Herman Melville

An activist, writer, doctor and intellectual, James McCune Smith, born enslaved, directed his talents to the eradication of slavery.

The 19th-century whale hunt was a brutal business. But between the frantic calls of “there she blows!”, there was plenty of time for creation too.

Jefferson revised the Gospels to make Jesus more reasonable, and lost the power of his story.

An insightful exploration of the ways America has read ‘the Great American Novel.’

The city was once a bustling and infamous Great Lakes port. How should it be remembered?

Andrew Delbanco's new book positions the debate over fugitive slaves as a central factor in the nation's slide toward disunion.

The rise and fall of Perry Miller.

Edgar Allan Poe knew that readers would add their visual image of the author to his work to create a personality that informed their reading.