How a Beloved Musical Became a Cold War Weapon
The 1962 film The Music Man was seen as so all-American that some hoped it would help win the Cold War by transmitting American values abroad.
Homophobia in Women’s Sports
Ever since women began to publicly play sports in the late nineteenth century, female athletes have been seen as threats and subjected to suspicion.
What Exactly Is Jane Austen’s Sanditon?
An unfinished, fragmentary Austen novel is being adapted for television. Can we ever know what Austen meant for this book to eventually become?
When Souvenirs Peddle Stereotypes
The things travelers bring home reflect their worldviews. In 19th c. Niagara Falls, souvenirs revealed problematic stereotypes about Native Americans.
Baby Food for Baby Boomers
Modern baby food didn’t exist until 1928, when Daniel Gerber launched his first line of mass-produced canned strained peas for babies.
Saint Anne Frank
Pop culture has made Anne Frank into an icon, but one scholar notes that she was a terrified child trapped and killed by war, and should be seen as such.
How Lizzie Bennet Got Her Books
In Regency England, a novel cost about $100. Subscription-based circulating libraries became a way for women of modest means to gain knowledge.
Preparing Libraries for Nuclear War
During the Cold War, America's libraries helped patrons prepare for nuclear war, from stocking reference materials to providing fallout shelters.
Pregnant Pioneers
For the frontier women of the 19th century, the experience of childbirth was harrowing, and even just expressing fear was considered a privilege.
The Last Silent Film Star
The silent film star once known as Baby Peggy reminisces about how, decades before #TimesUp, children and women were exploited by Hollywood.