The Fatal Current: Electrocution as Progress?
The electric chair was promoted as civilized and at the same time imbued with the technological sublime, the mystery of electrical power harnessed by humans.
Halloween: A Mystic and Eerie Significance
Despite the prevalence of tricks and spooky spirits in earlier years, the American commercial holiday didn’t develop until the middle of the twentieth century.
Woman on a Mission
For pioneering journalist Bessie Beatty, women’s suffrage and the plight of labor were linked inextricably.
African Swimmers in American Waters
Although most enslaved people worked in the fields, captive workers with strong swimming and diving skills were also exploited by plantation owners.
Policing Abortion
A study on the criminalization of abortion in the late 1800s through the 1940s reveals that the law was often used against working-class women.
The Long History of Same-Sex Marriage
Same-sex marriages, in all possible configurations and with all possible motivations, have taken place throughout the history of the United States.
The Unfolding of the Woman’s Page
As women became the focus of advertising, newspapers began to broaden their offerings targeted to those areas of interest traditionally associated with them.
Northern Civil Rights and Republican Affirmative Action
One focus of the 1960s struggle for civil rights in the North were the construction industries of Philadelphia, New York and Cleveland.
NOW and the Displaced Homemaker
In the 1970s, NOW began to ask hard questions about the women who were no longer "homemakers", displaced from the only role they were thought to need.
The Age of the Birth Certificate
When states began restricting labor by children, verifying a person's age became an important means of enforcement.