Slavery
The Brief but Shining Life of Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Poet Who Gave Dignity to the Black Experience
A prolific writer, he inspired such luminaries as Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes
For the Enslaved Potter David Drake, His Literary Practice Was His Resistance
This 19th-century vessel, made to store meat, carries a powerful backstory of Drake's defiance of the laws of enslavement
The Timeless Draw of Decorating Cookies
Intricate designs painted by biscuit artist Ella Hawkins are part of a lengthy baking tradition
The First Fossil Finders in North America Were Enslaved and Indigenous People
Decades before paleontology’s formal establishment, Black and Native Americans discovered—and correctly identified—millennia-old fossils
Untold Stories of American History
The Forgotten 1980s Battle to Preserve Africatown
A new book tells the definitive history of an Alabama community founded by survivors of the slave trade
Oldest Schoolhouse for Black Children Moves to Colonial Williamsburg
The school educated free and enslaved Black children between 1760 and 1774
Artifacts Unearthed Near Harriet Tubman's Birthplace
Archaeologists identified a West African spirit cache, a collection of items used to protect a home's occupants
The Indigenous Americans Who Visited Europe
A new book reverses the narrative of the Age of Discovery, which has long evoked the ambitions of Europeans looking to the Americas rather than vice versa
The Most Anticipated Museum Openings of 2023
Scheduled to launch this year are new institutions dedicated to punk rock, Amelia Earhart and robots
Why the Union Army Had So Many Boy Soldiers
A new book unearths the startling numbers behind underage enlistment during the Civil War
Who Was Yasuke, Japan's First Black Samurai?
In the late 16th century, the enigmatic warrior fought alongside a feudal lord dubbed the "Great Unifier"
The Doctor and the Confederate
A historian’s journey into the relationship between Alexander Darnes and Edmund Kirby Smith starts with a surprising eulogy
A New Discovery Puts Panama as the Site of the First Successful Slave Rebellion
Deep in the archives, a historian rescues the tale of brave maroons
Three Pioneering Scholars Who Died This Year
They believed that the stories of marginalized communities were worth chronicling
Haiti's Beloved Soup Joumou Serves Up 'Freedom in Every Bowl'
Every year, Haitians around the globe eat the pumpkin dish on January 1 to commemorate the liberation of the world’s first free Black republic
Richmond Removes Its Last City-Owned Confederate Monument
The statue of Ambrose P. Hill had stood at a busy intersection since 1892
The Ten Best History Books of 2022
Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and illuminate how the nation ended up where it is today
The Nation's First Woman Senator Was a Virulent White Supremacist
In 1922, Rebecca Latimer Felton, a Georgia women's rights activist and lynching proponent, temporarily filled a dead man's Senate seat
The Forgotten Father of the Underground Railroad
The author of a book about William Still unearths new details about the leading Black abolitionist—and reflects on his lost legacy
The Father-Daughter Team Who Reformed America
Meet the duo who helped achieve the most important labor and civil rights victories of their age