T'Challa from Black Panther

Pantheon of Superheroes

The groundbreaking team at Milestone Comics infused Static, Hardware and their other creations with Afrocentric dynamism, paving the way for T’Challa’s mainstream success.
Xavier University of Louisiana Men's Basketball Team, c. 1939-40

The Visual Medium Has a Message

How does the medium in which an image is rendered, its materiality, shape our perception of the subject matter?
Lionel Trilling, c. 1970

’Twas Thrilling When Trilling Wrote a Blurb

The renowned literary critic famously withheld his imprimatur from the books of peers and students, with two notable exceptions. What do they reveal?
Kuda Bux

Kuda Bux: Fire-walking for Fame and Fortune

The Kashmiri American illusionist and mystic drew on his legendary powers of concentration to entertain and astound (in)credulous audiences.
Bessie Beatty

Woman on a Mission

For pioneering journalist Bessie Beatty, women’s suffrage and the plight of labor were linked inextricably.

Cultivating the Art of Slow Looking

When we examine the subject, foreground, and background of an image separately, the nuances of the scene emerge.
Factory chimneys pumping out pollution in the Ruhr, Germany, 1970

A Precautionary Tale

West Germany’s “do no harm” approach to environmental protection—which became known as the precautionary principle—was revolutionary in its time.
Employees of Ottenheimer on strike for poor treatment

A Celebration of Working in America

Our best stories about workers' rights, labor unions, and international movements to improve working conditions, from the factory to the farm.
A dead whale being cleaned by whalers

So You Plan to Teach Moby Dick

The study of Melville’s novel is enhanced by contextualizing it with primary and secondary sources related to the American sperm whaling industry.
A scene at the police head-quarters, Mulberry Street, New York

Urchins of New York and Elsewhere

Remembering the Sky Parlor for lost children and the public’s fascination with those who went astray.