Shakespeare and the Classics: Plutarch, Ovid, and Inspiration
Source: Electrum Magazine
Like many of his contemporaries, Shakespeare drew on a variety of resources for his astounding output of plays.
Historic Figures
Phillis Wheatley Biography
Source: Biography
This biography outlines the life of Phillis Wheatley, who became a published poet despite being enslaved.
This POW kept a secret diary that showed daily life in a concentration camp
Source: Public Radio International
Read this article to learn about the life of Anthony Acevedo, a former U.S. Army medic who kept a diary of his time in a Nazi concentration camp as a prisoner of war.
A Close, Intimate Look at Walt Whitman
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
What can the camera tell us about the lives and work of famous authors? In this article, poet Mark Strand examines an 1891 photograph of Walt Whitman.
Who is Martin Luther King Jr. to us, 50 years later?
Source: CNN
On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., authors, activists, and historians share their views of his legacy.
Patrick Henry Smells a Rat
Source: American Heritage
As an anti-Federalist, Patrick Henry opposed the ratification of the Constitution. Read about his opposition to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Did the Civil War Achieve Equality? Stephen Kantrowitz’s ‘More Than Freedom’
Source: Daily Beast
Critic Herschthal reviews historian Stephen Kantrowitz’s 2012 book about the abolitionist leaders who fought for more than just the end of slavery before and after the Civil War.
Baltimore rededicates ex-Confederate site to Harriet Tubman
Source: CBS News
In another chapter of America’s reckoning with the history of slavery, Baltimore has removed Confederate statues from one of its parks and renamed it after abolionist Harriet Tubman.
Mary Wollstonecraft Biography
Source: Biography
This biography describes the major life events of feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.
John Smith Biography
Source: Biography
This biography details the life of early American colonist John Smith.