America Explained
What is Black Propaganda?
A weapon of covert action wielded by governments around the world, black propaganda straddles the fine line between fact and fiction, letting its secret sources instigate chaos with impunity.
In re Gault: Juvenile Rights
In re Gault was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that ensured juveniles accused of a crime would receive the same Fourteenth Amendment rights as adults. It all stemmed from a teenager making a prank call.
Native American Boarding Schools: Forced Separation of Families
For over a hundred years, the U.S. government used education as a tool to assimilate Native American children into American society – by systematically erasing their history, culture, and language.
Museum of Artifacts That Made America
The Great American Songbook
The Great American Songbook, a collection of jazz standards and show tunes created by talented songwriters in early 20th century New York, provided solace and joy during difficult times in U.S. history.
Nixon’s Tape Recorder
Installed in selected rooms at the White House on the President’s orders, this is the story of how a state-of-the-art recording system ultimately led to Richard Nixon’s downfall.
The History of the Rainbow Flag
The rainbow flag is one of the most recognisable symbols in the world, synonymous with tolerance and LGBTQ+ rights. But how was it created?
Hidden Figures
Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori: A Prince Enslaved
Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori, a Fula prince and former slave, was determined to free his family. His extraordinary story and character caught America’s attention at a complicated time in American history.
Susan La Flesche Picotte: The First Female Native American Doctor
At a time when many Native Americans were refused healthcare by racist White doctors, Susan La Flesche Picotte overcame gender discrimination to become the first Indigenous woman in U.S. history to earn a medical degree.
Josephine Baker: Actor, Singer, Spy
Actor and singer Josephine Baker spent her life resisting racial discrimination at home and abroad. During World War II, she bravely used her fame to fight back against the Nazis.
Women and the American Story
Sarah Winnemucca
The first Indigenous woman to publish a memoir, Paiute educator and activist Sarah Winnemucca campaigned tirelessly for the rights of Indigenous Americans.
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy: Activist for Transgender Rights
Present at the Stonewall Uprising of 1959, pioneering transgender activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy lived through the HIV/AIDS epidemic to fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the United States and beyond.
Beverly LaHaye: Conservative Activist
At a time when many women in the United States were campaigning for greater rights, Beverly LaHaye raised her voice for traditional values. An expert activist and founder of Concerned Women for America, today she is admired and reviled in equal measure.
David Pharaoh Asserts Indigenous Rights
Montaukett leader David Pharaoh fought for indigenous land rights – and established a lasting legacy as the founder of America’s first Montaukett school.
Wong Kim Ark’s Fight for Birthright Citizenship
By taking on the US government and winning, Wong Kim Ark ensured that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution granted citizenship to every American by birth, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s Pursuit of Absolute Equality
The story of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: writer, abolitionist and early pioneer of the concept of intersectionality,
Art That Changed America
The Federal Art Project and The New Deal
Thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ambitious New Deal plan, American artists were able to keep working during the Great Depression. The work they produced remains a key part of the American landscape.
Indigenous North American Tattoos
To Indigenous North Americans, tattoos aren’t just decorative, they’re also sacred, rich in artistry and meaning, and of huge social, cultural and religious significance.
How Art Saved Yellowstone National Park
The first dedicated National Park anywhere in the world, Yellowstone attracts millions of visitors every year. It was saved for posterity by the work of two pioneering artists.
Wild Wild West
John Wesley Powell: Wild West Explorer
Despite losing an arm in the US Civil War, John Wesley Powell was one of the great explorers of the American West, and made history as the man who mapped the Grand Canyon.
Remember the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo has become the stuff of legend – when 200 brave Texan fighters took a stand against a Mexican force of thousands. But there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
Spanish Flu and the Pandemic Lockdown of 1918
The Spanish Flu was one of the deadliest pandemics the world has ever seen – so how was one sleepy Colorado town able to escape unscathed?
Power to the People
The Haymarket Affair
One of the worst miscarriages of justice in U.S. history, the Haymarket Affair, a labor action in support of an eight-hour working day, led to the unlawful executions of four Chicago residents.
The Blowouts
In 1968, thousands of Latino students walked out of school in Los Angeles to protest against racial inequality in the classroom. Their collective action, known as the Blowouts, was a defining moment of the Chicano Movement.
The Explosive Story of Dynamite Hill
When Black residents moved into one neighborhood in Birmingham, Alabama, White supremacists unleashed a wave of terror against the community.
Slavery in the Presidents’ Neighborhood
Elizabeth Keckly: From Slavery to the White House
She was enslaved at birth – but became the first lady’s favorite dressmaker and the author of a sensational memoir that shocked the nation. So who was Elizabeth Keckly?
The Enslaved Household of Thomas Jefferson
This is the story of Ursula, Edith and Frances – three teenagers who Thomas Jefferson brought to the White House to train as his enslaved personal chefs.
Things You Didn’t Know
Charles Curtis: Native American Vice President
In 1929, Charles Curtis – a member of the Kaw Nation – made history by becoming the first Vice President of color in the U.S. Yet he left behind a complicated legacy that some claim had a lasting negative impact on Native Americans.
WWII POW Camps on U.S. Soil
Between 1942 and 1946, the U.S. government constructed around 700 POW camps on U.S. soil, housing around 400,000 captured enemy soldiers. But what were the conditions like there?
The Know Nothings
In the mid 19th century a new political party, the Know Nothings, set the stage for xenophobia and nationalism to take root in American politics.
Academy of American Democracy
Voting in Ancient Athens
The United States is a representative democracy where people vote for politicians to govern on their behalf – but voting in the direct democracy of ancient Athens was a very different process.
Race in Ancient Greece
We often think of ancient Greek society as White, but it was a lot more diverse than we give it credit for.
Elections in the United States
How do elections actually work in the United States?
Speeches That Changed America
George W Bush: Speech After September 11
President George W. Bush delivers a much anticipated speech to a Joint Session of Congress, outlining America’s reaction to the unprecedented atrocity.
Patrick Henry – Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
Patrick Henry delivers a speech on the rights of the colonies before the Second Virginia Assembly. His words ‘give me liberty or give me death’ would become the war cry of the revolution.
Shirley Chisholm – Equal Rights for Women Speech
Shirley Chisholm, the first African American Woman elected to Congress, addresses the US House of Representatives to argue in support of a controversial women’s rights bill; the Equal Rights Amendment.