How to Gather the Oral Histories of COVID-19
The Federal Writers’ Project offers vital lessons for capturing the oral histories of ordinary Americans living through the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bizarre Theories of the American School of Evolution
The paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope condemned women's suffrage and Black Americans through an evolutionary lens.
Racism and the Fear of “Voodoo”
During Reconstruction, lurid tales of African-derived religious practices in Louisiana made news all over the country—especially when worshipers included white women.
Marian Anderson Photo Archives
The African American opera singer made history with a stirring concert at the Lincoln Memorial. But there was much more to Marian Anderson.
The Linguistic Evolution of Taylor Swift
If Taylor Swift shifts her accent in her transition from country to pop, does she lose the personal authenticity important to country music?
When Black Celebrities Wore Blackface
A Black Bohemia flourished in New York before the Harlem Renaissance and with it a new type of self-determined, contradictory Black celebrity.
The Newport Rebels and Jazz as Protest
In 1960 a group of jazz musicians organized an alternative to the Newport Jazz Festival, which they saw as too pop and too white.
How DIY Home Repair Became a Hobby for Men
It was only in the 20th century that toolboxes became staples in the homes of middle-class men.
How “Female Fiends” Challenged Victorian Ideals
At a time when questions about women's rights in marriage roiled society, women readers took to the pages of cheap books about husband-murdering wives.
Early Mexican Immigrants Blurred Color Lines in the Southern U.S.
In the 1920s, Mexican immigrants to the United States challenged the country's notions of who was white and who was not.