan Wall. "The Witch as Hare or the Witch's Hare: Popular Legends and Beliefs in Nordic Tradition." Folklore, vol. 104, no. 1/2, 1993, pp. 67–76. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1260796. Accessed 28 March 2024.

"The Ancient Origins of the Easter Bunny." Smithsonian Magazine, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-ancient-origins-of-the-easter-bunny-180979915/. Accessed 28 March 2024.

"Sacred Hares, Banished Winter Witches and Pagan Worship - the Roots of Easter Bunny Traditions Are Ancient." News and Events, 13 Apr. 2022, https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/ancient-roots-of-easter-bunny/. Accessed 28 March 2024.

Sermon, Richard. "From Easter to Ostara: The Reinvention of a Pagan Goddess?" Time and Mind, vol. 1, no. 3, Jan. 2008, pp. 331–43. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.2752/175169708X329372. Accessed 28 March 2024.

"The Easter Bunny: Evolution of a Symbol." BBC, April 3, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230403-the-easter-bunny-evolution-of-a-symbol. Accessed 28 March 2024.

"The Mystery of the Three Hares." BBC, 30 Sept. 2009. news.bbc.co.uk, http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8280000/8280645.stm. Accessed 28 March 2024.

Winick, Stephen. "Ostara and the Hare: Not Ancient, but Not As Modern As Some Skeptics Think | Folklife Today." The Library of Congress, 28 Apr. 2016, https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/04/ostara-and-the-hare. Accessed 28 March 2024.

By Nur Ibrahim

Nur Nasreen Ibrahim is a reporter with experience working in television, international news coverage, fact checking, and creative writing.

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Why Easter brings me back to church

Even though i don’t practice in earnest anymore, memories and community give me a reason to return every spring, by gabriella ferrigine.

“Please — come join us in the cafeteria after Mass has concluded!”

Father Ariel’s jaunty voice echoed from where he was standing at the slabbed marble pulpit, as he smiled out at the congregation. His family, who had arrived from the Philippines in droves to celebrate his 50th birthday, beamed from the first several rows of glossy, varnished pews. 

I’m not an atheist per se, but trying to find an equilibrium with faith has undoubtedly become a game of mental Tetris.

Mid-morning light filtered through stained glass depicting saints and the Stations of the Cross, casting soft pinks and blues and greens across the church: our local parish, St. James. Sun illuminated the top of Father Ariel’s head, and behind him, a domed mural of the stages of Jesus’ life — his birth in a manger, his crucifixion atop Calvary, and his resurrection after emerging from a stone sepulchre — seemed to swell higher with every slow, measured note of music from the raftered choir.

It was a Sunday morning in April, not exactly Easter but right around the time. The smell of incense — a combination of frankincense and myrrh — leached from every corner of the space, creating a somewhat soporific effect. I pictured my family, friends and neighbors gently falling asleep to its bitter, powdery aroma, like Dorothy  did in the poppy field. Everything felt buoyant and peaceful.

My family and many other parishioners — mainly gentle, geriatric hordes — joined Father Ariel with his multitude of relatives in my middle-school cafeteria for an authentic Filipino feast. Side dishes of pearly quail eggs, roasted fish and meats, bright salads and an array of desserts adorned every inch of table space, the very same where I ate many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my youth. At the center of it all was a huge roast pig, or lechón, with delicate, crisped skin. I looked at the pig’s face, then at the people ambling around the dingy, linoleum floors, and immediately felt love. 

This was nearly 10 years ago, back during a time when I went to Church every Sunday and consistently prayed to God. I don’t consider myself a particularly religious person anymore. I’m not an atheist per se, but trying to find an equilibrium with faith has undoubtedly become a game of mental Tetris. Sure, Jesus seemed like a pretty cool guy — to me, his message has always unequivocally been "love,” in a broader sense. I’m on board with that. 

But I still remain immensely put off by how Catholicism’s sordid underbelly has blended into sociopolitical life, underpinning the dismantling of women’s reproductive rights and enabling sexual abusers. I find myself still clinging to it largely because it’s woven tightly into many people I love. It’s a perturbing relationship; I feel as though my continued shunning of organized religion has in a sense estranged me from the memory of some very important people. 

And yet, Easter and springtime always bring me back to church. I find myself craving, not exactly the scriptures and the teachings embedded in them, but how the space evokes the memories of people I love — chiefly my maternal grandmother and my mom — and an inclusive sense of community. 

A deeply spiritual person, my grandma — born in a small Bolivian jungle village called Riberalta — spent her teenage years living in a convent with a U.S.-based congregation of nuns performing foreign missionary work. She was readying to enter the sisterhood when she met my grandfather, a Sicilian and civil engineer volunteering with a Catholic mission group to help build new infrastructure in Riberalta. They returned to America together and settled in Bayonne, New Jersey, joined in a union forged out of a shared devotion to God and each other.

