US Capitol

Is the US Capitol a 'Temple of Democracy'? Its Authoritarian Architecture Suggests Otherwise

The neoclassical building was inspired by European shrines to imperial power.
Picture of Devil's Tower

Historical Monuments of the First People

A Story Map that highlights events, sites, and people important to Native American history.
A pirate ship decorated for the Super Bowl.
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The Buccaneers Embody Tampa’s Love of Pirates. Is That a Problem?

How brutal outlaws became romanticized.
The ship, Jose Gaspar, in Tampa Bay during the Gasparilla Festival

The True History and Swashbuckling Myth Behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Namesake

Pirates did roam the Gulf Coast, but more myths than facts have inspired the regional folklore.
Roosevelt Middle School sign with a red X on it.

The Holier-Than-Thou Crusade in San Francisco

The city’s move to rename schools will provide invaluable ammunition to Fox News.
Three panels of a graphic depicting Soul city. Images include two people walking in a street, people playing golf, and the inside of a mall

The Plan to Build a Capital for Black Capitalism

In 1969, an activist set out to build an African-American metropolis from scratch. What would have happened if Soul City had succeeded?
Map of Massachusetts colonial frontier

The “Indianized” Landscape of Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, the inclusion of Native American names and places in local geography has obscured the violence of political and territorial dispossession.
photograph of a woman from a carpeta

A New Photo Exhibit Looks at Decades of FBI Surveillance on American Citizens

A new book shares a cautionary tale of the American surveillance state.

The African-American Midwest

The Midwest's long history as an epicenter in the fight for racial justice is one of the nation's most amazing, important, yet overlooked stories.
Front-page photo of James E. Shepperson from the Black newspaper, the Seattle Republican, on Oct. 26, 1900.

How Wyoming’s Black Coal Miners Shaped Their Own History

Many early Wyoming coal towns had thriving Black communities.
A Seminole man puts his hand inside the mouth of an alligator

How Florida’s Seminole Tribe Transformed Alligator Wrestling Into a Symbol of Independence

Once a means of survival, and then an exploitative spectacle, the sport can also embody a synergy with a top predator in Florida’s changing landscape.
Family photo of a Japanese immigrant family.

The World's Only Samurai Colony Was Once in California

The families arrived from Japan with fanfare, most disappeared without a trace.
Map of Oberlin Village in Raleigh, NC.

Vanishing Neighborhoods

The fate of Raleigh's 11 missing freedman's villages.
The Oval Office as redecorated for President Biden

A Look Inside Biden’s Oval Office

The oval office looks different now that President Biden is its occupant.
A drawing of the Boston Massacre.

Early American Urban Protests

Eric Hinderaker offers a masterclass in how to peel back the layers of data, scholarship, and propaganda to understand what we call the Boston Massacre.
A custodian moving furniture in the Capitol building.

The 'Racial Caste System' at the U.S. Capitol

After the Capitol was cleared of insurrectionists on January 6, it wasn't lost on many that cleaning up the mess would fall largely to Black and Brown people.
Residential Security Map for Fresno, CA
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How Decades of Housing Discrimination Hurts Fresno in the Pandemic

Decades of discrimination in Fresno laid the groundwork for a housing crisis today.
Suburban cul de sac.

How Fear Took Over the American Suburbs

On the rise of suburban vigilantes and NIMBYs in the late 20th century and their enduring power today.
Postcard of Wilshire Boulevard

Radical Movements in 1960s L.A.

A review of "Set The Night on Fire", an inspiring book that points to a new generation of activists who remain unbowed by conservative historiographies.
Illustration of a coastline with indications of industry and farming

Human History and the Hunger for Land

From Bronze Age farmers to New World colonialists, the stories of struggle to claim more ground have shaped where and how we live.
Statue of "Freedom" on top of the U.S. Capitol

Philip Reed, The Enslaved Man Who Rescued Freedom

The ironies abound in the story of Reed, who made it possible to erect the statue that remains on the top of the Capitol dome today.
Map of D.C showing where the murder took place

Where Is Dorsey Foultz?

When the D.C. Metropolitan Police failed to catch a murder suspect, white residents criticized and mocked. Black residents worried.
One of Yellowstone's infamous hot springs.

The Lost History of Yellowstone

Debunking the myth that the great national park was a wilderness untouched by humans
Three women hikers near natural landscape with rocks

On the Early Women Pioneers of Trail Hiking

Gwenyth Loose on the women who defied all expectations.

Ebenezer Baptist: MLK’s Church Makes New History With Warnock Victory

Georgia Sen.-elect Raphael Warnock is pastor of the church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached.
Mount Rushmore.

The Battle for the Black Hills

Nick Tilsen was arrested for protesting President Trump at Mount Rushmore. Now, his legal troubles are part of a legacy.
Collage of maps representative of the project
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Southern Journey: The Migrations of the American South 1790-2020

The maps embrace everyone —free and enslaved, from the first national census of the late 18th century to the sophisticated surveys of the early 21st century.
A large sports stadium surrounded by the city

Counterhistories of the Sport Stadium

As large spaces where different sectors of the city converge, stadiums are sites of social and political struggle.
An illustration of people digging in an archaeological site in the shape of a cross.

Unearthing the Faithful Foundations of a Historic Black Church

In Colonial Williamsburg, a neglected Christian past is being restored.
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The Lines That Shape Our Cities

Connecting present-day environmental inequalities to redlining policies of the 1930s.