We Dream of Genie
In antebellum America, the voyages and adventures of Sinbad and Aladdin in the Arabian Nights nourished a young nation's dreams.
Inventing an American Indian Rebellion
False rumors of an alleged Wampanoag uprising on Nantucket Island in 1738 were turned into a story of an Indian rebellion thwarted via a Boston newspaper.
Stevia’s Global Story
Native to Paraguay, Ka’a he’e followed a circuitous path through Indigenous medicine, Japanese food science, and American marketing to reach the US sweeteners market.
The Post-Civil War Opioid Crisis
Many servicemen became addicted to opioids prescribed during the war. Society viewed their dependency as a lack of manliness.
The Asian American History of Silicon Valley Shopping Malls
Shopping centers in East San Jose that originally served working-class immigrants have been transformed by the influx of transnational tech professionals.
Wheely Good Reviews: How Michelin Forms Foodie Ideology
The French Michelin guide is an authoritative voice in the world of fine dining, but when it arrived on the American food scene, it was met with a chilly reception.
Women Against Women’s Suffrage
The fight for women’s suffrage is often depicted as pitting women against men. But some women made it their life’s mission to campaign against it.
Remembering H.D.
Hilda Doolittle, aka H.D., had her champions among modern scholars, but she's still often left off modern poetry course syllabi.
The League of Women Voters Takes On the Environment
Having won the right to vote, some suffragists moved on to fight water pollution and protect the environment.
“What to the Slave is The Fourth of July?”: Annotated
On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a Fourth of July speech that became his most famous public oration.