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An enslaved Alabama family and the question of generational wealth in the US

An Enslaved Alabama Family and the Question of Generational Wealth in the US

Wealthy planter Samuel Townshend wanted to leave this estate to his children when he died—an ordinary enough wish. The trouble was: his children were enslaved.
Minnehaha County Courthouse

Seeking the Last Remnants of South Dakota’s ‘Divorce Colony’

How Sioux Falls became a controversial Gilded Age “Mecca for the mismated.”
Actress Bobby Bradshaw is tempted by a pearl necklace, 1925.

Pearl Jam

In the twentieth century, the mollusk-produced gem was a must have for members of WASP gentility. In the twenty-first century, its appeal is far more inclusive.
Lumpkin’s Jail; engraving from A History of the Richmond Theological Seminary, 1895

A Fable of Agency

Kristen Green’s "The Devil’s Half Acre" recounts the story of a fugitive slave jail, and the enslaved woman, Mary Lumpkin, who came to own it.
Tilted, weathered headstone near a fallen tree in Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

The Forgotten Legacy of Boston’s Historic Black Graveyard

At one of Boston’s historical burial grounds, more than 1,000 Black Bostonians were laid to rest in unmarked graves. Their legacy continues to haunt us today.
Photograph of a desk constructed in Poland in the mid 1920s. The desk is an ornate wooden desk; at left, there are three photographs, at right, a lamp and some miscellaneous items.

An Ornate Desk, Family History and the Jewish Past

My mother’s desk connected me with our shared heritage.
Photos of children from the cover of "The Crisis," 1916

‘Anxious for a Mayflower’

In "A Nation of Descendants," Francesca Morgan traces the American use and abuse of genealogy from the Daughters of the American Revolution to Roots.
Various photos of Dylan.

One Fan’s Search for Seeds of Greatness in Bob Dylan’s Hometown

The iconic songwriter has transcended time and place for 60 years. What should that mean for the rest of us?
A 1907 photograph of immigrants arriving at Ellis Island.

What I Don’t Know

At the heart of my family tree are only questions and mysteries.
An Afghan child being welcomed by a U.S. soldier.
partner

How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees

What obligation does the US have toward people who are uprooted by war?
Vintage stereogram of Chinatown, San Francisco, ca. 1920s-30s.

How a California Archive Reconnected a New Mexico Family with its Chinese Roots

Aimee Towi Mae Tang’s Chinese American family never talked about the past. She decided to change that.
Chalk drawing of parent holding hands with child thinking about two-parent family

The “Benevolent Terror” of the Child Welfare System

The system's roots aren't in rescuing children, but in the policing of Black, Indigenous, and poor families.
"We are the Spirit Rappers," 2016, By Amy Friend.

The Weight of Family History

It’s never been easier to piece together a family tree. But what if it brings uncomfortable facts to light?
Henry James; illustration by James McMullan

Visions of Waste

The American Scene is Henry James’s indictment of what Americans had made of their land.
Illustration of a mid-life crisis by Ruth Basagoitia. A man looking into the mirror imagining a cooler version of himself.

Climacteric!

Taking seriously the midlife crisis.
Liquor shop operated by Patrick J. Kennedy, storefront reading "Cotter and Kennedy"
partner

Bridget the Grocer and the First American Kennedys

History has paid little attention to Bridget Kennedy, JFK’s widowed great-grandmother, who managed both her family and business in Boston's anti-Irish climate.
A picture of an eerie dark house.

This House Is Still Haunted: An Essay In Seven Gables

A spectre is haunting houses—the spectre of possession.
Image of a canoe steered by members of the Cree tribe.

The Custom of the Country

On the relationships formed and marriages made by the fur trade.
Tintype photograph of a child supported by it's mothers arm.

The Hidden Mothers of Family Photos

The female image is ubiquitous on social media, yet when it comes to pictures of parents with their children many moms feel disappeared.
Rose Dougan at the Wright School of aviation in 1915

Flying Rose Dougan: On the Trail of Native American Art

Uncovering the life of Rose Dougan, a real Renaissance woman, and her pioneering role in preserving Native American art.
Company of African American soldiers, 1865.

The Racial Politics of Demobilizing USCT Regiments

The inequitable dismissal of US soldiers following the conclusion of the Civil War.
“Our first camp.” Vado de Piedra, Chihuahua, Mexico. January 26, 1921.

The Photo Album That Succeeded Where Pancho Villa Failed

The revolutionary may have tried to find my grandfather by raiding a New Mexico village—but a friend’s camera truly captured our family patriarch.
Comic-style drawing of a man standing in the doorway with two others standing in the shadows behind him, all facing away from each other.

The Story of Capitalism in One Family

The Lehman Trilogy proposes that the downfall of a financial dynasty is enough to tell the economic and political history of America.
Black and white photograph of Lorraine Hansberry smoking a cigarette.

The Many Visions of Lorraine Hansberry

She’s been canonized as a hero of both mainstream literature and radical politics. Who was she really?
Donald Trump speaking at a meeting with small businesspeople at the White House on January 30, 2017.

Family Capitalism and the Small Business Insurrection

The increasingly militant right supports the private, unincorporated, and family-based versus the corporate, publicly traded, and shareholder-owned.
Black and white photograph of Mark Twain

Mark Twain in Buffalo

Mark Twain would be hopelessly out of favor with both wings of the modern duopoly.
Drawing of Asian Americans on an urban river boardwalk.

Return Flights

The memoirs of Korean adoptees, once full of confession and confusion, are now marked by confidence and rage.
Frame from the film with Jimmy Stewart's character George Bailey receiving hugs from his wife and children.

What 'It's a Wonderful Life' Teaches Us About American History

The Christmas classic, released 75 years ago, conveys many messages beyond having faith in one another.
Collage of photos of Andrew Mellon, Ethel Mars and E.W. Scripps.

The Great Inheritors: How Three Families Shielded Their Fortunes From Taxes for Generations

A century of tax avoidance later, the dynasties created in the 1900s are going strong.
A photo of Fontella Bass repeated as if it's a frame in a filmstrip.

Can't You See That I'm Lonely?

“Rescue Me,” on repeat.

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