• The Elocution Cage

  Everything Has a History

  Jeremy C. Young | Apr 27, 2022

  Could training in a bamboo cage make for better public speaking?
• Elevator Sounds

  Everything Has a History

  Alexandra Hui | Mar 30, 2022

  Elevators are inherently noisy contraptions. The conveyance machinery hisses and whirs, bells ding in anticipation of arrival. Above it all, the music...
• Bronze Bell

  Everything Has a History

  Paula R. Curtis | Feb 24, 2022

  Large cast bells like the one found in Kyoto’s Tōji temple were a crucial part of everyday life in premodern Japan.
• The Ohio River

  Everything Has a History

  Tiya Miles | Jan 27, 2022

  I am from Cincinnati, a town on the Ohio River; Ohio is an Iroquoian word that translates as “beautiful river” or “great river.” In January 1977, the ...

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• Portrait of a Man

  Brian Piper | Dec 28, 2021

  This daguerreotype invites us to explore the important history of how people of African descent participated in New Orleans's early photography scene.
• The Abortionist

  Gillian Frank | Nov 29, 2021

  Pulp novels of the mid-20th century were titillating and salacious—but this book appeared as abortion became more accepted among Americans.
• Roses

  Tara Mulder | Oct 27, 2021

  Roses in the ancient Mediterranean were a vital ingredient in gynecological treatments.
• Muscle Motion

  Natalia Mehlman Petrzela | Sep 29, 2021

  The Chippendales, an all-male striptease show, were a mainstay of 1980s material culture, even appearing in a popular at-home fitness video.
• Big Mouth Billy Bass

  Sherri Sheu | Aug 26, 2021

  Billy Bass might be considered mere kitsch, but dismissing this singing fish would ignore some critical linkages between culture and environment. 

 

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