Applied History Project

Article of the Week 

"The 1894 Midterm Might Have Foretold 2026" by Robert Showah (author, That Patchwork) in The Wall Street Journal 

Showah compares last week's midterm elections to the election of 1894 to illuminate the potential repercussions on the makeup of America's political parties and the power of the federal government. He draws similarities between the political and economic conditions overhanging the elections of 1894 and 2026, from an industrial bubble to agitation over immigration to rising tariff rates. The outcome in 1894, he writes, was the ascent of populist leaders in both major political parties and cooperation between them to expand the government's role in taxation, regulation, and elections. Similarly, Showah sees "inklings" that the coming era of American politics may feature pressure favoring centralization. 

The mission of Harvard’s Applied History Project is to revitalize applied history by promoting the production and use of historical reasoning to clarify public and private challenges and choices. Founded by Professors Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson in 2016, the Applied History Project builds upon the foundation laid by Professors Ernest May and Richard Neustadt in the 1980s, reflected in their book Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers. 

Advancing its mission, the Project sponsors the Applied History Working Group of faculty members across Harvard University to organize discussions with scholars and practitioners; supports historians and policymakers in producing Applied History; develops courses in Applied History; funds the Ernest May Fellowships in History and Policy for pre- and post-doctoral students; and holds Applied History Events open to the Harvard Community and the public. Harvard’s project is one of the leaders among a rapidly expanding network of universities and think tanks that are furthering the discipline of Applied History by clarifying predicaments and choices to inform better decisions.

The Project gratefully acknowledges the Stanton Foundation's generous support for its Applied History endeavors.