The Fifteenth Amendment and its results, drawn by G.F. Kahl, 1870

The Fifteenth Amendment: Annotated

The brevity of the Fifteenth Amendment of the US Constitution belies its impact on American voting rights.
Engraved scene from the works of William Shakespeare; the death of Caesar in 'The Tragedy of Julius Caesar', 1599.

The Lessons of Due Process in Julius Caesar

Shakespeare's tragedy offers a telling parable about the administration of justice—and rife mishandling thereof—in our day.
King Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson on holiday in Yugoslavia, 1936

Topless King in Pedal Canoe!

By exposing his skin on a sunny day, King Edward VIII offered a reminder that a monarch is, after all, nothing but a person.
Charles Darwin

“Mad About Geology”: Charles Darwin’s Origin Story

At university and in the field, Darwin trained his scientific thinking as would a geologist, seeking causal explanations for observed natural phenomena.
"The trek of bums, tramps, single transients and undesirable indigents out of Los Angeles County because of police activity." Photographed by Dorothea Lange.

Los Angeles’s War on Tramps

In the 1880s, Los Angeles began a large-scale project of incarcerating unemployed men whom they viewed as a threat to the vigor of white America.
A view of Main Street in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

Under Moose Jaw: Tourism Or History?

Moose Javians’ confidence and reputation are rooted in a unique, if fanciful, story, developed after the economic downturn of the 1980s and 1990s.
Aerial shot of an autumn sunset over the Long Island Sound taken from Port Washington, NY

The Long and Winding Island

New York’s Long Island has long served as a backdrop for social and political conflicts between the newly arrived and the established residents.
pumpkins, squashes and gourds , dried a corn cob with kernels and dried beans were randomly spread on a wooden plate on a black background.

The Macronutrients of the Three Sisters System

If the intercropping of beans, squash, and corn produces smaller yields, why did the the Haudenosaunee prefer the Three Sisters system?
Dancers prepare to enter the contest powwow at the 100th Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial at Red Rock Park on August 13, 2022

Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day: A Reading List

With scholarship on Indigenous knowledge, environmental justice, resistance, and decolonization, this list honors Native sovereignty and self-determination.
Dakota pipeline protestors

Celebrating Indigenous Peoples and Cultures

More and more states are choosing to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.