Commonplace: the journal of early American life | National Council on Public History

Commonplace is a destination for exploring and exchanging ideas about early American history and culture before 1900. Less formal than a scholarly journal, more scholarly than a popular magazine, it speaks and listens to scholars, curators, teachers, and students. It’s a place to find insightful analysis of early American history as it is discussed in scholarly literature, as it manifests on the evening news, as it is curated in museums; as it is performed in documentary and dramatic films and as it shows up in everyday life. In addition to critical evaluations of books and websites, our articles explore poetic research; material and visual culture; pedagogy, the writing of literary scholarship, and the historian’s craft; and diverse aspects of America’s past and its many peoples.

Subjects or Themes

African American, Latinx, Indigenous, Early America, Women, Politics & Government, Art History, Material Culture

Project Language(s)

English

Time Period

Geographic Location

Project Categories

Content Type

Visual culture, material culture, and textual analysis; interviews; scholarly reviews; teacher resources; special issues on music with sound.

Target Audience(s)

Creators

Commonplace originally launched in 2000 as Common-Place: The Journal of Early American Life, with founding editors Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore, and original designer John McCoy, Commonplace is the product of an amazing team of editors and institutions. Over nearly two decades, the journal has been published by the American Antiquarian Society in partnerships with Florida State University, the University of Oklahoma, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the University of Connecticut, and Omohundro Institute. Past editors have included Ed Gray; Catherine Kelly; Anna Mae Duane and Walt Woodward. The current editor is Joshua Greenberg.