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Black and white headshot of author Erin Blakemore

Erin Blakemore

Erin Blakemore is a Boulder, Colorado-based journalist Her debut book, The Heroine’s Bookshelf (Harper), won a Colorado Book Award for Nonfiction and has been translated into Italian, Korean and Portuguese. Erin has written about history and culture and other topics for Smithsonian.com, The Washington Post, TIME, mental_floss, NPR’s This I Believe, The Onion, Popular Science, Modern Farmer and other journals. You can find more of her work at erinblakemore.com.

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The ideal 1950's nuclear family together in the living room
Arts & Culture

The Invention of the Family Room

The family room was a post-WWII invention, a sign of new affluence and middle class aspirations.
Photo by ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
Arts & Culture

The Problem With ‘All-American Girl’

The sitcom All-American Girl was the first to focus on an Asian American family; it lasted one season.
Attempting to block integration at the University of Alabama, Governor of Alabama George Wallace stands at the door of the Foster Auditorium while being confronted by United States Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.
Politics & History

Was George Wallace Anti-Education…Or Just Anti-Integration?

While pledging to keep schools segregated, Alabama Governor George Wallace set up a community college system that benefited black Alabamans.
"England monastery in Lacock Abbei 1844 by Talbot" by Henry Fox Talbot - books (источники: Сергей Александрович Морозов. Творческая фотография. М.:Изд-во «Планета», 3-е изд., 1989, ISBN 5-85250-029-1). Licensed under Public Domain via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:England_monastery_in_Lacock_Abbei_1844_by_Talbot.jpg#/media/File:England_monastery_in_Lacock_Abbei_1844_by_Talbot.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a>
Art & Art History

Art, Technology, & Early Photography: William Henry Fox Talbot

The 175th anniversary of William Henry Fox Talbot's calotype photography.
"Salvador Dali A (Dali Atomicus) 09633u" by Halsman, Philippe, photographer. - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsca.09633. Licensed under Public Domain via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salvador_Dali_A_(Dali_Atomicus)_09633u.jpg#/media/File:Salvador_Dali_A_(Dali_Atomicus)_09633u.jpg" target="_blank">Commons</a>
Art & Art History

Dalí, Surrealism and…Fashion Magazines?

Salvador Dalí injected Surrealism into fashion magazines in the 1930s and 1940s, to lasting influence.
Black and white photograph of Queen Victoria in profile
Politics & History

How the Media Made Queen Victoria

How nineteenth century media helped make Queen Victoria who she was.
Estonian flag pinned into a globe showing the location of Estonia
Arts & Culture

How Singing Started a Revolution in Estonia

The vibrant and revolutionary culture of singing in Estonia.
Still from an an older dating show
Arts & Culture

Before Tinder, There Was Video Dating

The precursor to online dating was video dating.
Buster Keaton behind bars in black and white
Arts & Culture

Buster Keaton’s Humor Had a Dark Side

The dark side of Buster Keaton's comedic work
A teen looks on as his friend eats a slice of pizza
Politics & History

Hanging Out in the 1970s

How teens in the 1970s spent their leisure time.
Sheet music for "Good-morning to All"
Arts & Culture

The Woman Behind “Happy Birthday to You”

The story of Patty Smith Hill, the woman who wrote "Happy Birthday To You"
Close-up of a woman with natural hair
Education & Society

Cashing In on the Afro

The Afro became a big money maker as it became more popular. Did that transformation rob the style of its political meaning?
Still of women from "Gone With the Wind"
Politics & History

What Life Was Really Like for “Southern Belles” During the Civil War

What life was like for southern belles.
Signage outside of a Chinese Laundry advertising low prices
Politics & History

“White Power Laundries” and the Clash Over Asians in America

The dark history of white power laundry and asians in America.
Man sitting on a pool chair with his arms joyfully thrown up
Arts & Culture

On Gold Diggers

A cultural history of gold diggers.
Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton in a still from the 1967 film, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
Arts & Culture

The Etiquette of Desegregation

How whites and blacks had to learn new forms of etiquette post desegregation.
"Soda Fountain" painted on the front of a store
Arts & Culture

Cat’s Eyes and Belch Water: 1930s Soda Jerk Slang from A to Z

Soda Jerk slang from 1934 and 1935.
A couple in love at a picnic in the woods
Politics & History

How Americans Used to Picnic

A historic look at the picnic.
Cartoon character Underdog
Arts & Culture

How Second-Wave Feminists Saw Saturday Morning Cartoons

Before the Bechdel test, second-wave feminists looked at sexist portrayals in Saturday Morning cartoons
Arnold Schwarzenegger as an action hero holding a gun in 1984's The Terminator
Arts & Culture

Arnold Schwarzenegger: A Kinder, Gentler Action Hero?

Two articles look at the movies of Arnold Schwarzenegger through the lens of gender studies and feminism.
An older man catches a wave
Arts & Culture

Surfing as Religion

Surfing is considered by some to constitute an aquatic nature religion.
Schauenstein Camp
Politics & History

Europe’s Displaced Persons After World War II

For the survivors who passed through displaced persons camps in Germany alone, their time in the camps was a chance to reestablish their identities as Jews.
Older black and white photograph of the Hollywood sign
Arts & Culture

Inside Early Hollywood’s Obsession With Age

How did Hollywood portray aging stars in a time before Photoshop?
An old television displaying Yoko Ono and a woman fixing her collar
Art & Art History

Invitation, Sacrifice, Souvenir: Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece”

Yoko Ono's iconic work of performance art "Cut Piece" was recently re-enacted by musician Peaches.
Street in Paris
Arts & Culture

“No Duty But That to Herself”: American Girls in Paris

The American GIrls' club was created not only to feed and house American girls in Paris in the 1890s

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