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.
The Flood Behind Bessie Smith’s “Back-Water Blues”
The Mississippi River flood that Smith allegedly memorialized happened weeks after she'd written and released her song. Where was the real “Back Water”?
Where Does Water Come From?
And what does the early modern search for the answer to this question tell us about the “scientific method” we colloquially accept today?
American Immigrant Literature Gets an Update
Despite the historical gulf between canonical and recent immigrant writing, one constant is the mark that new immigrant artists leave on US literature.
Chainlink Chronicle: Celebrating Black History in Louisiana
An exploration of one prison newspaper’s commitment to celebrating Black History with a unique focus on its home state.
Fast and Pluribus: Impacts of a Globalizing McDonald’s
The expansion of McDonald’s in the twentieth century brought the fast food chain to more than 100 countries. But how well did it integrate into its new home(s)?
Gatekeeping Psychology
In the mid-twentieth century, psychologist Edwin Boring attributed the limited role of female psychologists to issues other than discrimination.
How Rap Taught (Some of) the Hip Hop Generation Black History
For members of the Hip Hop generation who came of age during the Black Power era, “reality rap” was an entry into the political power of Black history.
Prisoners Like Us: German POW and Black American Solidarity
During World War II, almost a half million POWs were interned in the United States, where they forged sympathetic relationships with Black American soldiers.
Black Power on British TV
International television coverage of the American Civil Rights struggle was critical in the construction of racial identity and experience in postwar Britain.