History News Network

• 1. Founding And Leadership

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  Richard Shenkman founded History News Network in Washington, D.C. as a non-profit corporation. He wrote the book Legends, Lies & Cherished Myths of World History before launching this online platform. The site allowed historians to comment on current events and place today's news into historical perspective. Shenkman served as editor until his retirement in 2019. Tony Field took over as managing editor after that transition.

• 2. Academic Hosting Evolution

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  History News Network initially hosted by George Mason University moved operations to George Washington University in 2017. By 2019, the Department of History at George Washington assumed full responsibility for operating and editing HNN following Shenkman's departure. The institution changed again when the University of Richmond acquired the network in December 2023. This final move integrated the project into the university's Digital Humanities ecosystem through their public history tool called Bunk.

• 3. Controversial Book Contests

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  HNN celebrated Independence Day in 2012 by holding a contest to select the worst books about American history ever published. Nominees included David Barton's The Jefferson Lies and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Michael Bellesiles submitted Arming America while Gavin Menzies offered 1421: The Year China Discovered America. Richard G. Williams also entered Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man's Friend from 2006. Over 1000 HNN readers gave the nod to Barton and Zinn during this voting process.

• 4. Blog Ecosystem And Contributors

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  Murray Polner served as the long-time book editor for History News Network. The platform sponsored several history-oriented blogs including Liberty and Power coordinated by David T. Beito. Jim Loewen contributed to these specific history blogs under the HNN umbrella. These contributors helped shape the content that historians used to comment on current events. Their work placed today's news into historical perspective for the audience.

• 5. Digital Humanities Integration

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  The University of Richmond acquired History News Network in December 2023. This acquisition integrated the project into the university's Digital Humanities ecosystem through its public history project tool known as Bunk. The move marked a new chapter for the online platform after years of operation. Historians could now use the Bunk interface to place today's news into historical perspective within a digital humanities framework.