How Big Oil Shaped America’s Parks
John D. Rockefeller Jr. wanted Americans to experience nature from their cars. His vision helped transform conservation.
The Photographer Who Preserved Everyday Architecture
Frances Benjamin Johnston looked beyond grand estates to document the ordinary buildings that defined American life.
What Do Cops Train For?
Research on police training finds that realistic simulations may reinforce expectations of violence instead of preventing it.
Why English Colonists Called Indigenous Dogs Wolves
A 1621 encounter reveals a history of Native animal domestication that colonial accounts obscured.
What Came Before the American Suburb?
Hofstra University’s historic photographs capture Hempstead’s shops and streets before postwar development transformed Long Island.
The Chinese-Only Schools of the Jim Crow South
A 1920s court battle over a Chinese American student exposed the complicated racial boundaries of school segregation.
How a Murder Fueled Racial Terror in Florida
The hunt for Charlie Wright exposed how convict leasing, labor tensions, and white supremacy shaped rural life in the Jim Crow South.
Why the Washington Monument Looks the Way It Does
For nearly a century, Americans argued over how to honor George Washington. The monument they built reflected those debates.
What Happened to the Bones of the American Bison?
The near-extinction of the bison sparked an industry that left almost nothing of the animals behind.
What Was Sewer Socialism?
Milwaukee mayor Daniel Hoan believed the best argument for socialism was a city government that worked.