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In this short video from Picturing America, learn about Thomas Eakins's expert watercolor portrait of John Biglin on Philadelphia's Schuylkill River
Learn about the changing styles of silver teapots in the United States, from the colonial period to the 20th century.
Learn more about N.C. Wyeth's cover illustration for The Last of the Mohicans and Norman Rockwell's painting, "The Freedom of Speech" in this Picturing America video.
Learn about Tiffany Studios's glowing "Autumn Landscape" window and James Whistler's ornate Peacock Room, created for Frederick Richards Leyland.
Learn more about one of Thomas Cole's most famous paintings, "View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm" (commonly known as "The Oxbow") with this video from…
Though Albert Bierstadt and Richard Diebenkorn created these paintings almost 100 years apart, they create a similar sensation of pilgrimage and uplift. Both painted scenes from the West Coast and…
Romare Bearden grew up in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, having moved there with his family as a young child as part of the Great Migration. Jazz music, and a commitment to creating…
Learn about the art of indigenous peoples of North America and how knowledge of technique and craftsmanship is passed from one generation to the next for hundreds and thousands of years.
In this episode of BackStory, funded in part by the NEH, host Ed Ayers speaks with Pulitzer-prize winning historian Eric Foner about Reconstruction and how it served as a "second founding…
Learn about an eclectic assortment of culinary traditions in this episode of BackStory, funded in part by the NEH.
In this episode of BackStory, listen to a compilation of some of the show's coverage of Black history, created in honor of Black History Month.
In this episode of BackStory, hosts Brian Balogh and Lizzie Peabody investigate an explosive history: the use of dynamite in the United States.
In this episode of BackStory, explore the history of the bison, from days when the animals were in abundance to their near extinction to conservation efforts today.
In this episode of BackStory, learn about the history of sports in the United States, and how a fight to win on the field, court, or track is often embedded in a fight for equality. While…
Meanings of, and access to, U.S. citizenship have changed over time. In this episode of BackStory, learn more about how citizenship has been expanded, limited, challenged, and revoked in…
In this episode of BackStory, learn about some of the people who have created records, archives, and collections that future generations use to study and understand the past.
In this brief episode of BackStory, learn about the black women mathematicians who played critical roles in the U.S. space program despite facing constant discrimination and racism.
This episode of BackStory discusses the ways people in the U.S. have responded to technological changes over the centuries, highlighting that suspicion of such changes is often reasonable…
This episode of BackStory recounts the turbulent history of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Each segment below contains a clip from the podcast as well as a set of comprehension questions to…
Even though Puerto Rico has been part of the United States for over a century, confusion persists about its legal status and that of the U.S. citizens that live on the island. And with reason:…
Clio is an educational website and mobile application that guides the public to thousands of historical and cultural sites throughout the United States. Built by scholars for public benefit, each…
The Black Archives of Mid-America, located in Kansas City, Missouri, was founded by Horace Peterson III in 1974. Today, the Black Archives houses some of the most important sources related to the…
This BackStory podcast highlights female achievement in American history, including working women, women in journalism, political leaders, and civil rights activists. Analysis questions, classroom…
This BackStory podcast on the history of women in the workplace includes several segments. Stories include the lives of nineteenth century domestic workers, myths related to "Rosie the Riveter"…
This episode of BackStory examines how women have influenced politics in the United States. From bread riots during the Civil War to the suffrage movement to campaigns for the Presidency…
Though narratives of the early farm worker movement are associated most with figures like César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, Maria Moreno, an activist and labor organizer in the 1950s, predated them…
This episode of BackStory takes listeners into the flu pandemic of 1918 that killed nearly 675,000 people. How do pandemics come about and what responsibilities do people bare to prevent…
Smarthistory is an NEH-funded digital humanities project that offers free resources on art, history, and art history for classrooms and public enjoyment. Curated by scholars from around the…
This episode of Backstory looks at the lionized figure of the American Millionaire, exploring the societal values that aided in its rise, the story of one of the first African American…
This episode of Backstory tackles the subject of advocacy journalism through the stories of two reporters, a…