Interior of a London Coffee-house, 17th century

The News Junkies of the Eighteenth Century

Hooked on viral news (or is it gossip?), today's Twitter hordes owe a lot to history's coffeehouses.
Kimberlé Crenshaw

Kimberlé Crenshaw’s Intersectional Feminism

Legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw broke new ground by showing how women of color were left out of feminist and anti-racist discourse.
Pro-police demonstrators argue across a temporary barricade during a protest outside the Governors Mansion on June 27, 2020 in St Paul, Minnesota.

Is Political Backlash Real?

Many people assume that strong movements for minority rights provoke backlash at the polls. But some scholars have doubts.
One Magazine Covers

ONE: The First Gay Magazine in the United States

ONE is a vital archive, but its focus on citizenship and “rational acceptance” ultimately blocked it from being the safe home for all that it claimed to be.
Raven Ziegler from Minneapolis protests the name of the Washington Redskins before a game on November 7, 2013

Playing Sports and “Playing Indian”

The use of Native American stereotypes for team mascots and nicknames is related to efforts to erase Indian identity and culture.
Supper at Delmonico's, New York 1898

The First American Restaurants’ Culinary Concoctions

A study of historical fine-dining menus yields surprises. Like six preparations of frog, and delicious lamb testicles.
Darryl “Waistline” Mitchell (left) and Donald Abdul Roberts (right)

Interview: The League of Revolutionary Black Workers

Two industrial workers, members of Detroit’s League of Revolutionary Black Workers, share experiences with political organizing and education.
A young man and woman eating ice cream.

Who Invented Weird Hipster Ice Cream Flavors?

From asparagus to pâté de fois gras, early modern ice cream was decidedly different from plain chocolate and vanilla.
A Swedish couple c. 1850

How Churches Helped Make Scandinavians “White”

At a time when people from the "wrong" places were entering the U.S., missionaries tried to recruit immigrants they found acceptable.
Design for an Urn, 19th century

How Cremation Lost Its Stigma

The pro-cremation movement of the nineteenth century battled religious tradition, not to mention the specter of mass graves during epidemics.