The Miss Portland diner.
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The Making of the American Diner

Today's diners would surprise a 1940s patron. These restaurants were once vulgar boy’s clubs before becoming today's family-friendly establishments.

Buying Your Dad a Gift Is Why Father's Day Exists

Buying a necktie for your dad is a stereotypical way to celebrate Father's Day, but it's in keeping with the holiday's history.
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How "This Land Is Your Land" Went From Protest Song to Singalong

Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” has lost a bit of its protest oomph—in part because of a decades-long denial of its later verses.
Lithograph of ladies' fashions from Godey's Lady's Book magazine.
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The Women’s Magazine That Tried to Stop the Civil War

Godey’s Lady’s Book, one of the most influential American publications of the nineteenth century, tried to halt the Civil War.
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How Wrigley Chewed Its Way to Gum Greatness

William Wrigley, Jr. started selling soap and became a prodigy of consumerism.
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The Battle Over Confederate Heritage Month

A Southern governor proclaimed April Confederate Heritage Month. Will slavery be mentioned?
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The U.S. Representative Who Tried to Outlaw War

Jeanette Rankin was the first woman to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. And she once tried to outlaw war.
Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe.
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Edgar Allan Poe and the Power of a Portrait

Edgar Allan Poe knew that readers would add their visual image of the author to his work to create a personality that informed their reading.
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How Women's Studies Erased Black Women

The founders of Women’s Studies were overwhelmingly white, and focused on the experiences of white, heterosexual women.
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The Turn-of-the-Century Lesbians Who Founded The Field of Home Ec

Flora Rose and Martha Van Rensselaer lived in an open lesbian relationship and helped found the field of home economics.
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How the Women of Los Angeles Protected Their Rights to Drive

In the 1920s, women's love of driving in auto-obsessed Los Angeles created traffic jams and a battle over women’s rightful place.