The Anxious “China Hunters” of the Nineteenth Century
After the Civil War, some elite women became obsessed with collecting antique china, the better to connect themselves to illustrious histories.
How Migrant Labor Policies Shaped a Latino Identity
When Puerto Rican and Mexican workers came to the U.S. in large numbers, they faced similar discrimination and bigotry.
Passing for White to Escape Slavery
Passing for white was an intentional strategy that enslaved people used to free themselves from bondage.
iNaturalist and Crowdsourcing Natural History
The citizen-science app iNaturalist lets you record observations of plants and animals. The data can be used to study biodiversity.
Where Did the Term “Hispanic” Come From?
"Hispanic" as the name of an ethnicity is contested today. But the category arose from a political need for unity.
The Midcentury Women Who Played With Dollhouses
How to sell white, middle-class women on suburban domesticity after World War II? Tantalize them with dollhouse-like models of new cabinets.
Criminal Minds? Try Criminal Bodies
Cesare Lombroso wanted to use science to understand who criminals were. But his ideas about biological "atavism" easily transferred to eugenics and nativism.
A Century of Black Youth Activism
The history of the 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights Movement is widely studied, but young Black Americans have been organizing for justice for much longer.
What Was Women’s Liberation?
The short-lived radical movement within feminism has gotten a bad reputation for centering white women's experiences. Is that deserved?
Hair, Gender, and Social Status in Ancient Egypt
Egyptian tomb chapels depict men, women, and children of different ranks in society. What can their hairstyles tell us about their lives?