Fruit Geopeelitics: America’s Banana Republics
The one-way movement of wealth in the banana trade contributed to the political and economic conditions that challenged its hegemony after World War II.
Nancy Lasselle’s Washington Novels
Lasselle’s 1850s novels were the first to examine the entanglements of society and politics—including lobbying—in Washington, DC.
Kitchenless Dreams
Escaping the drudgery of housekeeping via collective action became a feminist focus of utopian practitioners and theorists in the later nineteenth century.
Clemencia López and the Philippine Struggle for Freedom
López’s gender and appearance helped her contribute to anti-imperial and suffrage movements in a way her male peers couldn’t.
China’s Historic Preservation Challenges
Beijing’s hutongs are disappearing quickly. Is there a way create safe housing, preserve historic buildings, and meet the city's financial needs?
Money, Murder, and Mrs. Clem
Nancy Clem was a Gilded Age con artist whose swindles eventually turned deadly. Her crimes would test the era’s assumptions about class, gender, and criminality.
The Irrigationist
Canadian-born George Chaffey was instrumental in bringing irrigation and the consequent development of the “agriburb” to California…and Australia…and Israel.
Lyndon B. Johnson’s Decision Speech: Annotated
United States President Lyndon B. Johnson’s televised announcement that he would not run for re-election shocked a nation divided by the Vietnam War.
Luna Park and the Amusement Park Boom
The fortunes of Coney Island have waxed and waned, but in the early twentieth century, its amusement parks became a major American export.
Feeding a City the Municipal Way
Between 1790 and 1860, New York City’s food markets were public, sustained by active government involvement. What happened?