A profile photograph of Jane Addams in black and white

Social Work Traditions and Jane Addams

Was Jane Addams a social worker? Donald Breiland explores in a piece that delves into the definitions of social work today and yesterday.
A preserved specimen in a glass jar

Preserving the Past: Natural History in North America

A look at early natural history collection methods.
A kitchen table full of chopped vegetables and spices

A Plan to Get the Poor to Eat Healthy Food—in the 1890s

Early efforts to get Americans to eat healthy food started with targeting poor citizens.
Upwards looking shot of city skyscrapers

Why Antitrust Progressives Didn’t Curb the Power of Big Business

The limits of Progressive ideology in curbing antitrust practices in the U.S.
Pen on a white background

Ballpoint Pen CSI

A short history of the ballpoint pen and early debates about its impact on handwriting.
American flag

James Truslow Adams: Dreaming up the American Dream

Background on James Truslow Adams, who coined the phrase The American Dream.
A swimming beaver

Beavers, Hats, and the Fur Trade

Origins of the North American fur trade.
The Lusitania at sea

The Lusitania Effect

How the Lusitania Effect impacted German-American relations in pre-World War I German.
Courtesy of D. Joshua Taylor

The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 and Your Ancestors

The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 was a global catastrophe that is estimated to have killed between 40 and 50 million people.
Traffic ticket

Could Day Fines Improve the U.S. Justice System?

Are day fines a possible solution for the U.S. criminal justice system?