Crowd entering the stadium at the 1896 Olympic marathon

The Invention of the Marathon

The Hellenic inspiration for the 26.2-mile races which draw over a million runners yearly worldwide had nothing to do with sport—but everything to do with war.
Native American midwives weighing a crying Native Amerian child on a set of scales in the hospital at the Glacier National Park, in northwestern Montana, on the Canada–United States border, circa 1945

Call the Midwives—Assuming Any Are Left

While midwife-attended deliveries are the norm in the United Kingdom, they’re the exception in the United States. Time was, this difference wasn’t so stark.
Woman admiring the parish church in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

Global Gentrification

The transnational mobility of lifestyle migrants and digital nomads has led to the globalization of rent gaps and the pricing out of locals in some cities.
The Suffragette Down with the Tom Cats

A Purrrrfect Political Storm

Crazy cat ladies have come to dominate this election season. It’s hardly the first time.
A man in drag and a man in male clothes looking into each others' eyes. Photographic postcard.

Preserving History at the Digital Transgender Archive with Portico

Portico helps preserve underrepresented community content and collections, including the wide-ranging materials of the Digital Transgender Archive.
Muhammad Ali and George Foreman boxing in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Remembering the Rumble in the Jungle

The 1974 Rumble in the Jungle was freighted with symbolism regarding American racial politics and the pan-African struggle in the context of the Cold War.
A Catalogue of the Severall Sects and Opinions in England and other Nations: With a briefe Rehearsall of their false and dangerous Tenents.

The Bawdy House Riots of 1668

Though so-called bawdy house riots were common in seventeenth-century London, the disorder of 1668 revealed the city’s deep political and religious resentments.
Striking women machinists from the Ford plant at Dagenham are interviewed upon their arrival at Rainham for a meeting with the National Union of Vehicle Builders, 18th June 1968.

Ford’s Striking Dagenham Women

The women sewing machinists of the Dagenham plant received a raise after they went on strike against Ford. But was this a victory?
Stirring sunken vats in the interior of a soap factory, 1771

A Potash Primer

Ash from burnt wood, weeds, bracken, and kelp helped fuel the Industrial Revolution.
Historical Marker sign for Camp Jened in Hunter, NY

Creating Communities for Disability Activism

In the 1960s, young disabled people found each other at camps and colleges, creating ever-expanding networks for challenging discrimination.