The Bloody Massacre, perpetrated in King-Street, Boston, on March 5th, 1770 by Paul Revere

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.
A collection of Native American utensils and weapons

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.
Judy Garland A Star is Born

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."
US Army Philippines War poster

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.
Gwyneth Paltrow at Toronto International Film Festival, 2012

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.
Charlie Chaplin eating a boot, from the film The Gold Rush

Was Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp Un-American?

Were Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp films also subtle critiques of the social inequities of American capitalism?