A Victorian tea advertisement

The Victorian Tea “Infomercial”

By the 19th century, tea was the British national beverage, and "tea histories" were a form of imperial propaganda.
Frances Wright, 1881

Nashoba: Not So Interracial, Not So Utopian

In the 1820s, Frances Wright established a community whose major project was the emancipation of enslaved people. Why did it crash and burn?
A young man and woman eating ice cream.

Who Invented Weird Hipster Ice Cream Flavors?

From asparagus to pâté de fois gras, early modern ice cream was decidedly different from plain chocolate and vanilla.
A Fourth of July picnic, possibly in South Carolina, 1874, by J. A. Palmer

How Black Americans Co-opted the Fourth of July

After the Civil War, white southerners saw the Fourth of July as a celebration of Confederate defeat. Black southerners saw opportunities.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts

The Madness of John Roberts

The Supreme Court’s pro-choice decision in June Medical Services v. Russo illustrates the Chief Justice's embattled relationship with precedent.
Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm: Sisterhood Is Complicated

A 1974 interview on feminism and politics with the first Black major-party candidate for president.
A Swedish couple c. 1850

How Churches Helped Make Scandinavians “White”

At a time when people from the "wrong" places were entering the U.S., missionaries tried to recruit immigrants they found acceptable.
Grand procession of Wide-Awakes in New York, October 3, 1860

Abolitionist “Wide Awakes” Were Woke Before “Woke”

“Now the old men are folding their arms and going to sleep,” said William H. Seward while campaigning for Lincoln, “and the young men are Wide Awake.”
A woman reading a newspaper

Media Literacy & Fake News: A Syllabus

Ten lessons from the past and steps we can take now to educate ourselves and our students about how to be a thoughtful consumer of information.
Young protestors take to the street to protest against police brutality on June 14, 2020 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Five Decades of Black Activism in St. Louis

Elizabeth Hinton, Percy Green II, Robin D. G. Kelley, Tef Poe, George Lipsitz, and Jamala Rogers trace the history from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter.