Ed Ayers

Women in the workplace, from 19th century domestic workers to the Rosies of World War II to the labs of Silicon Valley.

Syracuse University Geography professor Matt Huber discusses the 1930s oil boom in the American southwest, and the military might brought in to control it.

Using oral histories of early East Texas oil workers, recorded in the 1950s, we hear about the chaos and excess that accompanied the discovery of oil.

The story of the oil shocks of 1973 and how they continue to shape the world we live in today.

Tracing the evolution of Christmas from a drunken carnival to the peaceful, family-oriented, consumeristic ritual we celebrate today.

An author's search for the "real" Christopher Columbus.

Columbus Day is here again -- along with the controversy over its namesake. How have earlier generations understood him?

Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech is widely known as one of the greatest abolitionist speeches ever.

How a legal footnote in a Santa Clara County railroad case and the judges who built on it created modern models of corporate personhood.

An explanation of the Manhattan Company, a bank disguised as a municipal water corporation that helped to transform Early Republican politics.

On factional strife in the Early Republic, and why parties themselves were universally despised.

The early controversy over whether or not to build the Washington Monument on the National Mall.

The anxiety about “Mexicanization” that ran through Reconstruction-Era politics, as Americans saw disturbing political parallels with their southern neighbor.

The Mexican origins of the birth control pill, and the trade dispute with the U.S. it generated.

Exploring the origins and impacts of the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom," on that event's 50th anniversary.

As the 150th of the Battle of Gettysburg approaches, it's time to question the popular account of a war that tore apart the nation.

The history of haunted houses in the movies.

On America's iconic monuments and the idea of national remembrance.

Two court cases that defined and changed the nature of personhood.

On the movement away from midwifery towards hospital births.