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Katherine Johnson, ‘hidden figure’ at NASA during 1960s space race, dies at 101

Mrs. Johnson, who died Feb. 24 at 101, went on to develop equations that helped the NACA and its successor, NASA, send astronauts into orbit and, later, to the moon.

Behind Dover Publications’ eclectic 10,000-title catalog lies a remarkable story of 20th century innovation

by Karin Falcone Krieger

Started by Heyward and Blanche Cirker in their apartment in post-war Queens, Dover Publications produced 10,000 book titles over the course of 80 years. 

A Bittersweet Homecoming for Egypt’s Jews

A rare ceremony at an ancient synagogue brought 180 Jews back to Egypt, decades after they were pressured to leave. But few Egyptians knew about it, highlighting government ambivalence.

How the Black Power Movement Influenced the Civil Rights Movement

Even after the Black Power movement’s decline in the late 1970s, its impact would continue to be felt for generations to come.

Nine books to read for Black History Month

It is impossible to fully grasp American history without black history.

Institutional racism and minimal recognition: Inside Du Bois’ complicated history at Penn

Du Bois, a writer, activist, and scholar, was known for being one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which continues to promote equal rights today.

Harriet Tubman Highway approved in Miami-Dade, replacing ‘Dixie’ over Civil War legacy

Miami-Dade commissioners unanimously approved renaming the county’s “Dixie” highways after Harriet Tubman.

When Jim Crow Reigned Amid the Rubble of Nazi Germany

by Alexis Clark

Thousands of African-American troops were sent to a defeated Germany to promote democracy, even as they were confined to the social order of Jim Crow.

Animals large and small once covered North America’s prairies – and in some places, they could again

by Joel Berger and Jon Beckmann

Today most of our nation’s prairies are covered with the amber waves of grain that Katharine Lee Bates lauded in “America the Beautiful,” written in 1895. But scientists know surprisingly little about today’s remnant biodiversity in the grasslands.

Library of Congress acquires major archive of African American photographer Shawn Walker

The Walker archive — 100,000 photographs, negatives and transparencies capturing life on the streets of Harlem from 1963 to now — will be the library’s first full archive of work by an African American photographer accessible to the public.

California Plans to Apologize to Japanese-Americans Over Internment

Nearly 80 years after Japanese-Americans were forced into internment camps, the State Assembly plans to formally apologize for its role in the detention.

Why Suburban American Homeowners Were Accused of Being a 'Profit-Making Cartel' in the 1970s

As low-density suburbs arose on the edge of every city, low-cost houses with abundant space and creature comforts became a singular symbol of progress and proof that the American way was winning. 

A farm boy became a fearsome warrior at Iwo Jima. And he did it with a flamethrower.

The Japanese soldiers came out of their concrete “pill box” with bayonets fixed, determined to get the Marine who had been killing them all afternoon with a flamethrower.

Plymouth Rock vandalized with red graffiti ahead of 400th anniversary of Mayflower landing

“The defacement of these symbols of Plymouth’s history, or any public property for that matter, is unfathomable and unconscionable,” Town Manager Melissa Arrighi said in a statement posted to Facebook.

George Steiner: The Last Viennese Jew

by Arie M. Dubnov

The Holocaust was an impulsive rebellion by 'polytheistic instincts' against the 'noble tyranny' of Jewish monotheism, claimed Jewish American essayist and literary critic George Steiner, who passed away this month, aged 90.

The enslaved people who built and staffed the White House: An afterthought no more

A new online exhibit by the White House Historical Association, a private nonprofit that sits across the street from the White House, explores that untold history.

Truman and Coolidge go up, Jefferson and Jackson go down. How history remembers presidents

Rating presidents has long been an American obsession. 

Coronavirus spurs prejudice. History suggests that’s no surprise.

As anti-Asian sentiment surges amid the growing coronavirus crisis, experts point to history & warn of consequences.

George Washington gets romanticized by male biographers. Now a woman has taken him on.

Alexis Coe argues in “You Never Forget Your First” that the male gaze has distorted our impressions of the first president.

Can Donald Trump Avoid a War with Iran? History Tells Us To Worry.

by Lawrence J. Korb

The last thing our military personnel and the country needs is another Vietnam or another unwinnable war in the Middle East.