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On records, artifacts, and their preservation.

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Rows of shelves in a historical archive.

Archival Shouting

Silence and volume in collections and institutions.
by Karin Wulf via Perspectives on History on April 10, 2024
Two American soldiers in UCP uniforms with an Iraqi man in the background.

Universal Failure

Universal Camouflage Pattern became a symbol of an unpopular war. Today, it’s being reappraised by those too young to remember the invasion of Iraq.
by Charles McFarlane via The Baffler on January 4, 2024
John Mitchell's 1755 map of the British colonies in North America.

Defining the Northwestern Limits of the New Republic

John Mitchell's renowned 1755 map was a part of King George III's extensive collection of topographical charts that helped shape American designs on Canada.
by Merv O. Ahrens via Journal of the American Revolution on January 2, 2024
Woman creating a "zine", using a presumably Xerox photocopy machine.

American Counterculture, Glimpsed Through Zines

Zine-making is a tradition shared by the young and alienated, people enamored with the fringes of culture. Can a museum exhibit capture its essence?
by Hua Hsu via The New Yorker on February 14, 2024

Exhibits

Woman preparing to digitize a manuscript document.
Exhibit

Archives in the Digital Age

How digital archives shape historical research and collective memory.

Interior of a Kitchen, by Eliphalet Fraser Andrews.
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Mastering the Art of Reading an Old Recipe

For every moment of historical significance, there is a figure — often hidden — who fed the figures we do remember.
by Avery Blankenship via HNN on July 9, 2024
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw dodging a camera, 1909.
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Overexposed

What happened to privacy when Americans gained easy access to cameras in the Gilded Age?
by Sohini Desai via HNN on July 2, 2024
Two people calling on AT&T PicturePhone.
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A Prehistory of Zoom

Concerns about privacy and pressures regarding the physical appearance of women and their homes contributed to the failure of AT&T’s 1960s Picturephone.
by Livia Gershon, Hannah Spaulding via JSTOR Daily on June 29, 2024
An oblique view of Columbus Circle taken on Jan. 7, 1924 by the Fairchild Aerial Camera Company.

A Portrait of New York City by Air in 1924

Long before Google Maps, an intrepid inventor with three camera-equipped biplanes captured a groundbreaking view of Gotham in its Jazz Age glory.
by Thomas J. Campanella via Bloomberg on June 29, 2024
Person holding tree marked with carvings of various symbols, made by Basque herders.

Arborglyphs – Basque Immigrant Sheepherders Left Their Marks on Aspen Trees in the American West

Herders carved names, slogans, nude silhouettes and more into the trees around them. Now, researchers rush to find the arborglyphs before they disappear.
by John Bieter, Cheryl Oestreicher, Iñaki Arrieta Baro via The Conversation on June 20, 2024
Man waving a rainbow flag.

The Complicated, Disputed History of the Rainbow Flag

Who created it? What was it meant for? And how did it come to be what it is today?
by Christina Cauterucci via Slate on June 19, 2024
A photograph of the massacre perpetrated by Americans taken on the morning of March 8, 1906, on the eastern crest of Bud Dajo.

A Notorious Photo From a US Massacre in the Philippines Reveals an Ugly Truth

A shocking image of the 1906 atrocity survived but failed to become a humanitarian touchstone.
by Kim A. Wagner via New Lines Magazine on June 17, 2024
Charles F. Ritchell and his flying machine.

25 Years Before the Wright Brothers Took to the Skies, This Flying Machine Captivated America

First exhibited in 1878, Charles F. Ritchel's dirigible was about as wacky, dangerous and impractical as any airship ever launched.
by Erik Ofgang via Smithsonian on June 11, 2024
Detail from "the Book of Negroes," listing Arthur Bowler and his family, 1783.

Eight Clues

Recovering a life in fragments, Arthur Bowler in slavery and freedom.
by Jane Lancaster via Journal of the American Revolution on June 6, 2024
Emoji present on Sharp PA-8500 (1988).

Emoji History: The Missing Years

Tracing the origins of Japanese emoji symbolism and drawing technology.
by Matt Sephton via Gingerbeardman on June 4, 2024
A collage of the covers of famous EPs.

The Little-Known Legacy of the EP

“An Ideal for Living” explores the fascinating backstory of a mini music format.
by Steven Heller via Print on June 4, 2024
Postal stamp featuring Benjamin Franklin.

Why We Still Use Postage Stamps

The enduring necessity (and importance) of a nearly 200-year-old technology.
by Andrea Valdez via The Atlantic on April 28, 2024
Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History by Laura E. Helton.

