When Being an Unemployed Teenager was a Crime
Seventeenth-century teenagers faced criminalization for refusing to take on jobs as live-in farm workers, but many pursued their interests despite the threat.
When San Francisco Feminists Rated Mexican Abortions
The California activists played the role of a health agency to ensure women received safe and competent health care in Mexican clinics.
Did Caterina Sforza Flash an Army?
According to legend, Sforza lifted her skirts to show her adversaries that she had the body parts to make more children. But why?
The Shameless City
The discourse around police raids of so-called molly houses reflected the fear that London was a new Sodom where anonymity allowed people to be shameless.
Tenzing Norgay: The Mountaineer Who Refused to be Categorized
By remaining vague about his own biography, Norgay called into question the idea of nationhood and made a deafening point about actions speaking louder than words.
How Books Taught Europeans to Smoke
The printed word helped spread the inhaling habit across the continent.
The Complicated History of Pointy Hats
What do sorcerers, bishops, and garden gnomes all have in common? Pointy hats that share a common story deeply enmeshed in European antisemitism.
The Asian American History of Silicon Valley Shopping Malls
Shopping centers in East San Jose that originally served working-class immigrants have been transformed by the influx of transnational tech professionals.
Women Against Women’s Suffrage
The fight for women’s suffrage is often depicted as pitting women against men. But some women made it their life’s mission to campaign against it.
The Dangers of Tea Drinking
In nineteenth century Ireland, tea could be a symbol of cultivation and respectability or ill health and chaos, depending on who was drinking it.