Though my mom didn’t pray a daily rosary or make pilgrimages to Lourdes like my grandma, she was deeply affected by her religious upbringing, a heritage she inculcated her five children with through weekly mass, and offering up nightly intentions along with prayers before dinner: family and friends who were sick or had died, poverty and homelessness, wartime conflict, our cat Sweet Pea’s hypothyroidism. 

In my grandmother’s house and my own, the iconography of Jesus and other religious figures was everywhere, peppering walls and mantelpieces alongside family photos and wedding albums. Each time one of my more than 25 cousins or I received a sacrament — Baptism, First Holy Eucharist, Confirmation — a sprawling, family-wide party followed, usually at an Italian restaurant with a generically benevolent, pot-bellied owner who would toddle around and ask, “How yous all likin’ the food?” And of course, there was always a large white sheet cake, piped in bubbled fonts: “God Bless ____!” 

Seeing as my mom’s eight siblings were spread out across central New Jersey, I essentially ran the gauntlet of various Catholic parishes in our area for different holidays and events. I had my favorite churches. St. James retained the top position. Then came St. Michael’s, a red-bricked church that was famous for its live-animal manger display during the Christmas season. Holy Cross — located in one of the more affluent towns in my county — had a stunning interior, but its reputation had always been somewhat sullied in my mind from a 2006 embezzlement incident . 

While I was able to evade formal liturgical participation, my three younger sisters were all urged to be altar servers, helping St. James’ priests — mostly middle-aged men from the Phillippines and India — prepare and proceed with weekly Sunday mass. One sister recalled a time when she and another altar server accidentally spilled open a bag of already-consecrated Eucharist wafers as they were preparing for mass in the wood-paneled sacristy. 

“Oh! Uh, don’t worry girls — I’ll consume these later,” the priest said when he walked in and saw them scooping the body of Christ off the floor and into Ziploc bags. 

Another time several years ago, my family was running late for Easter Sunday mass, half of us with our hair still wet. “Overflow,” an usher posted outside the church doors said as we approached, jerking his thumb toward the rear parking lot where the grammar school was located. Given that creasters (Catholics who only attend church on Christmas and Easter) come out of the woodwork every winter and spring, tardy worshippers are forced to attend the secondary service, held in the gymnasium or auditorium. 

From my seat in a metal folding chair, nostalgia washed over me as the priest carried a gold crucifix across the same floor where I’d once played dodgeball, toward the makeshift altar where I’d watched classmates act out a rendition of “The Little Mermaid.”

I feel as though my continued shunning of organized religion has in a sense estranged me from the memory of some very important people.

I spent last Easter in Newport, Rhode Island with my family for a short holiday vacation. The weekend was oceanic cliffs and Gilded Age mansions and a kaleidoscopic assortment of saltwater taffy. On Easter Sunday, we walked from our quaint bed and breakfast to St. Mary’s, Our Lady of the Isle, where JFK and Jackie O wed in September of 1953. We took turns waiting outside with our two Great Pyrenees, who had reaped the benefits of Newport’s reputation for being dog-friendly.

Ahead of the homily, the part of the service when the priest explains the Gospel reading in further detail, I elected to relieve my mom of dog duty, knowing she wouldn’t want to miss the crux of the mass. 

As I turned toward the door to trade off with her, the sharp New England morning air — and an emotional pang — made me bristle. I didn’t want to leave. Mashed tightly in hard-backed pews alongside other Catholics, loyalists and creasters alike, I felt a distinct sense of calm. The very same that came to me years ago as I gazed at a pig’s snout.

This Easter, we’ll be going back to St. James. Father Ariel is no longer at the parish — I don’t know many of the priests there anymore, my connection to the parish steadily eroded by distance, time and sheer obstinance on my part. It’s an elegiac relationship, compounded by the recent passing of my grandmother, who embodied holiness and unadulterated love in every sense. 

And while I may not take the time to philosophize about my salvation on Sunday, I’m certain I’ll think of her and what my being there would mean to her. For me, that’s enough to return every spring. 

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• Best Easter pageant ever? Half a century of "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Gabriella Ferrigine is a staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

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Doris Kearns Goodwin's personal history in "An Unfinished Love Story"

By Robert Costa

March 24, 2024 / 9:37 AM EDT / CBS News

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a rare presence on our national stage – an historian with academic cred and pop-culture cachet. Her work, of course, is serious, but she shares it with joy, and sometimes a laugh, as when she made an entrance on "The Late Show Starring Stephen Colbert" on a litter carried by Lincoln impersonators.