Black Archives, Not Archives of Blackness

On Laura Helton’s “Scattered and Fugitive Things.”
by Dorothy Berry via Los Angeles Review of Books on April 22, 2024
Two people look at a native artifact behind glass in a museum

Indigenous Artifacts Should Be Returned to Indigenous People

It’s time to start learning about Native history from museums and cultural centers that are run by Native nations.
by Kathleen DuVal via Time on April 10, 2024
Rows of shelves in a historical archive.

Archival Shouting

Silence and volume in collections and institutions.
by Karin Wulf via Perspectives on History on April 10, 2024
Painting of Emily Dickinson writing at a desk outside.

Eternity Only Will Answer

Funny, convivial, chatty—a new edition of Emily Dickinson's letters upends the myth of her reclusive genius. 
by Maya C. Popa via Poetry Foundation on April 8, 2024
Collection of colorful, small wooden birds with museum tags.

The Untold History of Japanese American Bird Pins

They were one of the most ubiquitous crafts to come out of Japanese incarceration camps. But few knew their back story — until now.
by Susan Shain via High Country News on April 5, 2024
Looking north over Union Square East, in 1901 or 1902.

When the NYC Subway Was Just a Dirt Trench

Rare photos from the early 1900s show the 120-year-old system’s pick-and-shovel beginnings.
by Christopher Bonanos via Curbed on April 3, 2024
Sketch of women traveling with the Continental Army.

How a Curator at the Museum of the American Revolution Solved a Nearly 250-Year-Old Art Mystery

An eye-witness depiction of the Continental Army passing through Philadelphia hung in a New York apartment for decades.
by Rosa Cartagena via Philadelphia Inquirer on March 26, 2024
Skyscraper construction workers at lunch photo, but sitting atop a web search bar.

Social Media Is Not What Killed the Web

Better browsers made things worse.
by Ian Bogost via The Atlantic on March 25, 2024
Four typewriters including the Nazi-built Urania model.

Why the World of Typewriter Collectors Splits Down the Middle When These Machines Come Up for Sale

In this new hobby, I found so many stories.
by Mark Lawrence Schrad via Slate on March 16, 2024
Continental Currency $20 banknote with marbled edge (May 10, 1775).
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Marbled Money

Marbled paper was a way to make banknotes and checks unique—a critical characteristic for a nascent American Republic.
by Katrina Gulliver, Jake Benson, John Craig via JSTOR Daily on March 14, 2024
No parking sign.

The No Symbol: The History Of The Red Circle-Slash

One of the best-known icons of modern society is a classic example of a symbol—it’s easy to spot, but hard to explain. Who came up with it?
by Ernie Smith via Tedium on March 9, 2024
All-Black Lincoln Cemetery.

Black Civil War Veterans Remain Segregated Even in Death

Denied burial alongside Union soldiers killed during the Battle of Gettysburg, the 30 or so men were instead buried in the all-Black Lincoln Cemetery.
by Kellie B. Gormly via Smithsonian on February 21, 2024
Painting of babies sitting at a table, holding spoons, with a can of condensed milk in the middle
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The Sweet Story of Condensed Milk

This nineteenth-century industrial product became a military staple and a critical part of local food culture around the world.
by Katrina Gulliver, Joe B. Frantz, Khairudin Aljunied, Yavuz Koese via JSTOR Daily on February 20, 2024
Cartoon of California and Colorado talking about suburban housing.

Orange County, Colorado

How a California homebuilder remade the Interior West.
by Caroline Tracey via New York Review Of Architecture on February 19, 2024

UC Berkeley Student Brings to Light Stories of LGBTQ+ Japanese Americans Incarcerated During WWII

A UC Berkeley student’s award-winning research shines a light on LGBTQ+ life in Japanese American concentration camps during World War II.
by Tor Haugan via UC Berkeley Library on February 19, 2024
Charles Tiffany superimposed on handwriting and map of the transatlantic cable.

How the Tiffany & Co. Founder Cashed In on the Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Craze

Charles Lewis Tiffany bought surplus cable from the venture, turning it into souvenirs that forever linked his name to the telecommunications milestone.
by Robert Klara via Smithsonian on February 15, 2024
Woman creating a "zine", using a presumably Xerox photocopy machine.

American Counterculture, Glimpsed Through Zines

Zine-making is a tradition shared by the young and alienated, people enamored with the fringes of culture. Can a museum exhibit capture its essence?
by Hua Hsu via The New Yorker on February 14, 2024
Robert Smalls.

What a Teacher's Letters Reveal About Robert Smalls, Who Stole a Confederate Ship to Secure Freedom

Harriet M. Buss' missives home detail the future congressman's candid views on race and the complicity of Confederate women.
by Jonathan W. White via Smithsonian on February 13, 2024
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