Delmonico's dinner, 1906

The Evolution of the New York Restaurant Scene

In colonial America, restaurants as we know them today were virtually unheard of.
hospital bed

The Little-Known History of the Forced Sterilization of Native American Women

Jane Lawrence documents the forced sterilization of thousands of Native American women by the Indian Health Service in the 1960s and 1970s.
Hawaii

The Struggle for Hawaii

Hawaii has been a state for 57 years, but its history goes back much further. 
Green Dragon Tavern

A Brief History of US Drinking

In 1770, the average colonial Americans consumed about three and a half gallons of alcohol per year, about double the modern rate.
A map of Mexican territories in 1835

When Mexico Was Flooded By Immigrants

In the early nineteenth-century, Mexico had a problem with American immigrants.
British burn Washington, 1814

The Original Hawks and Doves

Where do the terms hawks and doves come from? The symbolic connections are ancient, but the War of 1812 put them in the political lexicon.
Shirley Chisholm and Rosa Parks

The Significance of Shirley Chisholm’s Presidential Campaign

Shirley Chisholm: the first black female U.S. Representative, first black major-party candidate for President, and the first Democratic Party woman to run.
Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan in 1897

Racism, the South, and Helen Keller

As one of her day’s most famous Southerners, Helen Keller was uniquely poised to point out—and challenge—that troubled racial heritage.
Illustration of two house sparrows

The Great Sparrow War of the 1870s

The "sparrow war" in the United States in the 1870s ended with a resounding victory… for the sparrows. 
A Juneteenth celebration from 1900

The Story of Juneteenth

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863. It took over two years for the news to reach some enslaved people.