How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Help Win the Civil WarLincoln was so taken with the new technology—which he called ‘lightning messages’—that he sometimes slept on a cot in the telegraph office during major battles.Read more
Alexander Hamilton’s Complicated Relationship to SlaveryThe Founding Father opposed slavery, but he bought and sold enslaved people for his in-laws—and possibly even his own household.Read more
Why the 1918 Flu Became ‘America’s Forgotten Pandemic’Once it was over, no one wanted to talk about it.Read more
Christopher Columbus: How The Explorer’s Legend Grew—and Then Drew FireColumbus’s famed voyage to the New World was celebrated by Italian-Americans, in particular, as a pathway to their own acceptance in America.Read more
This New Deal Summer Camp Program Aimed to Help Unemployed WomenAbout 8,500 women attended the camps inspired by the CCC and organized by Eleanor Roosevelt—but the “She-She-She” program was mocked and eventually abandoned.Read more
How Alexander Hamilton’s Widow, Eliza, Carried on His LegacyEliza Hamilton poured her energy into founding a free school and an orphanage in New York to help children in need.Read more
Slavery Persisted in New England Until the 19th CenturyThe colony of Rhode Island once had the highest percentage of enslaved people in New England, and was a dominant player in the global slave trade.Read more
Why Thomas Jefferson’s Anti-Slavery Passage Was Removed from the Declaration of IndependenceThe Founding Fathers were fighting for freedom—just not for everyone.Read more
How the ‘Big Three’ Teed Up the Cold War at the 1945 Yalta ConferenceStalin, Roosevelt and Churchill hammered out postwar matters like the creation of the United Nations, the fate of Eastern Europe and the ‘dismemberment’ of Germany.Read more
What Was Alexander Hamilton’s Role in Aaron Burr’s Contentious Presidential Defeat?Hamilton lobbied against Burr, but another federalist cast the deciding vote for Thomas Jefferson.Read more
11 Anthems of Black Pride and Protest Through American HistoryFrom spirituals to ballads, funk and hip-hop, these songs have provided a soundtrack to the pride and struggle of African Americans through the centuries.Read more
How the WWII Tehran Conference Tested the Unity of the ‘Big Three’ AlliesThey had dueling agendas—and just four days to resolve them.Read more