School integration is often thought of as something that took place in the 1960s. But the first Black student to desegregate a school by court order was an Iowa girl named Susan Clark in 1868.
Future president Barack Obama lived in a basement apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts while he attended Harvard Law School — living in a not-so-fancy part of town to save money, as …..
In the 20th-century, a virus terrorized Americans, and then medical science came up with a cure. Dr. Jonas Salk was the hero.
Happy 100th birthday to Jackie Robinson, one of the true American heroes of the 20th century. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, a racist barrier so strange and …..
Ken Burns’s PBS series doesn’t dwell on the economic theory that got America into Vietnam and staying there: Walt Rostow’s theory that Communism held back development.
Joshua Speed and Abraham Lincoln had a very close friendship, sharing their anxieties. Speed was able to calm Lincoln’s depression.
In the 19th century, critics and audiences thought blacks were incapable of singing as well as their white, European counterparts. Greenfield forced them to reconcile their ears with their racism.
How did Black History Month get started? Mostly thanks to Carter G. Woodson. Carter G. Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915. Until …..
American civil rights icon Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She made her mark in history in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, when she refused to …..
On 17 December 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant issued Order No. 11, expelling all Jews from his military district — parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi.
William Rufus de Vane King, that is. He took the oath of office on foreign soil, and died 25 days later, on 18 April 1853.
One of the first American war heroes of World War II was an African-American named Doris Miller. Heard of him?
Barbells, beige carpet and a beat-up couch — still a student apartment, all right!
Join two of the most living of our former presidents in saying happy birthday, to Old Glory. June 14th is Flag Day.
The White House has added Obama-flavored icing to several of the official biographies of former presidents. Doesn’t that make you furious?
This is the front of an old silver dollar I found on my bookshelf. The reverse side is even better.
Say hello to Crispus Attucks, John Hancock and Ben Franklin’s parents.
Meet prolific writer and editor William Edward Burghardt Du Bois. He had a topsy-turvey relationship with the NAACP, he was tried for being a foreign agent and he died in Africa.
Do you know your Jefferson from your Hancock? Prove it with the Declaration of Independence quiz. (I got 8 of 12.)
Dear Fritz:
Just a thought — should we change our biography of Paul Revere to reflect this never-before-revealed story told by presidential hopeful Sarah Palin?
According to Sarah Palin, Paul Revere rang some bells to warn the British not to take his arms (which he would need to ring the bells, I guess). Something like that. She goes on to say some other stuff that sounds a little too philosophical and intellectual for my tastes, but since it’s not specifically about Paul Revere I think we can ignore it.
On this day in 1865 the man who murdered President Abraham Lincoln was cornered by the Union Cavalry and shot to death.John Wilkes Booth had eluded the long arm of the law for 12 days, but on April 26th he was found in a barn (shed) on the Garrett Farm in Virginia.