"It's fun when a younger person comes up to you and says, 'You know, my kids saw you on "The Simpsons"'!" Goodwin said.

Goodwin, now 81, is renowned for telling the story of America, often through the prism of the presidency, including with her biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, the Kennedys, and Lyndon B. Johnson.  

Her latest book does that, too, and it's deeply personal. "An Unfinished Love Story" (to be published April 16 by Simon & Schuster) is about her late husband, Richard Goodwin, and his adventures in the turbulent 1960s, writing speeches for titans like John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and LBJ.

And it's about Richard and Doris. "He was an extraordinary character who somehow traversed almost every important moment in the 1960s," Goodwin said. "He's like Zelig in a certain sense in the '60s."

Some of the most iconic lines in the '60s came right from Richard Goodwin's typewriter: The Great Society. Ripples of hope. We shall overcome.

"Dick loved poetry, he loved drama," Goodwin said. "I mean, using the anthem of the civil rights movement in the middle of [LBJ's] great speech after the Selma demonstrations was almost a moment of genius that came to him."

Before becoming a fixture at the side of presidents, Richard Goodwin had a fast rise: Harvard Law, Supreme Court clerk, and then Congressional investigator of the rigged TV quiz shows of the 1950s. President Kennedy later brought Goodwin into his inner circle. After Kennedy's death, so did President Johnson, who looked to Goodwin for some rhetorical magic, as the LBJ tapes revealed. In one phone call Johnson asked, "Why not just ask [Goodwin] if he can't put some sex in it? I'd ask him if he couldn't put some rhyme in it and some beautiful Churchillian phrases…"

"The tapes were just so revealing," said Goodwin. "Especially when you hear him talking about my husband that way."

She writes that LBJ could be flat and dry in his public remarks, but not in private. "If people had known the way he talks on the tapes, if they had listened to him tell stories, they were brilliant," she said. "The private Lyndon Johnson is the most formidable, interesting, brilliant character I think I've ever met in my life."

Doris Kearns first met Johnson in 1967, when the towering Texan asked the young White House fellow for a dance. "I mean, what a way! He really twirled me around the floor. And then he whispered to me that he wanted me to be assigned directly to him in the White House."

Johnson's advisers were initially on edge about the 24-year-old Harvard grad student's anti-war views. But she quickly became someone he trusted, talking to her for hours during the bittersweet twilight of his life.

"He could be mean at times," she said. "But underneath there was this force that wanted to make the country a better place. And the war in Vietnam cut much of that … without that, there's no question he would have been one of the great presidents. But even now, he is one of those great presidents."

Doris and Richard Goodwin met at Harvard after LBJ left office, and were married in 1975. They lived in leafy Concord, Massachusetts, raising a family and working, until Richard's death in 2018. 

These days, Goodwin stays busy with history, but also keeps a close eye on politics.

When asked what is at stake in the coming election, Goodwin replied, "It's not an exaggeration to say democracy is at stake. I mean, I think about Lincoln when he said, early on, that the central point of the fight of the Civil War was really whether democracy would exist. Because if you could decide, as a Southern set of states did, that they lost an election, so they're going to secede from the Union, then democracy is an absurdity. And that's the hallmark of our system, is that you lose an election and you accept it with grace."

Costa asked, "What do you say to Americans who look at what's happening with this election, and they just want to tune out, not pay attention?"

"Tuning out and not paying attention is an action," Goodwin said. "In fact, somehow not participating is even worse than many other things you can do. Because it means you're saying, I don't care, it's not important. And that's a cowardly thing to say, because it's not true."

And Americans, she said, can always turn to the past for lessons.

"I still think if we look back at history, that somehow America's pulled through each one of these tough times, and we've come out strengthened," Goodwin said. "It's hard to see exactly how that's going to happen now, but it's going to happen, [but] only if people start marching, only if people start fighting for the rights they believe are being taken away.

"When conscience is fired, and the majority will is exercised, we somehow come through," she said. "And I think we will again."

        For more info:

• "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s"  by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster), in Hardcover, Large Print, eBook and Audio formats, available April 16 via  Amazon ,  Barnes & Noble  and  Bookshop.org
• doriskearnsgoodwin.com

Photo of Richard Goodwin and President John F. Kennedy by Jacques Lowe, courtesy of the Jacques Lowe Estate

        Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Mike Levine.

      See also:

• Doris Kearns Goodwin on whether we are living in "the worst of times" ("Sunday Morning")
• Time will tell: Historians on judging presidential leadership ("Sunday Morning")
• Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on "cutting the past some slack" ("Sunday Morning")

Robert Costa is the Chief Election & Campaign correspondent for CBS News, where he covers national politics and American democracy.

