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An American World War II veteran salutes on a beach during the 1994 anniversary commemorations for the invasion of Normandy.

Let’s Give Black World War II Vets What We Promised

The G.I. Bill created a prosperous middle class that was altogether too white.
by Timothy Noah via The New Republic on November 10, 2023
Black college students at Morgan State University, 1955.

No, the GI Bill Did Not Make Racial Inequality Worse

Popular narratives say that black veterans got no real benefits from the GI Bill. In truth, the GI Bill provided a rare positive experience with government.
by Paul Prescod via Jacobin on April 1, 2023
A group of white veteran students in 1945, beneficiaries of the GI Bill.

The Blindness of Colorblindness

Revisiting "When Affirmative Action Was White," nearly two decades on.
by Ira Katznelson via Boston Review on February 6, 2023
Group of seated Black soldiers listening to staff sergeant explain G.I. Bill of Rights

How a Hostile America Undermined Its Black World War II Veterans

Service members were attacked, discredited, and shortchanged on GI benefits—with lasting implications.
by Matt Delmont via Mother Jones on October 6, 2022
A gate with the dollar signs on the front.

No Change In Elite College Low-Income Enrollment Since 1920s

A comprehensive new study found that the socioeconomic makeup of highly selective colleges is roughly the same as it was a century ago.
by Liam Knox via Inside Higher Ed on November 21, 2024
Anna Rosenberg talking to Lyndon B. Johnson.
partner

One of the Most Important Women in American History Has Been Forgotten

Anna Rosenberg had massive influence in American politics for 40 years. Remembering her story offers a guide for solving problems today.
by Christopher C. Gorham via Made By History on May 30, 2023
Welder-trainee Josie Lucille Owens plies her trade on the SS George Washington Carver at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, CA, 1943.

Toxic Legacies of WWII: Pollution and Segregation

Wartime production led to environmental and social injustices, polluting land and bodies in ways that continue to shape public policy and race relations.
by Matthew Wills, Alistair W. Fortson via JSTOR Daily on November 27, 2022
Buckingham Palace [photo: flickr.com/lorentey/]

American Higher Education’s Past Was Gilded, Not Golden

A missed opportunity for genuine equity.
by Elizabeth Tandy Shermer via Academe on October 14, 2022
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The Sting of ‘Thank You for Your Service’

The benefits that come with serving the country have withered in recent decades.
by John Worsencroft via Made By History on April 29, 2020

151 Years of America’s Housing History

From the first tenement regulation to work requirements for public-housing residents, these are key moments in housing policy.
via The Nation on May 24, 2018

Catholic Immigrants Didn’t Make It on Their Own. They Shouldn’t Expect Others To.

A variety of government programs helped white American Catholics get where they are today.
by Una Cadegan via Washington Post on April 18, 2017
Soldiers in the 15th New York.

Lynching in America: Targeting Black Veterans

Black veterans were once targeted for racialized violence because of the equality with whites that their military service implied.
via Equal Justice Initiative on November 11, 2016
Brown University women's glee club, including Clara Gomberg, the first Jewish woman to graduate Brown.

“A Jewess Would Not Be Acceptable”

When it came to antisemitism, women’s colleges were no better than the Ivy League.
by Amy Sohn via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on May 8, 2025
William Faulkner and Ralph Ellison.

What the Novels of William Faulkner and Ralph Ellison Reveal About the Soul of America

The postwar moment of a distinctive new American novel—Nabokov’s "Lolita"— is also the moment in which William Faulkner finally gained recognition.
by Edwin Frank via Literary Hub on November 19, 2024
A window displaying two Puerto Rican flags and two Trump/Vance campaign posters.

Understanding Latino Support for Donald Trump

Democrats have often described Latinos as decisive when they support liberal candidates and inconsequential when they don’t.
by Geraldo Cadava via The New Yorker on November 18, 2024
Aerial view of the suburbs.

