The editorial staff is thrilled to present the 28th edition of the Vulcan Historical Review. Last year’s edition was the most interdisciplinary to date and focused on “shining light into dark places.” This year, the VHR authors present a cornucopia of diverse historical writings spanning many time periods and regions. Our cover art by Katrina Murrell encapsulates this theme by representing the diverse histories as being entwined together through the strings of history that connect us all as humans. This edition seeks to continue the VHR tradition of enlightening readers and exposing them to new ways of thinking and new ways of understanding the various human stories that connect us all under a shared and multifaceted human experience.

This year, the VHR authors and editors are proud to carry on a legacy of shining light into dark spaces, indicated through our cover art, “Flames in the Dark.” This artwork and the accompanying articles acknowledge how we, as historians, dedicate ourselves to exposing, grappling with, and sharing histories that are complex and troubling. In doing so, we hope to use our scholarship to illuminate the path towards a better, brighter future for ourselves and later generations. With articles from graduate and undergraduate students majoring in a variety of non-history fields, this year’s publication is one of the most interdisciplinary editions to date, representing the shared commitment to the pursuit of historical knowledge across a variety of fields.

In this thematic edition, we pay particular attention to marginalized histories dealing with race, racism, class, and gender in the United States. As disingenuous debates around Critical Race Theory and its purported use in K-12 schools polarize our nation, this edition unapologetically grapples with histories that may be uncomfortable for some persons to discuss. The cover art, titled "Spirit of the African Woman," exemplifies the themes of this edition. Women of African descent, particularly in the US, sit at the oppressive intersections of race, class, and gender. This publication is dedicated to the lives, resistance, and activism of Black and African descended women across the globe.

The 2021 editorial staff are proud to be part of VHR's tradition of excellence, especially while facing the unique challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Although we were unable to gather in person, the limitations imposed by the pandemic have made us ever more grateful for opportunities such as these to connect and collaborate over our passion for historical research.

The black and white cover of this edition captures the passing of time in the essence of a tree trunk’s rings – time does not stop, but we can make the most of the time we have. There is an unprecedented opportunity right now to change the course of history for the better; and one way we can do that is by learning and understanding our past.

Our authors explore the intersection between past traditions and present injustices to bridge the gap in understanding both how we as a society have created these social conditions, as well as if this understanding requires new evaluation by exploring material with a modern perspective.

This twenty-second edition of the journal explores various types of history in the hopes to expand scholarly consideration of the past as stated above. Our featured sections include highlighting female perspectives and feminist history in America, cultural histories in America and their legacies, a look at some foreign subjects in history, as well as local history in Birmingham.

Our current issue perpetuates the attention to detail required by the historian, as well as the critical examination of complex historical situations. We have also chosen to continue our use of Birmingham’s iconic statue, the mighty Vulcan, for our cover, in solidarity with many previous issues. We again embraced debate amongst our scholars in an argumentative section pertaining to a controversial issue.

It could not have been a more exciting time to work on the Vulcan Historical Review (VHR) as we celebrate or 20th anniversary volume. We cannot fail to recognize that we stand here today, because of the efforts of all previous editors, authors, and faculty advisors whose annual hard work has paved the way. In recognition of their work, we have decided to use their names to create the cover of this year’s journal. The twenty stepping stones that form VHR’s path have been built on the achievements of all those who came before us, and we thought it fitting to represent this visually by using their names as building material for the cover.

This year the board has chosen to let the papers speak for themselves. What makes the VHR such a brilliant journal is that it demonstrates many different kinds of historical research and analysis. Whether the papers are dealing with events that seem rather close to home, like the legacy of Gene Bartow to the UAB Athletic Department, or the writings of a Roman philosopher thousands of years in the past, any reader of this journal can move through the pages with our promise that each article represents the fine and detailed scholarship of all those involved.

We still endeavor to answer crucial questions raised by the Civil War: Who is a human being and what do particular characterizations of that concept entail? What do freedom and equality denote in reality? What, exactly, does it mean to live in a just society? How does one assess such abstract and historically polemical ideas?

This year, to memorialize the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement, the editorial staff of the Vulcan Historical Review aims to pay tribute to the often unknown and uncelebrated heroes of the movement, who had the courage and determination to stand up for what others were reluctant to face. Without them, a dark chapter in America's history might have been prolonged or even have remained.

This issue's contents include articles on terrorism, Cuba, children in wartime, Andrzej Wajda, debates over the Constitutionality of slavery in 1787, Jacques-Louis David, New England Puritanism, and Christian pilgrims. The invited essay is "What's in the Arab Seasons?" by Farah A. Al Farhan.