To the Lighthouses: A Path to Nationhood
Instilling confidence among merchants and ship captains was an area in which most agreed the new federal authority could and should act.
What’s a Swastika Doing on the Cover of a 1916 Newspaper?
Changes in printing press technology and the history of the symbol may explain its presence in the Wyoming State Prison newspaper, J-A-B-S.
Wanting to Believe In Rainmakers
A form of entertainment and outgrowth of desperation, self-styled rainmakers allowed the powerless people of the Great Plains to seemingly take action.
Kidnappers of Color Versus the Cause of Antislavery
Thousands of free-born Black people in the North were kidnapped into slavery through networks that operated as a form of “Reverse Underground Railroad.”
Understanding the Indian Child Welfare Act
The ICWA wasn’t implemented perfectly, but it reversed a centuries-old pattern of removing Native children from their families and their tribes.
HUAC versus Women Strike for Peace
American leftists were hamstrung by the Cold War’s domestic clampdown on communism, but in the 1960s, Women Strike for Peace re-wrote the book of dissent.
When Lodgers Were “Evil”
A wave of immigration from eastern and southern Europe transformed urban landscapes, creating crowded tenements that stoked humanitarian concerns.
The Lost History of No-Fault Divorces
The regulation of divorce has changed a lot in the twentieth century. The National Association of Women Lawyers was instrumental in making that change happen.
The Fatal Current: Electrocution as Progress?
The electric chair was promoted as civilized and at the same time imbued with the technological sublime, the mystery of electrical power harnessed by humans.
Cold War Flames on US Soil: The Oakdale Prison Riot
In the 1980s, Cold War tensions led to thousands of Cubans languishing in American prisons, unable to be released or repatriated. Uprisings followed.