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• The Case for Marrying an Older Man

A woman’s life is all work and little rest. An age gap relationship can help.

In the summer, in the south of France, my husband and I like to play, rather badly, the lottery. We take long, scorching walks to the village — gratuitous beauty, gratuitous heat — kicking up dust and languid debates over how we’d spend such an influx. I purchase scratch-offs, jackpot tickets, scraping the former with euro coins in restaurants too fine for that. I never cash them in, nor do I check the winning numbers. For I already won something like the lotto, with its gifts and its curses, when he married me.

He is ten years older than I am. I chose him on purpose, not by chance. As far as life decisions go, on balance, I recommend it.

When I was 20 and a junior at Harvard College, a series of great ironies began to mock me. I could study all I wanted, prove myself as exceptional as I liked, and still my fiercest advantage remained so universal it deflated my other plans. My youth. The newness of my face and body. Compellingly effortless; cruelly fleeting. I shared it with the average, idle young woman shrugging down the street. The thought, when it descended on me, jolted my perspective, the way a falling leaf can make you look up: I could diligently craft an ideal existence, over years and years of sleepless nights and industry. Or I could just marry it early.

So naturally I began to lug a heavy suitcase of books each Saturday to the Harvard Business School to work on my Nabokov paper. In one cavernous, well-appointed room sat approximately 50 of the planet’s most suitable bachelors. I had high breasts, most of my eggs, plausible deniability when it came to purity, a flush ponytail, a pep in my step that had yet to run out. Apologies to Progress, but older men still desired those things.

I could not understand why my female classmates did not join me, given their intelligence. Each time I reconsidered the project, it struck me as more reasonable. Why ignore our youth when it amounted to a superpower? Why assume the burdens of womanhood, its too-quick-to-vanish upper hand, but not its brief benefits at least? Perhaps it came easier to avoid the topic wholesale than to accept that women really do have a tragically short window of power, and reason enough to take advantage of that fact while they can. As for me, I liked history, Victorian novels, knew of imminent female pitfalls from all the books I’d read: vampiric boyfriends; labor, at the office and in the hospital, expected simultaneously; a decline in status as we aged, like a looming eclipse. I’d have disliked being called calculating, but I had, like all women, a calculator in my head. I thought it silly to ignore its answers when they pointed to an unfairness for which we really ought to have been preparing.

I was competitive by nature, an English-literature student with all the corresponding major ambitions and minor prospects (Great American novel; email job). A little Bovarist , frantic for new places and ideas; to travel here, to travel there, to be in the room where things happened. I resented the callow boys in my class, who lusted after a particular, socially sanctioned type on campus: thin and sexless, emotionally detached and socially connected, the opposite of me. Restless one Saturday night, I slipped on a red dress and snuck into a graduate-school event, coiling an HDMI cord around my wrist as proof of some technical duty. I danced. I drank for free, until one of the organizers asked me to leave. I called and climbed into an Uber. Then I promptly climbed out of it. For there he was, emerging from the revolving doors. Brown eyes, curved lips, immaculate jacket. I went to him, asked him for a cigarette. A date, days later. A second one, where I discovered he was a person, potentially my favorite kind: funny, clear-eyed, brilliant, on intimate terms with the universe.

I used to love men like men love women — that is, not very well, and with a hunger driven only by my own inadequacies. Not him. In those early days, I spoke fondly of my family, stocked the fridge with his favorite pasta, folded his clothes more neatly than I ever have since. I wrote his mother a thank-you note for hosting me in his native France, something befitting a daughter-in-law. It worked; I meant it. After graduation and my fellowship at Oxford, I stayed in Europe for his career and married him at 23.

Of course I just fell in love. Romances have a setting; I had only intervened to place myself well. Mainly, I spotted the precise trouble of being a woman ahead of time, tried to surf it instead of letting it drown me on principle. I had grown bored of discussions of fair and unfair, equal or unequal , and preferred instead to consider a thing called ease.

The reception of a particular age-gap relationship depends on its obviousness. The greater and more visible the difference in years and status between a man and a woman, the more it strikes others as transactional. Transactional thinking in relationships is both as American as it gets and the least kosher subject in the American romantic lexicon. When a 50-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman walk down the street, the questions form themselves inside of you; they make you feel cynical and obscene: How good of a deal is that? Which party is getting the better one? Would I take it? He is older. Income rises with age, so we assume he has money, at least relative to her; at minimum, more connections and experience. She has supple skin. Energy. Sex. Maybe she gets a Birkin. Maybe he gets a baby long after his prime. The sight of their entwined hands throws a lucid light on the calculations each of us makes, in love, to varying degrees of denial. You could get married in the most romantic place in the world, like I did, and you would still have to sign a contract.

