Contesting American Citizenship… in 1784
The Longchamps Affair shows how early Americans struggled to define citizenship amid conflicting laws and revolutionary values.
In Pursuit of Peace, Ancient Athens Created a Goddess
In the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, Athenians worshipped Eirene. Her cult reflects the political role of religion in Ancient Greece.
A Brief History of Men Showing Leg
The story of the modern suit begins with tight pants, as men’s legs became markers of class, civility, and sexuality.
Samurai and Guerrillas: The First Official Japanese Visit
The first Japanese delegation to the US captivated crowds and confounded expectations, as the press cast its samurai as “effeminate.”
When the Dust Settles in Colonial Manchurian Writing
Takagi Kyōzō makes heavy use of natural imagery to decry the miserable status of the settler colonist population in Japanese-occupied Manchuria.
The Committed Officers of Argentina’s Dirty War
The viciousness of Argentina’s Dirty War resulted not only from orders from above but from ideological buy-in at the ground level.
Founding Murderers vs. Founding Fathers in Australia
Eighteen stone cairns were set up in 1926 to mark the route purportedly taken by Angus McMillan into Gunaikurnai Country in 1840. Should they remain?
Unforgettable Fire: The U-2 Incident
Reports on the May 1960 downing of an American U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union offer a case study in Cold War posturing and misdirection.
A War on Street Music in NYC
In the New Deal era, New York City banned street musicians, classifying them as beggars. Some New Yorkers fought back.
The Radioactive Reindeer Problem
Cold War nuclear testing left troubling levels of Cesium-137 in caribou, prompting years of research into Arctic fallout and its risks to human health.