How Prohibition Encouraged Women to Drink
During Prohibition, American women “made, sold, and drank liquor in unprecedented fashion,” writes historian Mary Murphy.
How Nuclear Tests Spawned Environmentalism
It's been 55 years since the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The massive amounts of fallout in the decade previous to the Treaty taught us a lot about the interconnected planet we live on.
The African Roots of MLK’s Vision
“Ghana tells us that the forces of the universe are on the side of justice… An old order of colonialism, of segregation, discrimination is passing away now.”
When Native Americans Were Slaves
Initially, Indian slavery was considered different from African slavery in the early Anglo-American colonial world, but this split didn't last for long.
How the Memphis Sanitation Strike Changed History
How the Memphis Sanitation Strike, with its iconic “I AM A MAN” signs, helped deepen Martin Luther King, Jr.'s radicalism in the last months of his life.
When Women Channeled the Dead to be Heard
Spiritualism was one of the nineteenth-century's most successful religious innovations, a movement of individuals who yearned for a religion which united mysticism and science.
What the Prisoners’ Rights Movement Owes to the Black Muslims of the 1960s
Black Muslims have been an influential force in the prisoners' rights movement and criminal justice reform as early as the World War II era.
Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words
The writings of Martin Luther King, not so well known as his speeches and acts of civil disobedience, are a rich source for those researching his life.
How Women’s Suffrage Has Been Represented in American Film
Women's suffrage was usually portrayed negatively in early films, but suffragists well recognized the importance of movies in getting their message out.
The Uneasy History of Integrated Sports in America
The integration of collegiate and professional sports parallels the civil rights movement, but in important ways it was a whole different track.