How People in the Depression Managed to Laugh
American popular culture flourished in the 1930s, despite the Great Depression. One thing that helped: artists being included in the New Deal.
Why Ulysses S. Grant Was More Important Than You Think
Grant’s presidency is often overlooked, but his accomplishments around civil rights are getting more consideration from historians.
Was Modern Art Really a CIA Psy-Op?
The number of MoMA-CIA crossovers is highly suspicious, to say the least.
Why Black Women Joined the Communist Party
During the Great Depression, Communists took to the streets to fight racism, poverty, and injustice. Among them were Black women.
Surviving a Pandemic, in 1918
A century ago, Catholic nuns from Philadelphia recalled what it was like to tend to the needy and the sick during the great influenza pandemic of 1918.
The Protestant Astrology of Early American Almanacs
The wildly popular books helped people understand farming and health through the movement of the planets, in a way compatible with Protestantism.
African-American Journal Freedomways on JSTOR
Ninety-eight issues of the influential journal are part of the open access, “Independent Voices” collection from Reveal Digital. Scholars of Black history, take note.
New Jersey Let (Some) Women Vote from 1776 to 1807
Historians Judith Apter Klinghoffer and Lois Elkis argue that this wasn't oversight. New Jersey legislators knew exactly what they were doing.
The Latent Racism of the Better Homes in America Program
How Better Homes in America—a collaboration between Herbert Hoover and the editor of a conservative women’s magazine—promoted idealized whiteness.
On the 100th Anniversary of the Negro Leagues, a Look Back at What Was Lost
A century ago, teams from eight cities formally created the Negro National League. Three decades of stellar play followed.