War Camp Community Service. Newport News. American Library Association. c. 1919

Uncle Sam Wants You to Donate Books!

During World War I, the American Library Association built libraries on military training camps in a project that championed patriotism, literacy, and self-improvement.
C. Buddy Creech

C. Buddy Creech: Your Vaccine Questions Answered

Vaccinologist C. Buddy Creech on getting vaccinated, racial disparities, and the lessons we’ve learned after a year of COVID-19.
Photograph: Women marching c. 1975

Source: Getty

Consciousness-Raising Groups and the Women’s Movement

In the 1970s, one of the most powerful tools of feminism came from speaking out loud the nature of oppression.
Judi Iranyi

Community Care in the AIDS Crisis

The Shanti Project’s work in caring for people with AIDS provides valuable lessons in the efficacy of mutual aid in fighting disease.
Lillian Smith, noted author and lecturer, congratulating Mrs. Mabel Keaton Staupers, winner of the 36th Springarn medal, for outstanding work in the integration of African American nurses into the American nursing profession

The Black Nurse Who Drove Integration of the U.S. Nurse Corps

In World War II, Mabel Keaton Staupers tirelessly fought for the integration of the Army and Navy Nurse Corps—and eventually won.
A Shocking Announcement by Vittorio Reggianini

Why Do People Faint?

Fainting—or, more technically, syncope—has a variety of causes.
Sara Josephine Baker

To Reduce Infant Mortality, Train the Babysitters

“Little Mothers’ Leagues,” a program started by Dr. S. Josephine Baker at the turn of the last century, taught school-age girls to care for babies.
A pair of pink high heels

The Inherent Drama of High Heels

How can a shoe communicate many different messages at once?
Someone standing in the room of a hoarder

What’s Causing the Rise of Hoarding Disorder?

Now that the DSM lists severe hoarding as a disorder apart from OCD, psychologists are asking what explains its prevalence.
diseases cures

The (Unproven, Deadly) Common Cure for Schizophrenia

Insulin coma and deep sleep therapies were used for years on patients with mental illness, even though there was never any evidence they worked.