Read my article on Het Koto Museum on OZY. Located in a quiet neighborhood near the center of historic Paramaribo, Suriname, Het Koto Museum celebrates the lives and legacy of Afro-Surinamese women. The museum is founded and run by Christine Van Russel-Henar, who is reviving the tradition of the Koto outfit. She shared her knowledge and passion with me during a visit the the museum.
0 Comments
Think hockey is a white sport? The fast-paced action and some signature moves are thanks to a pioneering Black Hockey League that changed the game forever.  The Africville Sea-Sides, c. 1922. Team members include: Aaron 'Pa' Carvery, Frederick Carvery, James Carvery, Richard Carvery, William Carvery, Jr., James E. Dixon, William Carvery Sr., T.G. MacDonald, Richard Dixon, James Paris, Jr., and Mantley. Photo from the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. The Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes was truly innovative in so many ways, and I'm glad that George and Darril Fosty researched the story in their book Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895–1925. I can't remember where I first heard about the anecdote that led me to the Fostys' book, and I didn't know much about the history of Black Canadians in Nova Scotia or the Maritimes, but I've found some cool research of which I hope to share more.
Is your neighbor being annoying? Too loud? Coveting another neighbor's wife? What do you do about it? |
_MET_DP825448.jpg)
 Communist Party USA booklet, available via the National Archives. | The Communist Party USA called out the stunt for being a total misrepresentation of what communism was, but the Legionnaires thought it was successful.  June 1950 article in The American Legion Magazine about the stunt. |
 Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, Vice President John Adams about the 1793 Valmy Celebrations, where women marched in the streets with men in support of the French Revolution. | Read my new piece on OZY! Just in time for election day, OZY published my piece on how early feminists in the U.S. got inspiration from women participating in the French Revolution. This story was inspired by an essay in Riot and Revelry in Early America, a book that explores the celebrations, parades, and traditions that helped create American culture, even if they have been forgotten. |
Check out my new piece on OZY about El Hadj Sidikida Diabate, his sons, and the start of Guinean National Orchestras in West Africa.
On January 15, 1959, Sidikiba put together the first Guinean national orchestra, the Syli National Orchestra. The played at international festivals, including this one in 1969.
Check out more music and stories of the Guinean orchestras here on the blog.
| Cancer is a spectre, and patients are often willing to try anything for a cure, for a chance at life. In the 1990s, tens of thousands of women underwent bone marrow transplants in hopes of curing their breast cancer. The harsh protocol was meant to eradicate cancer from their bodies, and bring them back from the brink of death with healthy bone marrow blood stem cells. The problem? The study that promoted the treatment as a success was completely fraudulent. |  William Halsted developed the radical mastectomy to try to remove as much breast tissue as possible before effective chemotherapy had been discovered. Once chemo entered the sphere of treatment, it was also just as radical through the 1990s. If you have a strong stomach, you can view the surgery in a 1930s instructional film here. |
Read the full article at OZY.com.
Read my new article on OZY.com about the Laserman, the Swedish serial killer.
| At a time when a nationalist, anti-immigrant sentiment was sweeping through Sweden, a political party took advantage. The New Democracy party fed on those fears, and created a space where Swedes could "say what they thought." One result? A man got the idea that it would be OK to shoot immigrants with a laser-sighted rifle. Read the article for more, and if you speak Swedish, check out the Sveriges Radio P3 Dokumentär that informed some of my reporting. |  A police sketch of the Laserman, courtesy of the Swedish Police Museum. |
Read my article on OZY.com about the Drunkometer.
From "Intoxication Tests - Chemical Tests in Action," reprinted from Public Safety Magazine, published by the National Safety Council, 1948. Courtesy of the National Safety Council.
Not everything great can make it into an article, so I've included some more images and documents here on the blog!
Come in, the stacks are open.
Away from prying eyes, damaging light, and pilfering hands, the most special collections are kept in closed stacks. You need an appointment to view the objects, letters, and books that open a door to the past.
Here, pieces of material culture are examined in the light. The stacks are open. Read the stories behind objects and ephemera found in private collections, archives, and museums.
Archives
April 2023
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2020
March 2020
January 2020
August 2019
July 2019
March 2019
February 2019
December 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
July 2017
June 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
February 2015
December 2014
October 2014
September 2014
February 2014
December 2013
Categories
All
16th Century
17th Century
18th Century
19th Century
20th Century
21st Century
African American History
African History
Alcohol
Alcohol History
America
Animal
Appalachian
Art
Bad Science
Baltimore
Banjo
Banjo Collector's Gathering
Banjo History
Banya Obbligato
Banya Prei
Books
Canada
Cancer
Cat
Celebrations
Chesapeake Bay
Chicago
Christmas
Circus History
Civil War
Clown
Cold War
Colonial History
Communism
Conjoined Twins
Cook Books
Crab
Creole-bania
Culinary History
Devil
Drumming
Dutch History
Easter
England
Eugenics
Exhibits
Fiddle
Film
Food
Food History
France
"Freak Show" History
German American
German History
Goucher College
Halloween
Hockey
Hollywood
Hospital
Human Development
James Ford Bell Library
Jewish History
Lincoln
Lost Baltimore
Lost History
Lying In
Lying-In
Magazine Covers
Map
Maritime History
Maroons
Maryland
Maternity
Medical History
Medical Procedures
Medicine
Metropolitan Museum
Midwifery
Minstrelsy
Monsters
Museum
Music
Native American History
New Jersey
New Orleans
Newspapers
New York City
Obstetrics
Ozy
Patent
Photography
Plain Weave
Political History
Politics
President
Print
Psychology
Public Transportation
Science
Sheet Music
Skansen
Skeleton
South American History
Sports
Stedman
Streetcar
Suffragettes
Suriname
Sweden
Swedish History
Theater
The Knick
Third Reich
Traditional Music
Traditions
Transportation History
Tri-racial Isolate
Typeface
Typography
U.S.
USA
U.S. History
Valentine
Vegetarian
Vegetarianism
Victorian
Violin
Virginia
Vodou
Weaving
West Africa
West Virginia
Winti
Wisconsin
Witch
Witches
Women
Women's History
World History
World War II
RSS Feed
