Clemencia López and the Philippine Struggle for Freedom
López’s gender and appearance helped her contribute to anti-imperial and suffrage movements in a way her male peers couldn’t.
Money, Murder, and Mrs. Clem
Nancy Clem was a Gilded Age con artist whose swindles eventually turned deadly. Her crimes would test the era’s assumptions about class, gender, and criminality.
Was She Really Rosie?
The unlikely, true story of the Westinghouse “We Can Do It” work-incentive poster that became an international emblem of women’s empowerment.
Jade Snow Wong’s Cold War World Tour
In 1953, the US Department of State sent ceramicist and author Constance Wong—known professionally as Jade Snow Wong—on a four-month goodwill tour of Asia.
Marie Bashkirtseff’s Diary
The art student died young, but her diary lived on to inspire future writers, including Anaïs Nin, Katherine Mansfield, and Mary MacLane.
Elma Lewis: Boston’s Doyenne of Black Culture
An activist and and educator, Lewis created myriad cultural, educational, and social programs to build community and connections for Boston’s Black residents.
Secret Societies and the Fight for Black Freedom
Dating to the pre-Revolutionary era, mutual aid and benevolent societies supported Black Americans and the fight for civil rights and justice.
Finding Krao Farini
Public discourse on the bearded lady, a staple of circus sideshow, revealed the racial biases underpinning Darwinian theory.
The Rise and Fall of Fanny Cradock
Cradock was one of Britain's first celebrity chefs, but in what her viewers called “the Gwen Troake Incident,” she fell from her pedestal—hard.
Lee Miller, More than a Model
Miller photographed the chaos of war’s end in Europe, documenting major battles, the liberation of Paris, and the horrors of Dachau and Buchenwald.