Twenty and 30 is not like 30 and 40; some freshness to my features back then, some clumsiness in my bearing, warped our decade, in the eyes of others, to an uncrossable gulf. Perhaps this explains the anger we felt directed at us at the start of our relationship. People seemed to take us very, very personally. I recall a hellish car ride with a friend of his who began to castigate me in the backseat, in tones so low that only I could hear him. He told me, You wanted a rich boyfriend. You chased and snuck into parties . He spared me the insult of gold digger, but he drew, with other words, the outline for it. Most offended were the single older women, my husband’s classmates. They discussed me in the bathroom at parties when I was in the stall. What does he see in her? What do they talk about? They were concerned about me. They wielded their concern like a bludgeon. They paraphrased without meaning to my favorite line from Nabokov’s Lolita : “You took advantage of my disadvantage,” suspecting me of some weakness he in turn mined. It did not disturb them, so much, to consider that all relationships were trades. The trouble was the trade I’d made struck them as a bad one.

The truth is you can fall in love with someone for all sorts of reasons, tiny transactions, pluses and minuses, whose sum is your affection for each other, your loyalty, your commitment. The way someone picks up your favorite croissant. Their habit of listening hard. What they do for you on your anniversary and your reciprocal gesture, wrapped thoughtfully. The serenity they inspire; your happiness, enlivening it. When someone says they feel unappreciated, what they really mean is you’re in debt to them.

When I think of same-age, same-stage relationships, what I tend to picture is a woman who is doing too much for too little.

I’m 27 now, and most women my age have “partners.” These days, girls become partners quite young. A partner is supposed to be a modern answer to the oppression of marriage, the terrible feeling of someone looming over you, head of a household to which you can only ever be the neck. Necks are vulnerable. The problem with a partner, however, is if you’re equal in all things, you compromise in all things. And men are too skilled at taking .

There is a boy out there who knows how to floss because my friend taught him. Now he kisses college girls with fresh breath. A boy married to my friend who doesn’t know how to pack his own suitcase. She “likes to do it for him.” A million boys who know how to touch a woman, who go to therapy because they were pushed, who learned fidelity, boundaries, decency, manners, to use a top sheet and act humanely beneath it, to call their mothers, match colors, bring flowers to a funeral and inhale, exhale in the face of rage, because some girl, some girl we know, some girl they probably don’t speak to and will never, ever credit, took the time to teach him. All while she was working, raising herself, clawing up the cliff-face of adulthood. Hauling him at her own expense.

I find a post on Reddit where five thousand men try to define “ a woman’s touch .” They describe raised flower beds, blankets, photographs of their loved ones, not hers, sprouting on the mantel overnight. Candles, coasters, side tables. Someone remembering to take lint out of the dryer. To give compliments. I wonder what these women are getting back. I imagine them like Cinderella’s mice, scurrying around, their sole proof of life their contributions to a more central character. On occasion I meet a nice couple, who grew up together. They know each other with a fraternalism tender and alien to me.  But I think of all my friends who failed at this, were failed at this, and I think, No, absolutely not, too risky . Riskier, sometimes, than an age gap.

My younger brother is in his early 20s, handsome, successful, but in many ways: an endearing disaster. By his age, I had long since wisened up. He leaves his clothes in the dryer, takes out a single shirt, steams it for three minutes. His towel on the floor, for someone else to retrieve. His lovely, same-age girlfriend is aching to fix these tendencies, among others. She is capable beyond words. Statistically, they will not end up together. He moved into his first place recently, and she, the girlfriend, supplied him with a long, detailed list of things he needed for his apartment: sheets, towels, hangers, a colander, which made me laugh. She picked out his couch. I will bet you anything she will fix his laundry habits, and if so, they will impress the next girl. If they break up, she will never see that couch again, and he will forget its story. I tell her when I visit because I like her, though I get in trouble for it: You shouldn’t do so much for him, not for someone who is not stuck with you, not for any boy, not even for my wonderful brother.

Too much work had left my husband, by 30, jaded and uninspired. He’d burned out — but I could reenchant things. I danced at restaurants when they played a song I liked. I turned grocery shopping into an adventure, pleased by what I provided. Ambitious, hungry, he needed someone smart enough to sustain his interest, but flexible enough in her habits to build them around his hours. I could. I do: read myself occupied, make myself free, materialize beside him when he calls for me. In exchange, I left a lucrative but deadening spreadsheet job to write full-time, without having to live like a writer. I learned to cook, a little, and decorate, somewhat poorly. Mostly I get to read, to walk central London and Miami and think in delicious circles, to work hard, when necessary, for free, and write stories for far less than minimum wage when I tally all the hours I take to write them.

