I received my Ph.D. in US History from UC Davis in 2000. My research focused on radical social movements in the US from 1877-1929—the liberation struggles of workers, women, Afro-Americans, dissident intellectuals, and bohemians. The central questions that engaged me, and the people and organizations I studied, concerned the relationships between various aspects of the liberation struggle. To what extent could any particular group achieve meaningful freedom by organizing on relatively narrow grounds for its own liberation? Was perhaps a total revolution, involving class, race, gender, and cultural issues, necessary for the achievement of any real progress? This issue bedevils progressives today.

     In the course of my research, I uncovered some magnificent but little-known people, publications, and organizations, and proposed strikingly new interpretations of better-known ones. Most of this research did not make it into my dissertation, but I have always thought that these chapters—short books, really—might interest historians, teachers, and radicals who care about these issues.

    I am also putting online rough drafts of my class lectures particularly relevant for these writings. Finally, I will post more recent essays on a variety of topics.