Grave Robbing, Black Cemeteries, and the American Medical School
In the 19th century, students at American medical schools stole the corpses of recently-buried African Americans to be used for dissection.
Expecting the Unexpected: Researching Florence in Ecstasy
Debut novelist Jessie Chaffee on how she researched her critically-acclaimed new novel Florence in Ecstasy, with a little help from JSTOR.
When Americans Started Bathing
The first baths weren't about getting clean or relaxing. In the 1860s, experts agreed that the best kind of bath was a brief plunge in cold water.
When Salad Was Manly AF
Esquire, 1940: “Salads are really the man’s department... Only a man can make a perfect salad.”
The Unspeakable Linguistics of Camp
When gay and lesbian people had to invent their own languages with which to talk with each other, camp led the way.
How Global Colonialism Shaped Segregation
One of the first U.S. municipal laws demanding residential segregation, passed in 1910 in Baltimore, has roots in European colonial policies.
When Native Americans Were Slaves
Initially, Indian slavery was considered different from African slavery in the early Anglo-American colonial world, but this split did last for long.
What to Do When Social Media Inspires Envy
In the case of envy, social media works in three closely related ways: by increasing proximity, by eliminating encapsulation and by rejecting concealment.
Sex and the Supermarket
Supermarkets represented a major innovation in food distribution—a gendered innovation that encouraged women to find sexual pleasure in subordination.
A Crash Course in the Demolition Derby
The demolition derby was ready-made for the age of planned obsolescence from automobile manufacturers, who happily sponsored demolition derby venues.