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Halloween - Foreword: A Coal-Region Halloween

Halloween - Foreword: A Coal-Region Halloween

Posted by Edward Moran on May 26th 2020

If, as they say, America is a melting pot, then Halloween is its seething witchly cauldron, a macabre mashup, a hobgoblined hobnob of Celtic mythology, German hexerei, and Transylvanian folkl
Edward Penfield And The American Poster

Edward Penfield And The American Poster

Posted by Judith Maas on May 8th 2020

Edward Penfield’s first poster for Harper’s in 1893 shows a man in a green coat absorbed in reading a magazine while being splashed by raindrops; the display type accompanying the figure is as mat
Ye Ghost Ship

Ye Ghost Ship

Posted by Gunnar Rice on May 8th 2020

An hour before sunset, after a stormy June day, in the year 1648, a crowd of colonists from the very new town of New Haven stood at the shore to watch a ship sail into harbor. While many had

Historic Songs For A Pandemic

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Apr 30th 2020

In 1918 two events were consuming the attention and resources of the world: World War I and the Flu pandemic.  The pandemic received scant attention from popular culture though it affected most a
Backyard Chickens, Then And Now

Backyard Chickens, Then And Now

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Apr 26th 2020

To trace the roots of the current explosion in chicken keeping, you would probably want to consider the influence of Martha Stewart, who trumpeted the appeal of the blue-green eggs produced by her
States Helping States. It Has Happened Before.

States Helping States. It Has Happened Before.

Posted by Jeff Lantos on Apr 21st 2020

In response to the medical disaster unfolding in New York, the governors of Oregon, Washington and California sent ventilators. Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots football team, sent 300,
Napoleon Lajoie, The Definition Of Grace

Napoleon Lajoie, The Definition Of Grace

Posted by Steven Jordan on Apr 19th 2020

Written upon the Hall of Fame plaque of Napoleon “Larry” Lajoie, it reads “the most graceful and efficient second baseman of his era.” According to all accounts of his contemporaries and others who
Jane Addams, George Pullman, and King Lear

Jane Addams, George Pullman, and King Lear

Posted by Judith Maas on Apr 17th 2020

The career of Jane Addams (1860-1935) was bracketed by the founding of the Chicago social settlement, Hull House, in 1889, and her receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Her list of accomplishmen

Great Horses Of The Silver Screen

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Apr 16th 2020

The term “Wonder Horse” was coined to describe Tom Mix’s horse Tony, but eventually was used to describe any of a select cadre of movie horses known for performing risky or amazing stunts. Tony was
Bayard Rustin, Man Of Many Faces

Bayard Rustin, Man Of Many Faces

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Apr 15th 2020

Ronald Reagan praised Bayard Rustin’s “moral courage” after the gay civil rights activist’s death in 1987. An anti-gay praising a gay black rabble-rouser who advised Martin Luther King? The 80s wer
Elephants On The Brooklyn Bridge

Elephants On The Brooklyn Bridge

Posted by Edward Moran on Apr 12th 2020

It was an audacious project from the start. Fourteen years in the building, the Brooklyn Bridge easily catapulted itself into the ranks of the Seven Wonders of the Industrial Age. The Bridge was a t
“A Span, A Cry, An Ecstasy"

“A Span, A Cry, An Ecstasy"

Posted by Edward Moran on Apr 12th 2020

If the Brooklyn Bridge were nothing more than an engineering marvel, that would have been enough to insure its place in the pantheon of great American civic enterprises. It was more than the sum of
How Buffalo Bill Invented The Wild West

How Buffalo Bill Invented The Wild West

Posted by Leah Dearborn on Apr 11th 2020

When “Buffalo Bill” Cody died in 1917, more than 18,000 mourners attended his funeral and paid their respects while his body lay out for viewing at the Colorado State House. Even in death the former
Mark Twain on the Danube

Mark Twain on the Danube

Posted by Judith Maas on Apr 11th 2020

Acclaimed novelist, lecturer, humorist, journalist, and travel writer—Mark Twain (1835-1910) received a celebrity’s welcome when he arrived in Vienna in September 1897. Bookstores could not keep up
The Stories Of Monhegan Island

The Stories Of Monhegan Island

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Apr 10th 2020

Monhegan Island is a wild, sometimes harsh place. Native Americans roamed here fishing its waters and exploring its rocky wooded terrain. Pirates landed on its shores, some say leaving buried treas
It Came From Above: A Visual History of Astronomy

It Came From Above: A Visual History of Astronomy

Posted by Leah Dearborn on Apr 10th 2020

 By Leah Dearborn When NASA's New Horizons probe hurtled past Pluto in 2015, it provided hundreds of new images of the far corners of the solar system.  Artists, however, have been creatin

The Coast Guard’s Forgotten History

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Apr 9th 2020

Too often overshadowed by its similarly sea-faring cousin, the Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard has a far longer history, and one that’s just as action-packed.Officially formed on January 28, 1915, the Co
Cloud Chasing Chariots: Early Yosemite Photographers

Cloud Chasing Chariots: Early Yosemite Photographers

Posted by Katrina Trepsa on Apr 8th 2020

Imagine it’s 1860.  You want to capture the clouds over Yosemite. But you don’t just hold your hand above the sky, squint and take a picture. There are no hand-held cameras, no phones, no cars,
Braille: The Language Of The Blind

Braille: The Language Of The Blind

Posted by Susan Bates on Apr 8th 2020

Braille has fascinated me since I was young. Created by Louis Braille in the 1800’s, it was an incredible discovery and helped millions around the world who previously were unable to read or write t
The Gold Rush’s Hazy Grays

The Gold Rush’s Hazy Grays

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Apr 8th 2020

John W. Marshall inadvertently made — and changed — history on January 24, 1848, when the carpenter found bits of gold at entrepreneur John Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, California. The men tried to keep
Baseball's Bloomer Girls

Baseball's Bloomer Girls

Posted by Susan Bates on Apr 7th 2020

You have probably seen the movie “A League of their Own” starring Madonna and Geena Davis.  Women’s baseball teams, belonging to the All-American Girls Baseball League (AAGBL) brought the game
Halloween

Halloween

Posted by James Lantos on Apr 5th 2020

Pictorial America - Copyright 2020, Snapshots of the Past
Nellie Tayloe Ross: More Than A Woman

Nellie Tayloe Ross: More Than A Woman

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Apr 5th 2020

By Andrew BelonskyEvery year newspapers and historians commemorate Nellie Tayloe Ross’  January 5, 1925, inauguration as the nation’s first female governor. And it certainly was a momentous occ
Susan Glaspell and Alison’s House

Susan Glaspell and Alison’s House

Posted by Judith Maas on Apr 5th 2020

News of the 1931 Pulitzer Prize for drama elated the playwright, infuriated the theater critics, and surprised everyone. Alison’s House by Susan Glaspell beat out plays by such greats as Maxwell Ander
Paul Revere's Will

Paul Revere's Will

Posted by James Lantos on Apr 5th 2020

I saw this interesting article today about the fact that Ancestry.com has made available millions of wills, including that of Paul Revere. Paul Revere, J.P. Morgan wills among millions now online.
The Great Bartholdi Statue Of Liberty

The Great Bartholdi Statue Of Liberty

Posted by Susan Bates on Apr 5th 2020

 "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the
The Tractor Rumbles To Life

The Tractor Rumbles To Life

Posted by Gunnar Rice on Mar 11th 2019

The scene of a farmer astride a John Deere tractor, the sun beating down as he moves through rows of fields, seems a familiar part of the American landscape. But the iconic and seemingly ubiquit