Allan Pinkerton at the camp at Antietam in September, 1862

A Horse’s-Eye View of the Civil War

Horses and mules played a major role in the American Civil War. In the end, there were about twice as many dead equines as humans.
President John F. Kennedy fields a question at a press conference on April 14, 1961, in Washington, DC. This press conference took place three days before the failed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Cuba and just three months into Kennedy's presidency.

How the Bay of Pigs Invasion Changed JFK

The disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion, early in John F. Kennedy's presidency, led him to reconfigure his foreign policy decision-making process.
Private Jessica Lynch Meets With U.S. President George W. Bush in the Oval Office June 17, 2004

How American Soldier Jessica Lynch Became a Symbol

Jessica Lynch was the first woman American POW to be successfully rescued. She became symbolic in ways that had little to do with the facts of her story.
Voltairine de Cleyre, Christmas 1891

Voltairine de Cleyre: American Radical

She was a notable anarchist thinker and speaker, but history has largely forgotten Voltairine de Cleyre.
Camp of Mexican Refugees, c. 1910-1918

The Untold History of Lynching in the American West

In the aftermath of the Mexican-American War, people of Mexican ancestry were the target of intense racist violence.
Mary Agnes Chase collecting plants in Brazil in 1929.

The Woman Agrostologist Who Held the Earth Together

When government wouldn't fund female fieldwork, Agnes Chase pulled together her own resources.
Pueblo Indian Eagle Dance, New Mexico

Why White Women Tried to Ban Native American Dances

In the early 1920s, reformers obsessed over the sexual nature of some Pueblo rituals, and attempted to control their performance.
An unwrapped stick of butter

Women Made Butter a Behemoth

In the 19th century, butter production became a valuable way for women to profit off their farms-- and it soon became a major agricultural product.
Lewis & Clark with Sacagawea

How Sacagawea Became More Than A Footnote

A suffragist searching for a heroine found Sacagawea and lifted her out of historical obscurity.
The Oregon Civilian Conservation Corps

The First New Deal Was Green, Too

An integral part of FDR's New Deal was the Civilian Conservation Corps, which focused on environmental conservation work.