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S. N. Johnson-Roehr

S. N. Johnson-Roehr

S. N. “JR” Johnson-Roehr is an architectural historian by training. Their research analyzes the intersection of the built environment, landscape, and astronomy, with a focus on South Asia and the western US. Their academic and science writing can be found in the Journal for the Society of Architectural Historians, the International Journal of Heritage Studies, and Sky & Telescope. JR is Senior Editor at JSTOR Daily.

 

Site of house of Garðar Svavarson, the first house built in Iceland.

On the Anniversary of Iceland’s Independence

Iceland is celebrating its 80th anniversary. Three photograph collections shared on JSTOR show how much has—and hasn’t—changed on the island since independence.
A front exterior view, Everyman's House

The Tiny House Trend Began 100 Years Ago

In 1924, sociologist and social reformer Caroline Bartlett Crane designed an award-winning tiny home in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Making Egypt’s Museums

The world’s largest archaeological museum is poised to open on the Giza Plateau, building on two centuries of museum planning and development.

Country Roads and City Scenes in Japanese Woodblock Prints

Explore two centuries of printmaking—from Hokusai and Hiroshige through Hiratsuka—in this online collection shared by Boston College.
Llainfadyn cottage. This 1762 cottage is solidly-built of mountain boulders, and a pair of stout oak trusses supports the roof of small, locally-quarried slates.

Vernacular Architecture in Wales

The pioneering collection of farm and craft buildings at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff preserves traditional design and building techniques.

Edmund Dulac’s Fairy Tales Go to War

One of the best-known illustrators of the “golden age of children’s gift books,” Dulac was also a subtle purveyor of Allied propaganda during the Great War.
Studio portrait of Mourning Dove

Christine Quintasket

Better known by the pen name Mourning Dove, Quintasket was a leader and activist who used her position as a public intellectual to fight for Colville rights.
Wilbur, left, and Orville Wright sit on the porch steps of their Dayton, Ohio, home in June 1909.

The Wright Brothers: Babysitters Extraordinaire

Wilbur and Orville Wright may not have been “first in flight,” but they were first in taking care of their nieces and nephews on the weekends.
From Remarks on the new comet. In a letter from William Herschel to Charles Blagden

Caroline Herschel Claims Her Comet

Couching her petition in a mix of modesty and expertise, Herschel became the first woman to have a scientific paper read to the Royal Society of London.

The Changing Face of Southern California

An expansive collection of postcards captures the evolving cultural landscape of Southern California—particularly greater Los Angeles—in the twentieth century.
Two horses bred at the Bitter Root Stock Farm in Montana

Racing to Respectability

The bankers and entrepreneurs of Montana Territory turned to the race track to bolster their reputations.
Colour lithograph of partial lunar eclipse by Etienne Leopold Trouvelot

Trouvelot’s Total Lunar Eclipse

Immigrant artist Étienne Léopold Trouvelot used his skills to accurately represent the details—and the sublimity—of our solar system.