University of Richmond Acquires History News Network

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — History News Network, the popular history website that explores the history behind today’s headlines, has been acquired by the University of Richmond.

This new partnership is made possible by UR’s public history project Bunk, an online tool that makes connections between stories in the media engaging with American history across space, time, and theme. Founded by historian and UR President Emeritus Edward Ayers in 2016, Bunk shares a mission with HNN to make history accessible and to help readers better understand stories in the news.

“Bunk was inspired by my experience teaching first-year students at Richmond,” said Ayers. “Watching them move through a world of digital media, I wanted to build something that could help reveal the energy, interest, controversy, humor, and importance of history in an archive that was created anew every day. Thanks to generous alumni support, Bunk has become a powerful tool for learning and teaching. Our alliance with HNN will extend our reach and, we hope, deepen our audiences’ understanding of the American past.”

Over the past two decades, HNN has published more than 10,000 original essays by prominent historians, and this new partnership will preserve access to the site’s previously published content. A newly revamped newsletter will feature original writing by historians that puts current events in conversation with their historical antecedents, and that reflects on the ways that history continues to reverberate through the present.

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