The end of the Civil War officially freed the four million enslaved persons in the South. Still, it left unanswered what and how to help former slaves become useful and independent citizens. Reconstructionists worked to develop...
It is doubtful if Herbert Hoover uttered those words. Still, his 1928 Presidential campaign advertised him as the candidate who promised “a chicken for every pot and a car in every garage,” which translated into the...
Many Americans thought their sons and daughters would be home by Christmas Christmas 1944. It was an anxious time for World War II families. There were many Americans at home who thought the war was over,...
World War 1 (1914-1918) is generally recognized as the one single event that clearly, and significantly, impacted the world for the next century. Estimates vary, but between sixteen and twenty million civilians and soldiers died during...
Dwight Eisenhower was a nervous wreck. At age fifty-four, and after already serving nearly 30 years in the U.S. Army, he should have been retired. Instead, he was chain smoking four packs of cigarettes a day,...
It was Friday morning the 28th of August, 1885 and Michael Markham, age 30, was eager to get to work. He was proud of his job at the screw factory in New Britain, Connecticut. Michael was...
At his death in 1914, Daniel Sickles’ funeral was on par with that of an American President. Sickles story is an odd one. The Honorable Daniel Sickles was a successful lawyer, a Civil War general, and...
The USS Indianapolis was the last major American warship sunk during WWII. With the loss of 883 sailors, it was the worst naval disaster in American history. Returning from completing the most important mission of the...
(Above image: An illustration of a U-boat attack during World War 1. The steamer is sinking in the background, while the German crew on the U-boat watch. Painting by Willy Stöwer,1864–1931) Most Americans do not realize just...
Barbara Stanwyck, worked as a Ziegfeld Follies dancer in 1924, but the public identified her as a flapper girl. She later became a major Hollywood film star of the 1930's and 40's.