History
Get Your History Degree From a Christian University
Prepare for a successful career while earning your bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, associate, or minor from Liberty University’s Department of History. With our history, social sciences, and military studies degree programs, your knowledge of these fields will be enriched as you explore exciting career options.
Courses are taught from a Christian worldview by experienced professors who share your passion for history and are grounded in their faith. Interested in a career in politics, education, or communications? A degree from our Department of History will get you ready for these career opportunities and more.
History Featured Areas of Study
View all History Degrees
- Earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree with our History dual degrees
- Enhance your degree with a History minor
- View certificate programs offered by the History department
- For advising, contact history@liberty.edu
Featured History Faculty
Student Opportunities
Public History Projects
- Chaplains Museum
Open Monday through Friday 12:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m. and Saturday 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on the terrace level of the JF Library. Summer hours vary.
- New London Projects
The New London projects give students hands-on opportunities in archaeology, historical architecture, historical interpretation, and much more.
- 250th Commemorative Conference
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the Department of History invites scholars, students, and researchers to participate in our commemorative conference, America’s Founding: Legacy and Influence. Join us as we reflect on the story of a nation and the faith, courage, and convictions that continue to shape it. Liberty University is proud to be a Commemorative Partner of VA250—Virginia’s American Revolution 250 Commission.
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American labor history remembers a major turning point on May 4, 1886, with the anniversary of the Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago, Illinois. Haymarket Square was the location of a rally that had been organized by labor activists and radicals following the events of May 3. On May 3, 1886, strikers at the McCormick Reaper Works factory clashed with Chicago police, and at least five strikers were killed. Many fellow strikers were upset over the deaths, and activists and anarchists called for a rally to be held the next day in Haymarket Square. One of the anarchist leaders was August Spies, who had witnessed the deaths on May 3 while he was speaking to strikers. Later that night, Spies wrote a piece in an anarchist newspaper entitled “Workingmen, To Arms.” The next day, May 4, other anarchist groups called for a rally to protest police brutality, which Spies opened by giving a speech deifying the strikers. Even the Chicago mayor Carter Harrison attended the rally in order to oversee a peaceful event.
Unfortunately, there was no peaceful end to the rally. When police officers were working to disperse the crowd at the end of the night, an unidentified individual threw a bomb at the police officers. Shots rang out from officers and possibly other citizens in the crowd. As a result of the violence of the night, seven police officers were killed and many citizens were injured. The aftermath of the violence brought about the arrest of eight men, including August Spies, all of whom were convicted of charges of conspiracy to throw the bomb, although there was no evidence of a connection to any of the eight. The Haymarket Square Riot and the convictions that followed had mixed reactions from the American public. Some Americans became more anti-labor, and others deified the eight men and earlier strikers as early labor heroes. Regardless, the Haymarket Square Riot made a significant mark in American labor history, representing a violent clash between law enforcement and citizen strikers in a large city.
May 4
Last week, History students presented their research at Research Week!
Image 1: Graduate students who participated in 3 Minute Thesis.
Image 2: Timothy Johnson presenting “Analysis of the contents of Oral Histories from the Voices of 9.11 archive and the Naval History and Heritage Command records of 9/11 at the Pentagon.”
Image 3: Wesley Jones presenting "Winston Churchill’s Crucial Role in Developing the Tank."
May 1
We had our annual banquet this past Friday and celebrated a wonderful year! Congratulations to all of our award winners, students and faculty alike. You are what makes this department so special!
Apr 28
April brings showers, and historically, presidential bowling. While sources differ on the exact date, the first bowling alley within the White House opened in late April of 1947. President Harry S. Truman was the first United States president to bowl in the White House, in the two-lane alley built in the West Wing. Fellow Missourians funded the construction of the alley, which was originally intended as a birthday present for the president to be opened in May. However, when construction finished early, the bowling alley was opened in April.
Although President Truman was not on record as a regular bowler, his first throw knocked down seven out of ten pins. Since Truman was not regularly using the bowling alley, he did support a White House Bowling League that was formed in 1950. This bowling league included Secret Service agents, secretaries, household staff, groundskeepers, and switchboard operators. President Dwight D. Eisenhower later closed the two-lane alley in 1955, but another alley was opened next door to the White House in the Old Executive Office Building (present day Eisenhower Building) that President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife were known to use. In 1973, President Richard Nixon opened a one-lane bowling alley in the White House located beneath the North Portico entrance. Nixon’s alley has been renovated and still exists today but is not open for public use. Presidential bowling has evolved over the decades, but has remained a symbol of Americana, connecting the American people to their president with a beloved game.
Apr 24
Contact
(434) 592-4366
history@liberty.edu
DeMoss Hall 4334
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