The Musical Games by Anne Young

The Hidden History of Women Game Designers

Nineteenth-century women turned music lessons into interactive entertainment, complete with spinning wheels and ivory counters.
A table with many dishes of food

Potluck Nation

Food in America is a living archive of exchange and adaptation, where “ethnic” cuisines blend and redefine what national identity tastes like.

We Descend from the River

Public spaces are often sites of commemoration of events in the nation’s history. But which public is represented in and served by those spatialized celebrations?
Sunday Morning in front of the Arch Street Meeting House, Philadelphia, 1811

Quakers Against Thanksgiving

In colonial America, government “thanksgivings” blurred faith and politics. For Quakers, rejecting them was an act of religious conviction.
A vintage photograph of a Turkey Dinner

Thanksgiving Stories

Turkey or Tofurkey? Stuffing or dressing? Whatever the controversy, these Thanksgiving stories will slake your appetite!
An ancient glacier channel at Lake Tenaya in Yosemite National Park, 1872

Living Laboratories: Science and the National Parks

National parks in the US are filled with glaciers and volcanoes, which isn't an accident, as the parks developed alongside the sciences of glaciology and volcanology.

The Tamest Grizzly of Yellowstone

Adored by tourists and studied by scientists, a grizzly mother named Sylvia became an emblem of the fragile balance between humans and the wild.
Workers for the Insular Lumber company felling a small Almon (Thorea species) in Northern Negros, 1910.

The Mythical Mahogany that Helped Build the American Empire

How “Philippine mahogany” became America’s tropical timber of choice, thanks to a rebrand from a colonial logging company that drove deforestation.
Three colorful shapes against a black background demonstrating the idea of national parks and public lands

The Victory of Public Lands

Most Americans agree on the value of preserving public lands. How did the idea of public lands come about, and how can we ensure they exist in the future?
A view of the landscape seen along the Golden Gate Trail in the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park, Washington.

The Promise and Problems of Public Lands: A Reading List

Discover key research on U.S. public lands through scholarly works exploring conservation, Indigenous knowledge, and public policy.