Working on the (Underground) Railroad
Born a free Black man, William Still kept the books and managed the money for the Philadelphia branch of the Underground Railroad.
Close Calls: When the Cold War Almost Went Nuclear
Most of the nuclear near-misses during the Cold War were kept under wraps, and they still make for unnerving reading in the twenty-first century.
A Private Coup: Guatemala, 1954
A 1954 coup, backed by the CIA and private citizen William Pawley, installed an authoritarian regime and touched off four decades of civil war in Guatemala.
In the Shipyards of San Francisco
Photographer E. F. Joseph captured the dignity of the hundreds of Black women and men who worked on SS George Washington Carver during World War II.
Self-Publishing and the Black American Narrative
Bryan Sinche’s Published by the Author explores the resourcefulness of Black writers of the nineteenth century.
Firearms and Family Violence
The intersection of intimate partner violence and firearms is extremely dangerous for American women.
The Tragedy that Transformed the Chicano Movement
In 1963, more than thirty Mexican guest workers died in a terrible accident in California. The fallout helped turn farmworkers’ rights into a national cause.
Amplifying Emotion: Radio and Interwar Political Speech
As radio matured in the twentieth century, politicians harnessed the technology in different ways to break down barriers between them and the public.
Reasons for Re-Enacting at the Renaissance Faire
Why do we love donning period costumes and re-enacting our history through mock battles, pioneer villages, and Renaissance Faires?
Making Scents of Jesuit Missionary Work
The use of sensory stimulants like incense gave Jesuits a common framework with the North American nations they encountered on missionary trips.