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Allison C. Meier

Allison C. Meier is a Brooklyn-based writer focused on visual culture, architecture, and overlooked history. She has been a staff writer at Hyperallergic and senior editor at Atlas Obscura. You can read more of her writing on her website.

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How Cremation Lost Its Stigma

The pro-cremation movement of the nineteenth century battled religious tradition, not to mention the specter of mass graves during epidemics.

by Allison C. Meier via JSTOR Daily on June 22, 2020
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Surviving a Pandemic, in 1918

A century ago, Catholic nuns from Philadelphia recalled what it was like to tend to the needy and the sick during the great influenza pandemic of 1918.

by Allison C. Meier via JSTOR Daily on March 21, 2020
Remember You Will Be Buried

Tracing the American cemetery from the colonial age to the Gilded Age.

by Allison C. Meier via Lapham’s Quarterly on March 12, 2020
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The 1918 Parade That Spread Death in Philadelphia

In six weeks, 12,000 were dead of influenza.

by Allison C. Meier via JSTOR Daily on November 9, 2019
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Colonialism Created Navy Blue

The indigo dye that created the Royal Navy's signature uniform color was only possible because of imperialism and slavery.

by Allison C. Meier via JSTOR Daily on May 25, 2019
An Itinerant Photographer's Diverse Portraits of the Turn-of-the-Century American South

A new exhibit features photos by Hugh Mangum, whose glass plate negatives were salvaged from a North Carolina barn.

by Allison C. Meier via Hyperallergic on January 20, 2019
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Cycloramas: The Virtual Reality of the 19th Century

Immersive displays brought 19th century spectators to far-off places and distant battles. The way they portrayed history, however, was often inaccurate.

by Allison C. Meier, Charles G. Markantes, Michael Cunningham via JSTOR Daily on December 16, 2018
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Legends and Lore

A roadside marker program in New York State embraces the gray area between official history and local lore.

by Allison C. Meier on October 23, 2018
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Did North America's Longest Painting Inspire Moby-Dick?

Herman Melville likely saw the panorama “Whaling Voyage,” which records the sinking of the whaler Essex, while staying in Boston in 1849.

by Allison C. Meier, Robert L. Carothers, John L. Marsh, Kevin J. Avery, Nenette Luarca-Shoaf, Henry F. Pommer via JSTOR Daily on June 20, 2018
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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.

by Allison C. Meier on June 12, 2018
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Edward S. Curtis: Romance vs. Reality

In a famous 1910 photograph "In a Piegan Lodge," a small clock appears between two seated Native American men.

by Allison C. Meier via JSTOR Daily on May 18, 2018
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Allison C. Meier

Bylines

How Cremation Lost Its Stigma

Surviving a Pandemic, in 1918

Remember You Will Be Buried

The 1918 Parade That Spread Death in Philadelphia

Colonialism Created Navy Blue

An Itinerant Photographer's Diverse Portraits of the Turn-of-the-Century American South

Cycloramas: The Virtual Reality of the 19th Century

Legends and Lore

Did North America's Longest Painting Inspire Moby-Dick?

What the Viral Media of the Civil War Era Can Teach Us About Prejudice

Edward S. Curtis: Romance vs. Reality