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The “Miscegenation” Troll

The term “miscegenation” was coined in an 1864 pamphlet by an anonymous author. It turned out to be an anti-abolition hoax.

The Evolution of American Foodie Culture

Tracing the culinary revolution that changed Americans’ approach to eating.

100 Years Later, Dearborn Confronts the Hate of Hometown Hero Henry Ford

Dearborn, proud home of Henry Ford, has addressed the auto pioneer's anti-Semitism in the 1920s, which flourishes today on extremist websites.
Sylvia Plath smiling outdoors.

What We Don’t Know About Sylvia Plath

On revelations from a chance graveside encounter.

How Zine Libraries Are Highlighting Marginalized Voices

The librarians who are setting out to make sure the histories of marginalized communities aren't forgotten.

Literary Hoaxes and the Ethics of Authorship

What happens when we find out writers aren't who they said they were.
Malcolm X.

The Missing Malcolm X

Our understanding of Malcolm X is inextricably linked to his autobiography, but newly discovered materials force us to reexamine his legacy.
Jill Lepore

'The Academy Is Largely Itself Responsible for Its Own Peril'

On writing the story of America, the rise and fall of the fact, and how women’s intellectual authority is undermined.
Stack of biographies.

Arguing Biography

An university press editor considers the merits and limitations of biography as a scholarly form.
Collage of paper clippings including headless a running man, an explosion where his head would be, and a jet flying alongside him.

Ante Up: The Scales of Power Seen Through Norman Podhoretz’s Eyes

In retrospect, it was peculiar but not surprising that the Jewish-American novel peaked early—halfway through the beginning, to be precise.
Title page of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense."
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Anonymous Criticism Helped Make America Great

Trump’s critic is utilizing a practice employed by many of the Founding Fathers to protect truth from power.

Victorian-Era Orgasms and the Crisis of Peer Review

A favorite anecdote about the origins of the vibrator is probably a myth.
original

Podcasting the Past

Why historians should stop worrying and embrace the rise of history podcasts by non-scholars.

This 60-Year-Old Novel About Sexual Harassment Was Ahead Of Its Time

"The Best of Everything" outlined the dynamics and the costs of sexual harassment, decades before anyone talked openly about it.

The Rare Women in the Rare-Book Trade

When most people hear the term rare books, they imagine an old boys’ club of dealers seeking out first editions, mostly by men.

Convulsions Within: When Printing the Declaration of Independence Turns Partisan

Even America's founding document isn't immune to the powers of polarization.

How the Second World War Made America Literate

The story of the Armed Services Editions.
Laura Ingalls Wilder

Librarians without Chests: A Response to the ALSC’s Denigration of Laura Ingalls Wilder

A network of professional librarians seeks to destroy a beloved literary heroine and malign her creator.

Well-Behaved Women Make History Too

What gets lost when it’s only the rebel girls who get lionized?

Encyclopedia Hounds

A few of Encyclopædia Britannica’s famous readers, on the occasion of its 250th anniversary.
Lithograph of Josiah Henson in his autobiography.

The Story of Josiah Henson, the Real Inspiration for 'Uncle Tom’s Cabin'

Before Stowe's famous novel, a formerly enslaved African-American living in Canada wrote a memoir detailing his experience.

Contraband Flesh

A reflection on Zora Neale Hurston’s newly-published book, "Barracoon."
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The Digital Age Killed Cursive, But It Can't Kill the Signature

Signatures are a mark of authenticity.
Willa Cather

Willa Cather, Pioneer

Willa Cather's life and work broke with the standards of her time.

Can the World’s Biggest Dictionary Survive the Internet?

The costs of achieving the centuries-old lexicographical dream of capturing the entire English language.

How One Amateur Historian Brought Us the Stories of African-Americans Who Knew Abraham Lincoln

Once John E. Washington started to dig, he found an incredible wealth of untapped knowledge about the 16th president.

Writing History

On my transition from editor of terrible history books to a writer of mediocre ones.
Portrait of Charles Dickens from his 1842 trip to America.

Charles Dickens Had Serious Beef with America and Its Bad Manners

How Charles Dickens' unpleasant trip to Boston led to "A Christmas Carol."

Theodore Dreiser’s New York

Teddy Dreiser tries to make it.
Caricature of Mark Twain wearing a barrel with smoke from his pipe making a dollar sign.

Mark Twain’s Get-Rich-Quick Schemes

“I am frightened by the proportions of my prosperity,” Twain said. “It seems to me that whatever I touch turns to gold.”

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