At 20, I had felt daunted by the project of becoming my ideal self, couldn’t imagine doing it in tandem with someone, two raw lumps of clay trying to mold one another and only sullying things worse. I’d go on dates with boys my age and leave with the impression they were telling me not about themselves but some person who didn’t exist yet and on whom I was meant to bet regardless. My husband struck me instead as so finished, formed. Analyzable for compatibility. He bore the traces of other women who’d improved him, small but crucial basics like use a coaster ; listen, don’t give advice. Young egos mellow into patience and generosity.

My husband isn’t my partner. He’s my mentor, my lover, and, only in certain contexts, my friend. I’ll never forget it, how he showed me around our first place like he was introducing me to myself: This is the wine you’ll drink, where you’ll keep your clothes, we vacation here, this is the other language we’ll speak, you’ll learn it, and I did. Adulthood seemed a series of exhausting obligations. But his logistics ran so smoothly that he simply tacked mine on. I moved into his flat, onto his level, drag and drop, cleaner thrice a week, bills automatic. By opting out of partnership in my 20s, I granted myself a kind of compartmentalized, liberating selfishness none of my friends have managed. I am the work in progress, the party we worry about, a surprising dominance. When I searched for my first job, at 21, we combined our efforts, for my sake. He had wisdom to impart, contacts with whom he arranged coffees; we spent an afternoon, laughing, drawing up earnest lists of my pros and cons (highly sociable; sloppy math). Meanwhile, I took calls from a dear friend who had a boyfriend her age. Both savagely ambitious, hyperclose and entwined in each other’s projects. If each was a start-up , the other was the first hire, an intense dedication I found riveting. Yet every time she called me, I hung up with the distinct feeling that too much was happening at the same time: both learning to please a boss; to forge more adult relationships with their families; to pay bills and taxes and hang prints on the wall. Neither had any advice to give and certainly no stability. I pictured a three-legged race, two people tied together and hobbling toward every milestone.

I don’t fool myself. My marriage has its cons. There are only so many times one can say “thank you” — for splendid scenes, fine dinners — before the phrase starts to grate. I live in an apartment whose rent he pays and that shapes the freedom with which I can ever be angry with him. He doesn’t have to hold it over my head. It just floats there, complicating usual shorthands to explain dissatisfaction like, You aren’t being supportive lately . It’s a Frenchism to say, “Take a decision,” and from time to time I joke: from whom? Occasionally I find myself in some fabulous country at some fabulous party and I think what a long way I have traveled, like a lucky cloud, and it is frightening to think of oneself as vapor.

Mostly I worry that if he ever betrayed me and I had to move on, I would survive, but would find in my humor, preferences, the way I make coffee or the bed nothing that he did not teach, change, mold, recompose, stamp with his initials, the way Renaissance painters hid in their paintings their faces among a crowd. I wonder if when they looked at their paintings, they saw their own faces first. But this is the wrong question, if our aim is happiness. Like the other question on which I’m expected to dwell: Who is in charge, the man who drives or the woman who put him there so she could enjoy herself? I sit in the car, in the painting it would have taken me a corporate job and 20 years to paint alone, and my concern over who has the upper hand becomes as distant as the horizon, the one he and I made so wide for me.

To be a woman is to race against the clock, in several ways, until there is nothing left to be but run ragged.

We try to put it off, but it will hit us at some point: that we live in a world in which our power has a different shape from that of men, a different distribution of advantage, ours a funnel and theirs an expanding cone. A woman at 20 rarely has to earn her welcome; a boy at 20 will be turned away at the door. A woman at 30 may find a younger woman has taken her seat; a man at 30 will have invited her. I think back to the women in the bathroom, my husband’s classmates. What was my relationship if not an inconvertible sign of this unfairness? What was I doing, in marrying older, if not endorsing it? I had taken advantage of their disadvantage. I had preempted my own. After all, principled women are meant to defy unfairness, to show some integrity or denial, not plan around it, like I had. These were driven women, successful, beautiful, capable. I merely possessed the one thing they had already lost. In getting ahead of the problem, had I pushed them down? If I hadn’t, would it really have made any difference?

