The History of Synchronized Swimming
When the 1934 World’s Fair in Chicago was looking for an aquatic act to complement their new underwater lights, organizers turned to physical educator Katherine Curtis, who put together a wildly popul...
29 Jul 202444min
The FTA & Antiwar Protests in 1971
In 1971, a group of performers calling themselves the Free Theatre Associates (FTA), including Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, began putting on popular antiwar shows for audiences of active-duty GIs...
22 Jul 202446min
The Incorruptibles & Organized Jewish Crime in New York City in the Early 20th Century
In 1912, a group of wealthy and influential German Jews in uptown New York funded an effort to root out organized crime on the lower East Side, then the most densely populated neighborhood on Earth, h...
15 Jul 202445min
Dr. Claudia Hampton & the History of Affirmative Action in California
In 1974, Republican governor Ronald Reagan appointed educator Dr. Claudia Hampton, a Democrat active in her local NAACP, as the first Black woman trustee to the board of California State University. F...
8 Jul 202446min
Josephine McCarty: Mother, Lobbyist, Spy & Abortionist
Josephine McCarty, née Fagan, aka Mrs. Virginia S. Seymour, dba Emma Burleigh. M.D., was many things: mother, teacher, saleswoman, spy, lobbyist, and abortionist. And in 1872 she was also an accused m...
1 Jul 202458min
The Auburn Prison System & the Case of William Freeman
In 1817, the second state prison in New York opened in Auburn, situated on a fast-flowing river so waterpower could be used to run machinery in the factories that would be housed in the prison. In a n...
24 Jun 202454min
Quilting & the New Deal
As part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), so-called “unskilled” women were put to work in over 10,000 sewing rooms across the country, producing both garments and home goods for people in ne...
17 Jun 202441min
The Federal Theatre Project
Between 1935 and 1939, the Federal Theatre Project, part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), employed over 12,000 actors and put on over 1200 productions in 29 states. Led by Hallie Flanagan, ...
10 Jun 202445min
