Field of Dreams

Migrant futboleros in greater Mexico.
Photo of "Rebecca, Charley, and Rosa, slave children from New Orleans."
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What the Viral Media of the Civil War Era Can Teach Us About Prejudice

A recent photography exhibit at the Getty Center raises difficult questions about our capacity for empathy.

How America’s Hunting Culture Shaped Masculinity, Environmentalism, and the NRA

From Davy Crockett to Teddy Roosevelt, this is the legacy of hunting in American culture.

The Lost World of the Middlebrow Tastemaker

Journalist Elizabeth Gordon had unsparing opinions about the inadequacy of both mainstream and elite notions of design.

Black Athletes, Anthem Protests, and the Spectacle of Patriotism

The NFL's response to player protests reflects decades of League and U.S. attempts to portray false images of post-racial harmony.

Freedom, Joy, and Power: The History of the Rainbow Flag

In 1978, an artist/activist hand-dyed and stitched the first rainbow flags for San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade. The rest is LGBT history.
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When Salad Was Manly

Esquire, 1940: “Salads are really the man’s department... Only a man can make a perfect salad.”

A New Golden Age for the Tiki Bar

Half a century after the tropical craze of the 1960s, the modern age of escapism is taking cues from the past.

An Oral History of Voguing from a Pioneer of the Iconic Dance

"This is not just a fad. This, for us, was a dance of survival, but it was also a social dance."

The Quest to Break America’s Most Mysterious Code—And Find $60 Million in Buried Treasure

A set of 200-year-old ciphers may reveal the location of millions of dollars’ worth of treasure buried in rural Virginia.

Why Do People Sign Yearbooks?

Commemorative class books evolved from practical notebooks into collections of hair clippings, two-line rhymes, and summer wishes.
Mural painting of people on a subway.

The Muralist and Enumerator

How a census taker and an artist were participants to the grand project of displaying and explaining America to itself.
Man wearing a red Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses rides a big yellow motorcycle.

How Feminists Invented the Male Midlife Crisis

Because most tales and treatises about this near-cliché of midlife crisis center on men, you might be misled to think they have nothing to do with women’s lives.

When Walt Whitman’s Poems Were Rejected for Being Too Timely

"1861" is just so 1861.

Why No One Answers Their Phone Anymore

Homeowners used to rush to pick up the phone. What happened?
Tillie Anderson on her bicycle.

This Seamstress Conquered Bike Racing in the 1890s

Cyclist Tillie Anderson shattered records, dominated her competition, and earned the world champion title.

When Did TV Watching Peak?

It’s probably later than you think, and long after the internet became widespread.

The Issue on the Table: Is 'Hamilton' Good for History?

In a new book, top historians discuss the musical’s educational value, historical accuracy and racial revisionism.

When Did People Start Calling Things “Racially Charged”?

About 50 years ago.

American Women's Obsession With Being Thin Began With This 'Scientist'

Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich were hooked on his diet.

The Premiere of 'Four Women Artists'

In this 1977 documentary, the spirit of Southern culture is captured through four Mississippi artists who tell their stories.
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Donald Trump’s Use of the “Star-Spangled Banner” Is an American Tradition

It's a short song with a complicated history.

A Brief History of America’s Appetite for Macaroni and Cheese

Popularized by Thomas Jefferson, this versatile dish fulfills our nation’s quest for the ‘cheapest protein possible.’
FBI piracy warning

How 1960s Film Pirates Sold Movies Before the FBI Came Knocking

The FBI storms a suspect's property, guns drawn. The crime? Film piracy.

How Superheroes Made Movie Stars Expendable

The Hollywood overhauls that got us from Bogart to Batman.

How Everything On The Internet Became Clickbait

The “Laurel or Yanny?” phenomenon was the logical endpoint of 300 years of American media.

Remembering Philip Roth

Philip Roth's work could only have been written by someone who came of age during the peak of postwar liberalism.

The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show Lives on in the Internet Archive

Episodes from the infamous hip-hop radio show of the '90s.
"Rosie the Riveter" poster, depicting white woman wearing red bandanna and blue shirt flexing arm and saying "We Can Do It!"

How One 'Rosie the Riveter' Poster Won Out Over all the Others

During the war, few Americans actually saw the 'Rosie the Riveter' poster that's become a cultural icon.

Rarely Seen 19th-Century Silhouette of a Same-Sex Couple Living Together Goes On View

A new show, featuring the paper cutouts, reveals unheralded early Americans.