Although she died in 2010, the Cherokee Nation will long remember Wilma Mankiller for her dedication to education, health care, and housing reforms. Find out how her decision to support a protest on Alcatraz Island fostered her leadership and determination to help her community.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, has compiled interviews with survivors who escaped from the German invasion of Denmark. Listen to Niels Bamberger’s description of life in his town in Denmark after the Nazi invasion in 1940.
A new book from Eric Foner, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, based on the discovery of journals containing interviews with fugitive slaves, sheds light on how the Underground Railroad really worked. Read about it here.
Before the signing of the Constitution, Federalists and anti-Federalists each wrote a series of essays debating its key points. As the primary author of the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton’s opinions are still regarded today.
Before the Civil War, baseball was a regional sport played mostly around New York. Union soldiers then spread the game by playing it during long periods of encampment and in prisoner of war camps.
With social unrest over race and inequality rising, protesters attempt to mold Martin Luther King’s tactics to today’s issues and technology.
The NAACP has worked from its founding over a hundred years ago to promote equal rights in the United States. Explore this multimedia exhibition from the Library of Congress to learn about the organization’s founders, history, and accomplishments.
Each February 14th, people express their love for each other with cards, flowers, and candy. How did this tradition start? This HISTORY feature has the answers.
In 1943, a Japanese destroyer sank a young American naval lieutenant’s boat in the South Pacific. What followed was a tale of determination and courage, as the crew was saved by that lieutenant—who would one day become President.
In 1833, Harriet Beecher Stowe witnessed the brutality of slavery on her first trip to the South. What she saw changed her and led to her writing her famous anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, in 1852. Listen to a discussion about her legacy here.
In this radio piece, NPR looks back at the music written during and about the Vietnam War. Many musicians used protest songs to voice their opposition to the war.
John Trumbull’s famous painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence portrays a scene that did not happen. Read the article to learn about the inaccuracies, and click the online extra to explore the painting by hovering over faces to see who is depicted.
In 1989, many Chinese citizens participated in nonviolent protests favoring a change to democracy. The Chinese government quickly used its military power to put a stop to the protests. The iconic image that exemplifies this brief era is of a lone man confronting a long line of army tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. This Frontline documentary explores the Tank Man’s impact and legacy.
In 2015, the Magna Carta, one of the most important documents in English history, celebrated its 800th anniversary. The Magna Carta became the model for our own United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. Read about why we should never take a democratic society for granted, and explore the site to learn more.
While Jewish people were being forced into concentration camps in Europe, thousands of Japanese Americans were fired from their jobs, arrested, and forcibly relocated to internment camps in the United States. Read about why these American citizens suffered this treatment during World War II.
The Supreme Court decision against segregated schools created new opportunities for African Americans. However, it also led to years of conflict between supporters and opponents of segregation. News stories, songs, videos, and pictures tell the story of people’s experiences of the changes sweeping the nation during this turbulent time.
In 1994, a genocide in Rwanda left hundreds of thousands of people dead. Twenty years later, the effectiveness of the courts meant to bring the perpetrators to justice is being called into question.
Abraham Lincoln called his private secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay “the boys.” In a new book, Joshua Zeitz explores the role the two men had in shaping the image of Lincoln that endures today. Read the excerpt to find out more.
Although the story of Anne Frank has been told in a movie and two plays, a fresh version of her story was recently written and performed on stage in Amsterdam. The new play covers some of Anne’s life before the war and after the discovery of the Secret Annex.
Read about controversial abolitionist John Brown and the violent raid he and his men launched on a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, 150 years ago; it set the stage for the Civil War.
