How Insurance Companies Used Bad Science to Discriminate
In 1881, Prudential announced that insurance policies held by black adults would be worth one-third less than the same plans held by whites.
The Midterms That Changed America
In 1994, Republicans swept the midterms and Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House. His “Contract with America” was both polarizing and transformative.
Women’s Rights in the Early Republic
The U.S.A.'s founders focused on the rights of white men to vote, own property, and govern. The idea that women should have similar rights came later.
Blackkklansman in Context
A new film tells the story of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who infiltrated the KKK in 1972. What was the context for this odd moment in history?
How TV Transformed the News in 1968
In 1968 violent events at home and aboard were broadcast in color on the television news, creating impacts that may have swayed the presidential election.
Grave Robbing, Black Cemeteries, and the American Medical School
In the 19th century, students at American medical schools stole the corpses of recently-buried African Americans to be used for dissection.
History’s Most Notorious True Crime Story
How New York City's tabloids sensationalized the murder case that inspired the classic film noir Double Indemnity.
What Is MS-13, Anyway?
The feared gang MS-13 was born out of conditions resulting from U.S. policies in El Salvador in the early 1980s.
Did Venereal Disease Lead to Abolition?
Many abolitionists seeking to end slavery in the British West Indies were concerned less with human rights, more with the preponderance of interracial sex.