Menu
Excerpts
Exhibits
Collections
Originals
Categories
Map
Search
Idea
holidays
100
Filter by:
Date Published
Filter by published date
Published On or After:
Published On or Before:
Filter
Cancel
Viewing 31–60 of 100 results.
Go to first page
Colleges’ Reluctant Embrace of MLK Day
The push for a national Martin Luther King holiday prompted a fierce political tug-of-war, on campus and off.
by
Cynthia R. Greenlee
,
Francesca Polletta
,
Thomas J. Shields
via
JSTOR Daily
on
January 20, 2019
Baby, Christmas Songs Have Always Been Controversial
Long before “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” holiday songs played a part in the War on Christmas.
by
Neil J. Young
via
The Atlantic
on
December 24, 2018
A Brief History of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a holiday about food – but it is more specifically a holiday about food’s absence.
by
Rachel B. Herrmann
via
History Extra
on
November 21, 2018
The Troubling History of the Fight to Honor Leif Erikson—Not Columbus—as the Man Who 'Discovered America'
It wasn't simply a matter of getting the history right.
by
Olivia B. Waxman
via
TIME
on
October 5, 2018
When the Fourth of July Was a Black Holiday
After the Civil War, African Americans in the South transformed Independence Day into a celebration of their newly won freedom.
by
Ethan J. Kytle
,
Blain Roberts
via
The Atlantic
on
July 3, 2018
The Mother of Mother's Day
The American commercialized version of Mother's Day isn't what the founder intended.
by
Allyson Shwed
via
The Nib
on
May 11, 2018
The Heart of the Matter: A History of Valentine Cards
A digital exhibit from the collections of the Strong National Museum of Play.
by
Strong National Museum Of Play
via
Google Arts and Culture
on
April 11, 2018
Why Easter Never Became a Big Secular Holiday like Christmas
Hint: the Puritans were involved.
by
Tara Isabella Burton
via
Vox
on
March 29, 2018
A Plea to Resurrect the Christmas Tradition of Telling Ghost Stories
Though the practice is now more associated with Halloween, spooking out your family is well within the Christmas spirit.
by
Colin Dickey
via
Smithsonian
on
December 15, 2017
The Unintended Consequences of Veterans' Day
In hindsight: A day created to commemorate peace has been transformed into one that perpetuates war.
by
Paul Steege
via
Hindsights
on
November 10, 2017
When Halloween Mischief Turned to Mayhem
Nineteenth-century urbanization unleashed the nation's anarchic spirits.
by
Lesley Bannatyne
via
Zócalo Public Square
on
October 26, 2017
The Necessity of Juneteenth
The most famous Emancipation holiday is more necessary now than it has ever been.
by
Vann R. Newkirk II
via
The Atlantic
on
June 19, 2017
A Few Examples of Dads’ Traditions
Stephanie Hall provides examples of folklore and storytelling within a fathers' relationship to music.
by
Stephanie Hall
via
Library of Congress
on
June 16, 2017
Cinco De Mayo Isn’t What You Think it Is
It’s not just “Cinco De Drinko,” and it isn’t Mexican Independence Day.
by
Allyson Shwed
via
The Nib
on
May 5, 2017
Informed Archives: The Environmental Action Coalition and the Birth of Earth Day
January 2017's Women's March wasn't the first time Fifth Avenue in New York City hosted an enormous demonstration.
by
Meredith Mann
via
New York Public Library
on
April 20, 2017
Christmas at Midcentury, When Aluminum Trees Replaced Victorian Evergreens
A new book by Sarah Archer explores the influence of the Space Race and Cold War on America's midcentury Christmas celebrations.
by
Allison C. Meier
via
Hyperallergic
on
December 21, 2016
partner
American as Pumpkin Pie: A History of Thanksgiving
Why Pilgrims would be stunned by our "traditional" Thanksgiving table, and other surprising truths about the invention of our national holiday.
via
BackStory
on
November 25, 2016
partner
All Hale Thanksgiving
In the 1820s, Sarah Hale, a New England widow and the editor of Godey’s Ladies Book made it her mission to get Thanksgiving recognized as a national holiday.
via
BackStory
on
November 15, 2016
A Brief History of the Holiday Card
Americans purchase approximately 1.6 billion holiday cards a year. Why is this tradition so popular?
by
Ellen F. Brown
via
JSTOR Daily
on
December 20, 2015
Juneteenth and Barbecue
The menu of Emancipation Day.
by
Daniel Vaughn
via
Texas Monthly
on
June 16, 2015
The Modern Invention of Thanksgiving
The holiday emerged not from the 17th century, but rather from concerns over immigration and urbanization in the 19th century.
by
Anne Blue Wills
,
Livia Gershon
via
JSTOR Daily
on
November 26, 2014
When Labor Day Meant Something
Remembering the radical past of a day now devoted to picnics and back-to-school sales.
by
Chad Broughton
via
The Atlantic
on
September 1, 2014
Happy Captive Nations Week!
We're supposed to celebrate one of the weirdest artifacts of the Cold War.
by
Charles King
via
Slate
on
July 24, 2014
Kaboom! 10 Facts About Firecrackers That Will Blow You Away
Firecrackers are essentially un-American, even though we associate them with our most deeply patriotic celebration, the Fourth of July.
by
Lisa Hix
via
Collectors Weekly
on
July 3, 2014
How the Complete Meaning of July Fourth Is Slipping Away
John Adams would not be happy to see what Independence Day has become.
by
Gordon S. Wood
via
The New Republic
on
July 4, 2011
Talking Turkey
A conversation with food historian Andrew F. Smith on his new book, "The Turkey: An American Story."
by
Andrew F. Smith
,
Jeffery Kastner
via
Cabinet
on
November 1, 2006
Labor Day in America: Or, the Day That is Not in May
America’s ambivalence about labor is nothing new. In the colonial era the ruling class had nothing but contempt for anything that could be justly called "work."
by
Edward G. Gray
via
Commonplace
on
October 1, 2006
Thankstaking
Was the 'first Thanksgiving' merely a pretext for the bloodshed, enslavement, and displacement that would follow in later decades?
by
Jane Kamensky
via
Commonplace
on
January 1, 2001
Discover the Short Life and Long Legacy of Casimir Pulaski
On the first Monday in March, Pulaski Day festivities at Chicago’s Polish Museum of America honored the “Father of American Cavalry,” 280 years after his birth.
by
Eli Wizevich
via
Smithsonian
on
March 6, 2025
May Day is a Rust Belt Holiday
Forged in the cauldron of Chicago’s streets and factories, born from the experience of workers in the mills and plants of Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland.
by
Ed Simon
via
Belt Magazine
on
April 29, 2024
View More
30 of
100
Filters
Filter Results:
Search for a term by which to filter:
Suggested Filters:
Idea
celebrations
commemoration
tradition
Christmas
Thanksgiving
Juneteenth
emancipation
commercialization
Fourth of July
freedom
Person
Richard Nixon
Sonora Smart Dodd
