As leaders in the United States and around the world look ahead to our post-COVID-19 future, looking back is as valuable as ever. This week, historian James C. Cobb offered TIME History his insight into what the recovery from the Great Depression can teach us about this moment. And, as he points out, that history might make people think twice about the idea that things can just go back to "normal" if the virus is under control.
"Men died like flies, in the street one moment, then three days later, dead," said nursing orderly Nina Last. "It was more like a plague than influenza."
FROM THE TIME VAULT
Today in 1973: ‘Watergate Breaks Wide Open’
“The denials, the evasions, the secretiveness and, yes, the lies—all had failed. The Watergate case was breaking wide open. A ten-month campaign by some of the highest past and present officials of the Nixon Administration to cover up their involvement was crumbling. Stripped of its protective shrouds, the scandal was rapidly emerging as probably the most pervasive instance of top-level misconduct in the nation's history.” (April 30, 1973)
“A hush fell over the assembled Congress of the United States and the crowded galleries. In the silence, the Doorkeeper's voice came clear: ‘Mr. Speaker, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.’ In a great wave, the applause and cheers burst upon the erect figure who strode down the aisle. Democrats, Republicans, and the crowds in the galleries rose as one, clapped and shouted on & on. Across 8,700 miles, through cheering crowds, clouds of black headlines and storms of angry argument, Douglas MacArthur had come to this podium to make his stand before the nation and to state his case to the world." (April 30, 1951)
“Last week was Smith Week among the Democrats. East coast, West coast, all around the land, the Smith candidacy seemed to have reached a new high-tide line. In Washington, a Southern Senator who would not permit his name to be quoted because he and his State have been thoroughly anti-Smith, said: ‘Smith already is nominated.’ Other Washington politicos were discussing, not the probability of the nomination but its manner. Perhaps, they said, it could be managed by acclamation, which would be a very good thing for the chances of the Democracy in November, the precise reverse of much-haggled, half-hearted 1924.” (April 30, 1928)
At Home At CityLab, Ariel Aberg-Riger presents a whimsical illustrated guide to researching the history of your neighborhood.
Family Tree Another personal-history project comes courtesy of Jessica Leigh Hester at Atlas Obscura, who makes the case that now is a great moment to learn about your own family’s past—and provides instructions about how to get started.
Keeping Track The New-York Historical Society has already begun gathering artifacts that will, in years to come, tell the story of the coronavirus pandemic. Nadja Sayej at The Guardian has the story.
When Was It? Sturt Manning, a professor of classical archaeology, writes at The Conversation about how new research tools are helping experts reassess the chronology of indigenous North American history.
Lessons Learned Medical historian Frank Snowden spoke this week to NPR’s Steve Inskeep about what pandemics reveal about society.
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