Erstwhile       adjective 1. Past, previous, before       adverb 1. Formerly

As both an adjective and an adverb, “erstwhile” can describe not only what but also how. This versatility in relating the past symbolizes a key commitment of our blog. As a diverse community of emerging historical scholars, we strive to practice versatility and to showcase the varied historical specialties of the graduate student body at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU).

Founded in the spring of 2014 by six CU graduate students, Erstwhile was a collaborative space in which American intellectual, cultural, labor, Native American, and environmental historians shared ideas. We believe that these subfields communicate with one another in ways that are essential for promoting thoughtful conversation about the past, the present, and the historical profession. While many of our regular posts related to current events—within both academic history and the wider world—we also prepared reflective writing on research topics.  These included the nature of the exotic in American entertainment, the meaning of place, social visions for the future, legacies of environmental change, conflicts of free speech in the politics of professional sports, and pressing historiographical and pedagogical questions.

The blog concluded its final publications in 2020, but please explore our archives, as we are proud of the work that our editors and contributors did here.

Thank you, from the Editors

Erstwhile acknowledges that this blog is based in the homelands of the Tsitsisistas (Cheyenne), Inun-ina (Arapaho), Nuche (Ute), and Other Indigenous Peoples and Nations.

n.b. While the editorial staff reviews all posts, the opinions expressed in each piece are those of the author alone.

Old Main, the first building ever built at the University of Colorado Boulder, with the Flatirons in the distance. Photo by Joseph B. Sturdevant, 1877. University of Colorado Boulder Library Archives.