How Racist Policies Destroyed Public Housing and Created the American Suburbs

The systematic post-war displacement of communities of color.
by Tracy Rosenthal, Leonardo Vilchis via Literary Hub on September 25, 2024
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How 'The Campus' Captured Our Imaginations—And Our Politics

At least since the 1960s, a warped vision of college life has shaped U.S. culture and politics.
by Adrian Daub via Made By History on September 3, 2024
Drawing showing teacher in front of the blackboard while students look bored in the back of the classroom.

Why Professors Can’t Teach

For as long as universities have existed, academics have struggled to impart their knowledge to students. The failing is fixable—if Washington demands it.
by Jonathan Zimmerman via Washington Monthly on August 25, 2024
Group of African-American World War I veterans

The Meaning of ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’

“I’d assumed this practice was a manifestation of military decorum.”
by Tracy K. Smith via The Atlantic on November 14, 2023
Tuskegee Airmen, Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945; photograph by Toni Frissell. From left to right: Richard S. ‘Rip’ Harder, unidentified airman, Thurston L. Gaines Jr., Newman C. Golden, and Wendell M. Lucas.

‘We Return Fighting’

The ambivalence many Black soldiers felt toward the U.S. in WWII was matched only by the ambivalence the U.S. showed toward principles on which WWII was fought.
by Gary Younge via New York Review of Books on September 28, 2023
Bylaw excerpt of racial restrictions in housing.
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A New Law Addresses the Harm Done by Decades of Racist Housing Practices

The Washington state law provides low-interest loans for down payments for those harmed by racially restrictive covenants.
by James N. Gregory via Made By History on May 10, 2023
Black soldiers in battle.

Double V: Military Racism

Today, the military is perhaps the largest integrated institution in the US. But how it came to be this way reveals a history of racism and resistance.
by Eric Foner via London Review of Books on February 22, 2023
The son of Robert "Whitey" Fuller, director of publicity for Dartmouth athletics, and other children playing football, Dartmouth, 1946.

'Hit the Line Hard'

During the cold war, football’s violence became precisely its point.
by Jake Nevins via New York Review of Books on February 12, 2023
Mike Lawler, Republican candidate for New York's 17th Congressional District.
partner

The GOP Can Thank Suburban N.Y. For its Slim Control of The House

How a red wave in a solidly blue state helped tip the balance.
by Stacie Taranto via Made By History on November 28, 2022
Plans for the Baldwin Terrace housing development (Plat Book 22, Page 35, St. Louis County Recorder of Deeds, Clayton, Missouri).

Who Segregated America?

Federal housing policies contributed to the segregation of American cities in the twentieth century. But it was private interests that led the way.
by Colin Gordon via Dissent on June 29, 2022
Henry Holt, a farmer near Black River Falls, Wisconsin, in 1937, who was moved off land by the Resettlement Administration.

How the Government Helped White Americans Steal Black Farmland

There was once a thriving Black middle class based on farm ownership. But during the twentieth century, the USDA helped erase that source of wealth.
by Darrick Hamilton, Thomas W. Mitchell, Nathan Rosenberg, Dania Francis, Bryce Wilson Stucki via The New Republic on May 5, 2022
Mounted police clashing with strikers, one carrying an American flag, outside an electrical plant in Philadelphia, 1946

Cops at War: How World War II Transformed U.S. Policing

As wartime labor shortages depleted police forces, and fear of crime grew, chiefs turned to new initiatives to strengthen and professionalize their officers.
by Stuart Schrader via Modern American History on June 28, 2021
Black and white photo of people and dogs posing in front of crates that say "U.S. Army dog"

Topper’s GI Benefits, Good Homes, and Vivisection Fears: The Treatment of World War II War Dogs

A story about dogs used to fight in World War II and what became of them.
by Hannah E. Palsa via Nursing Clio on May 6, 2021
Overhead image of suburban houses from Levittown, Pennsylvania

The Origins of Sprawl

On William Gibson, Sonic Youth, and the genesis of the American suburb.
by Jason Diamond via The Paris Review on August 26, 2020

What’s New About Free College?

The fight over free education is much older than you think.
by Jay Swanson via Current Affairs on July 8, 2020
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