One Woman’s Path to Jonestown
While the events that led to the Jonestown massacre included profound tragedy, the life—and death—of one of its residents offers lessons on community and resilience.
Dates: Civilization’s Sweetest Indulgence
Offshoots from the “Tree of Life” traveled from Mesopotamia to the Levant to the United States, beguiling everyone with their toothsome confections.
Memphis: The Roots of Rock in the Land of the Mississippians
Rising on the lands of an ancient agricultural system, Memphis has a long history of negotiating social conflict and change while singing the blues.
The Gift of the Grange
Originally a secret society, the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry today is an important health and education resource in rural communities.
The Georgia Peach: A Labor History
The peach industry represented a new, scientifically driven economy for Georgia, but it also depended on the rhythms and racial stereotypes of cotton farming.
Boom, Bust, and the “World’s Littlest Skyscraper”
The discovery of oil near Wichita Falls in 1911 not only brought money to the Texas town, it brought a swindler who promised the sky(scraper).
Sport in America: A Reading List
Covering the colonial era to the present, this annotated bibliography demonstrates the topical and methodological diversity of sport studies in the United States.
The 1970s Cow Mutilation Mystery
When ranchers began reporting incidents of mutilated cattle, the ensuing panic fed both conspiracy theories and a growing cynicism about the government.