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Portrait of Zalumma Agra.

Circassian Beauty in the American Sideshow

Among P. T. Barnum's “human curiosities” was a supposed escapee from an Ottoman harem, marketed as both the pinnacle of white beauty and an exotic other.
by Betsy Golden Kellem via The Public Domain Review on September 16, 2021
Miss America 1992, Carolyn Sapp of Hawaii, is crowned by former Miss America Marjorie Judith Vincent on Sept. 14, 1991.

How a Domestic Violence Exposé Ushered In a New Era for the Miss America Pageant

If the press didn’t know what to make of Miss America 1992 Carolyn Sapp, they really didn’t know what to make of domestic violence.
by Amy Argetsinger via TIME on September 9, 2021
Head of a man with a severe disease affecting his face by Christopher D' Alton, 1858. One of a collection of drawings by D' Alton of patients at the Royal Free Hospital, Grays Inn Road, London.

The Ugly History of Chicago’s "Ugly Law"

In the nineteenth century, laws in many parts of the country prohibited "undeserving" disabled people from appearing in public.
by Livia Gershon, Adrienne Phelps Coco via JSTOR Daily on September 3, 2021
Woman's glowing face

“A Revolutionary Beauty Secret!”

On the rise and fall of radium in the beauty industry.
by Lucy Jane Santos via Literary Hub on July 8, 2021
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.
by Megan Goldman-Petri via The Conversation on February 8, 2021

“All the World’s a Harem”

How masks became gendered during the 1918–1919 Flu Pandemic.
by E. Thomas Ewing, Jessica Brabble, Ariel Ludwig via Nursing Clio on September 8, 2020

American Degeneracy

Michael Lobel on Confederate memorials and the history of “degenerate art."
by Michael Lobel via Art Forum on June 27, 2020

How Training Bras Constructed American Girlhood

In the twentieth century, advertisements for a new type of garment for preteen girls sought to define the femininity they sold.
by Christine Ro via JSTOR Daily on March 18, 2020

Madame Yale Made a Fortune With the 19th Century's Version of Goop

A century before today’s celebrity health gurus, an American businesswoman was a beauty with a brand.
by Emmeline Clein via Smithsonian on March 1, 2020
The candidates for Miss America 2020 walk in dresses and heels.
partner

Why We Should Say Goodbye to the Miss America Pageant

The event originally borrowed sashes and pageantry from suffragists — whose vision for women we should honor instead.
by Kimberly A. Hamlin via Made By History on December 19, 2019
Glinda the Good Witch (Billie Burke) and Dorothy (Judy Garland) in "The Wizard of Oz."

"The Wizard of Oz" Invented the "Good Witch"

Eighty years ago, MGM’s sparkly pink rendering of Glinda expanded American pop culture’s definition of free-flying women.
by Pam Grossman via The Atlantic on August 25, 2019

The Fitness Craze That Changed the Way Women Exercise

Fifty years after Jazzercise was founded, it is still shaping how Americans work out—for better or for worse.
by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela via The Atlantic on June 16, 2019

What Maketh a Man

How queer artist J.C. Leyendecker invented an iconography of twentieth-century American masculinity.
by Tyler Malone via Lapham’s Quarterly on June 10, 2019

Rihanna Reveals the Story Behind her Latest Collection’s Imagery

How the 1960s Black Is Beautiful movement inspired her latest Fenty fashion collection.
by Sarah Mower via Vogue on May 29, 2019

How Flight Attendants Organized Against Their Bosses to End Stereotyping 

The marketing of stewardesses’ bodies was long an integral part of airline marketing strategies.
by Gillian Frank, Lauren Gutterman via Jezebel on November 29, 2018
People working out in bikinis in a mall.
partner

As Swimsuit Season Ends, Pursuit of the ‘Bikini Body’ Endures

The "bikini body" is out. But the pressure to maintain the ideal female physique lives on.
by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela via Made By History on August 30, 2018

Women’s Liberation, Beauty Contests, and the 1920s: Swimsuit Edition

The swimsuit that's controversial now for its sexist overtones was once controversial for its suggestions of women’s liberation.
by Laura Prieto via Nursing Clio on June 19, 2018

American Women's Obsession With Being Thin Began With This 'Scientist'

Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich were hooked on his diet.
by Shoshi Parks via Timeline on May 29, 2018
Photo of pop singer Erykah Badu, a black woman wearing a headwrap, singing into microphone.

The Radical History of the Headwrap

Born into slavery, then reclaimed by black women, the headwrap is now a celebrated expression of style and identity.
by Khanya Mtshali via Timeline on May 10, 2018

How Braids Tell America’s Black Hair History

Beyond three strands of hair interlocked around each other, there's a complicated story.
by Ayana Byrd via ELLE on December 27, 2017
Abraham Lincoln and John C. Calhoun

The Great Lengths Taken to Make Abraham Lincoln Look Good in Portraits

One famous image of the president features a body that isn't his.
by Michael Waters via Atlas Obscura on July 12, 2017

Retail Therapy

What our mannequins say about us.
by Hunter Oatman-Stanford via Collectors Weekly on December 6, 2013

Black Is Beautiful: Why Black Dolls Matter

"Why do you have black dolls?"
by Lisa Hix via Collectors Weekly on February 21, 2013
Leyendecker’s distinct cross-hatch style is seen in this 1911 painting for Cluett Dress shirts, featuring a particularly intimate gaze between two gentlemen.

Before Rockwell, a Gay Artist Defined the Perfect American Male

Alfredo Villanueva-Collado on his J.C. Leyendecker collection and the fascinating story behind this oft-neglected male image maker.
by Hunter Oatman-Stanford, Alfredo Villanueva-Collado via Collectors Weekly on August 28, 2012
Sports Illustrated cover featuring a model in a swimsuit.

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

An intellectual history.
by Bryan Curtis via Slate on February 9, 2010

American Green

How did the plain green lawn become the central landscaping feature in America, and what is the ecological cost?
by Ted Steinberg via Longreads on March 15, 2006
Clarence Bouldin, a muscular wrestler.

The Curious Case of Clarence Bouldin

Was the pro wrestler known as “the Cuban Wonder” really the first Black world champion?
by Ian Douglass via The Ringer on February 28, 2025
Skeletons in a museum posed with varying postures, as if they are performing different tasks.

Why Americans Are Obsessed With Poor Posture

The 20th-century movement to fix slouching questions the moral and political dimensions of addressing bad backs over wider public health concerns.
by Zoe Adams via The Nation on November 20, 2024
partner

The Bowl Truth

On Joan of Arc’s much-maligned and forgotten haircut.
by Emma Maggie Solberg via HNN on October 1, 2024
Kamala Harris

The Cultural History Behind Trump's Attack on Kamala Harris's Race

What the scholarship on biraciality tells us about politics now.
by Rafael Walker via The Chronicle of Higher Education on August 8, 2024
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