Social Media

Historians are increasing their presence on social media platforms

in multiple ways.

The public wants history and facts for personal growth, as a form of leisure, and for information to inform and back up their organization or activism.

Cross platform uses of history on social media include:

  • Lectures, book promotions, documentary, slide shows, lesson plans

  • Podcasts

  • Apps with history trivia and games, travel apps with historical sites, museum apps with information and narration

People want information at their fingertips and historians need to lead in making sure it is accurate, available, and in interpretive context.

Social Media and History:

My Project: Snapshots of History

Using digital history to raise social awareness and encourage activism is becoming more common.

Snapshots of History: Women's Suffrage and Voting Rights in America

Snapshots of the Fight to Vote

  • Each Snapshot contains an archival image from the Library of Congress' digital archive, along with historical information about people, events, and debates.

  • Beginning on the anniversary of the first Women's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York on July 19, 1848 and ending on August 26th, the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the narrative unfolds combining chronology and topical issues of race, class, opposition, and police brutality.


  • I conceptualized, researched, wrote, designed, and helped to launch a 30-day social media campaign for the client, a global organization aimed at getting American citizens around the world to vote in the 2020 national election.

      • The strategy is to empower people with historical knowledge of the history of the fight for the right to vote by women and people of color and thereby inspire them to action.

      • Designed in two formats to work for Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook platforms.



American political discourse on social media constantly hearkens back to history, often an imagined, nationalist, and whitewashed version or, worse, completely fake representations. The need for historians to contribute to the discussion and to offer factual accounts is growing with social media platforms, especially in this election year.

Making History available on YouTube and Other Public Social Media

Snapshots as a Resource for Visually Impaired Students and Learners of English on YouTube

I am developing ways to make the research conducted for the above project accessible to teachers and students in other formats.