Woodpulp pile

Pulp Nonfiction: The Unlikely Origin of American Mass Media

How wood pulp paper created the American mass media.
Headline reading, "New Popular Idol Rises in Bavaria: Hitler Credited With Extraordinary Powers of Swaying Crowds to His Will"

How Hitler Played the American Press

Did the AP and other news organizations get tricked into sympathetic coverage of Hitler?
1871 Life insurance policy

Putting a Price on a Life

If you have a life insurance policy, that means your insurance company pays your beneficiaries when you die, ...
Mystery airship The Saint Paul Globe (Minn) April 13 1897

The History of UFOs

UFOs are much older than the Cold War's flying saucers. These 1897 and 1909 sightings of flying machines were the talk of the town. 
Twisting a man's ears.

The Return of Torture

After being made illegal in the 19th century, why did torture return in the 20th century and why does it continue into the present?
Missing child poster

Stranger Danger: Rhetoric & Strategies of the “Missing Children” Movement

How language and statistics were used to frame the missing children crisis of the 1980s. 
Garden view "The House of the Seven Gables", Salem, Mass. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Garden view "The House of the Seven Gables", Salem, Mass." New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 10, 2016. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-9dc0-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

A Garden of One’s Own

As the suburbs emerged in the 19th century, middle-class women, barred from waged labor, took to their gardens to remain productive. 

How the March Blizzard of 1888 Challenged New Yorkers’ Self-Perceptions

Winter's not over quite yet. The great Blizzard of 1888 was in March.
Lincoln Memorial

The Fight to Build the Lincoln Memorial

From location disputes to the type of memorial itself, the fight over how to best respect Lincoln's legacy eventually led to the Lincoln Memorial.  
Leading the Klu Klux Klan parade which was held in Washington, D.C.

The Ku Klux Klan Used to Be Big Business

At the height of its business operations, in 1923, the Klu Klux Klan was worth roughly $12 million dollars.