The Horse Skulls Hidden in the Dance Floors of Ireland
Old houses in Ireland often have horse skulls buried beneath the floors, but folklorists and archaeologists disagree on exactly why.
Susan Fenimore Cooper, Forgotten Naturalist
Susan Fenimore Cooper, known as her father James Fenimore Cooper's secretary, is now being recognized as one of the nation's first environmentalists.
What Ever Happened to the Parlor?
For musicologist Edith Borroff, the parlor was egalitarian, open, and joyful—all qualities she equates with the best musical spirit.
The Real Reason Why NYC’s Skyscrapers Are Where They Are
Why does Manhattan have two business separate districts? Turns out that it's not because of the usual story about bedrock depth.
What Makes a Glass House the Ideal Home for a Communist Gynecologist?
Paris’s Maison de Verre is a marvel of modernist architecture whose rarely seen interior was constructed to foster sociality.
Frank Lloyd Wright at 150
Frank Lloyd Wright remains the most famous American architect even though he was born just two years after the end of the Civil War.
When Americans Became Obsessed with Fresh Air
Once it became clear that mosquitoes, not the air itself, carried malaria, early 20th-century Americans went to extreme lengths to enjoy fresh air at night.
Why People Once Loved Linoleum
Linoleum, which was created by pressing cotton scrim with oxidized linseed oil and adding cork dust and coloring, became instantly popular.
On The Black Skyscraper: An Interview with Literary Critic Adrienne Brown
Early skyscrapers changed the ways we see race, how we see bodies, how we perceive and make judgments about people in the world.
Why America Went Medieval
In the middle of the nineteenth century, upper-class America went gaga over a vision of the medieval. Carpenter’s Gothic ...