How Churches Helped Make Scandinavians “White”
At a time when people from the "wrong" places were entering the U.S., missionaries tried to recruit immigrants they found acceptable.
Crispus Attucks Needs No Introduction. Or Does He?
The African American Patriot, who died in the Boston Massacre, was erased from visual history. Black abolitionists revived his memory.
What We Lose When We Lose Indigenous Knowledge
By mistaking a culture's history for fantasy, or by disrespecting the wealth of indigenous knowledge, we're keeping up a Columbian, colonial tradition.
Did A Star is Born Make Judy Garland a Gay Icon?
One scholar argues that Judy Garland's role in A Star is Born was so pivotal because it involved both gender impersonation and “racial drag."
The Ugly Origins of America’s Involvement in the Philippines
The American use of torture, then called the "water cure," in the Philippines during the war of 1899-1902 shocked some Americans of the day.
The Glamorous Tradition of Hollywood Lifestyle Advice
For more than a century, Hollywood has been offering Americans lifestyle advice on how to live better, and the public has been gobbling it up.
Was Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp Un-American?
Were Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp films also subtle critiques of the social inequities of American capitalism?