W. E. B. Du Bois Fought “Scientific” Racism
Early-twentieth-century intellectual W. E. B. DuBois countered the then-popular idea that African Americans could be scientifically proven to be inferior.
The “Miscegenation” Troll
The term “miscegenation” was coined in an 1864 pamphlet by an anonymous author.
The Free People of Color of Pre-Civil War New Orleans
Before American concepts of race took hold in the newly-acquired Louisiana, early 19th-century New Orleans had large population of free people of color.
Whitewashing American History
One of the National Park Service's first historic preservation projects, the Colonial National Monument, wrote people of color completely out of the story.
How Love Transformed American Immigration Law
Love was a deciding factor in the expansion of Asian immigration to the United States, via laws that emerged from Congress in the 1960s.
When Victorian Scientists Caught Ballomania
In a moment when scientists were working to fashion a credible identity for themselves, they had to decide how much showmanship was too much.
How “Pyrrhic Victory” Became a Go-To Metaphor
We call futile victories "pyrrhic," after an ancient Roman battle. But that battle may have been misinterpreted--or had a different conclusion altogether.
Did Kongolese Catholicism Lead to Slave Revolutions?
The legacy of Kimpa Vita, a Kongolese Catholic mystic, was felt from the U.S. to Haiti.
Racial Violence as Impetus for the Great Migration
Historians traditionally point to economic and social conditions as the primary causes for the Great Migration, but racist hate crimes played a role as well.