When we decided we wanted to be equal to men, we got on men’s time. We worked when they worked, retired when they retired, had to squeeze pregnancy, children, menopause somewhere impossibly in the margins. I have a friend, in her late 20s, who wears a mood ring; these days it is often red, flickering in the air like a siren when she explains her predicament to me. She has raised her fair share of same-age boyfriends. She has put her head down, worked laboriously alongside them, too. At last she is beginning to reap the dividends, earning the income to finally enjoy herself. But it is now, exactly at this precipice of freedom and pleasure, that a time problem comes closing in. If she would like to have children before 35, she must begin her next profession, motherhood, rather soon, compromising inevitably her original one. The same-age partner, equally unsettled in his career, will take only the minimum time off, she guesses, or else pay some cost which will come back to bite her. Everything unfailingly does. If she freezes her eggs to buy time, the decision and its logistics will burden her singly — and perhaps it will not work. Overlay the years a woman is supposed to establish herself in her career and her fertility window and it’s a perfect, miserable circle. By midlife women report feeling invisible, undervalued; it is a telling cliché, that after all this, some husbands leave for a younger girl. So when is her time, exactly? For leisure, ease, liberty? There is no brand of feminism which achieved female rest. If women’s problem in the ’50s was a paralyzing malaise, now it is that they are too active, too capable, never permitted a vacation they didn’t plan. It’s not that our efforts to have it all were fated for failure. They simply weren’t imaginative enough.

For me, my relationship, with its age gap, has alleviated this rush , permitted me to massage the clock, shift its hands to my benefit. Very soon, we will decide to have children, and I don’t panic over last gasps of fun, because I took so many big breaths of it early: on the holidays of someone who had worked a decade longer than I had, in beautiful places when I was young and beautiful, a symmetry I recommend. If such a thing as maternal energy exists, mine was never depleted. I spent the last nearly seven years supported more than I support and I am still not as old as my husband was when he met me. When I have a child, I will expect more help from him than I would if he were younger, for what does professional tenure earn you if not the right to set more limits on work demands — or, if not, to secure some child care, at the very least? When I return to work after maternal upheaval, he will aid me, as he’s always had, with his ability to put himself aside, as younger men are rarely able.

Above all, the great gift of my marriage is flexibility. A chance to live my life before I become responsible for someone else’s — a lover’s, or a child’s. A chance to write. A chance at a destiny that doesn’t adhere rigidly to the routines and timelines of men, but lends itself instead to roomy accommodation, to the very fluidity Betty Friedan dreamed of in 1963 in The Feminine Mystique , but we’ve largely forgotten: some career or style of life that “permits year-to-year variation — a full-time paid job in one community, part-time in another, exercise of the professional skill in serious volunteer work or a period of study during pregnancy or early motherhood when a full-time job is not feasible.” Some things are just not feasible in our current structures. Somewhere along the way we stopped admitting that, and all we did was make women feel like personal failures. I dream of new structures, a world in which women have entry-level jobs in their 30s; alternate avenues for promotion; corporate ladders with balconies on which they can stand still, have a smoke, take a break, make a baby, enjoy themselves, before they keep climbing. Perhaps men long for this in their own way. Actually I am sure of that.

Once, when we first fell in love, I put my head in his lap on a long car ride; I remember his hands on my face, the sun, the twisting turns of a mountain road, surprising and not surprising us like our romance, and his voice, telling me that it was his biggest regret that I was so young, he feared he would lose me. Last week, we looked back at old photos and agreed we’d given each other our respective best years. Sometimes real equality is not so obvious, sometimes it takes turns, sometimes it takes almost a decade to reveal itself.

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Trump promotes Lee Greenwood's 'God Bless The USA Bible': What to know about the book and its long journey

• Former president Donald Trump encourages supporters to buy Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA Bible," a project inspired by Nashville country musician's hit song.
• Resurgent version of Greenwood's Bible project a modified version from original concept, a change that likely followed 2021 shake-up in publishers.

After years with few updates about Lee Greenwood’s controversial Bible, the project is again resurgent with a recent promotion by former President Donald Trump.

“All Americans need to have a Bible in their home and I have many. It’s my favorite book,” Trump said in a video posted to social media Tuesday, encouraging supporters to purchase the “God Bless The USA Bible.” “Religion is so important and so missing, but it’s going to come back.”

Greenwood — the Nashville area country musician whose hit song “God Bless the USA” inspired the Bible with a similar namesake — has long been allies with Trump and other prominent Republicans, many of whom are featured in promotional material for the “God Bless The USA Bible.” But that reputational clout in conservative circles hasn’t necessarily translated to business success in the past, largely due to a major change in the book’s publishing plan.

Here's what to know about the Bible project’s journey so far and why it’s significant it’s back in the conservative limelight.

An unordinary Bible, a fiery debate

The “God Bless The USA Bible” received heightened attention since the outset due to its overt political features.

The text includes the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Pledge of Allegiance, and the lyrics to the chorus to Greenwood’s “God Bless The USA.” Critics saw it as a symbol of Christian nationalism, a right-wing movement that believes the U.S. was founded as a Christian nation.

A petition emerged in 2021 calling Greenwood’s Bible “a toxic mix that will exacerbate the challenges to American evangelicalism.” From there, a broader conversation ensued about the standards by which publishers print Bibles.

Gatekeeping in Bible publishing

Greenwood’s early business partner on the project, a Hermitage-based marketing firm called Elite Source Pro, initially reached a manufacturing agreement with the Nashville-based HarperCollins Christian Publishing to print the “God Bless The USA Bible.”  

As part of that agreement, HarperCollins would publish the book but not sell or endorse it. But then HarperCollins reversed course , a major setback for Greenwood’s Bible.

The reversal by HarperCollins followed a decision by Zondervan — a publishing group under HarperCollins Christian Publishing and an official North American licensor for Bibles printed in the New International Version translation — to pass on the project. HarperCollins said the decision was unrelated to the petition or other public denunciations against Greenwood’s Bible.

The full backstory: Lee Greenwood's 'God Bless the USA Bible' finds new printer after HarperCollins Christian passes

A new translation and mystery publisher

The resurgent “God Bless The USA Bible” featured in Trump’s recent ad is an altered version of the original concept, a modification that likely followed the publishing shake-up.

Greenwood’s Bible is now printed in the King James Version, a different translation from the original pitch to HarperCollins.

Perhaps the biggest mystery is the new publisher. That manufacturer is producing a limited quantity of copies, leading to a delayed four-to-six weeks for a copy to ship.  

It’s also unclear which business partners are still involved in the project. Hugh Kirkman, who led Elite Service Pro, the firm that originally partnered with Greenwood for the project, responded to a request for comment by referring media inquiries to Greenwood’s publicist.

The publicist said Elite Source Pro is not a partner on the project and the Bible has always been printed in the King James Version.

"Several years ago, the Bible was going to be printed with the NIV translation, but something happened with the then licensor and the then potential publisher. As a result, this God Bless The USA Bible has always been printed with the King James Version translation," publicist Jeremy Westby said in a statement.

Westby did not have the name of the new licensee who is manufacturing the Bible.

Trump’s plug for the “God Bless The USA Bible” recycled language the former president is using to appeal to a conservative Christian base.

“Our founding fathers did a tremendous thing when they built America on Judeo-Christian values,” Trump said in his video on social media. “Now that foundation is under attack perhaps as never before.”

'Bring back our religion’: Trump vows to support Christians during Nashville speech

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at [email protected] or on social media @liamsadams.

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Final Rule: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3

• 42 U.S.C. §7401 - 7671q
• 40 CFR Parts 2, 59, 60, 80, 86, 87, 600, 1030, 1031, 1033, 1036, 1037, 1039, 1042, 1043, 1045, 1048, 1051, 1054, 1060, 1065, 1066, 1068, and 1090
• EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0985

On this page:

Rule summary, rule history, additional resources.

• Regulations for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Commercial Trucks & Buses
• Regulations for Smog, Soot, and Other Air Pollution from Commercial Trucks & Buses

Para información en español, haga clic aquí .

On March 29, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule, “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3,” that sets stronger standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty (HD) vehicles beginning in model year (MY) 2027. The new standards will be applicable to HD vocational vehicles (such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, school buses, etc.) and tractors (such as day cabs and sleeper cabs on tractor-trailer trucks).

The final “Phase 3” standards build on EPA’s Heavy-Duty Phase 2 program from 2016 and maintain that program’s flexible structure, which is designed to reflect the diverse nature of the heavy-duty vehicle industry. The standards are technology-neutral and performance-based, allowing each manufacturer to choose what set of emissions control technologies is best suited for them and the needs of their customers.

• Final Rule: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles -Phase 3 (pdf) (8.5 MB, pre-publication, signed March 2024)
• Proposed Rule: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3
• Fact Sheet: Final Standards to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Heavy-Duty Vehicles for Model Year 2027 and Beyond (pdf) (186.2 KB, March 2024, EPA-420-F-24-018)
• Fact sheet in Spanish: Normas fnales para reducir las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero de los vehículos pesados modelos del año 2027 y posteriores (pdf) (191.6 KB, March 2024, EPA-420-F-24-019)
• Regulatory Impact Analysis: Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards Regulatory Impact Analysis (pdf) (14.2 MB, March 2024, EPA-420-R-24-006)
• Response to Comments: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles: Phase 3 (pdf) (16 MB, March 2024, EPA-420-R-24-007)
• Regulations for Emissions from Vehicles and Engines Home
• Greenhouse Gas