Published inNew American HistoryThe Era Without a NameThere’s no single place to learn about the first six decades of the 19th century. So I traveled to the sites where that history happened.Jan 17, 20242752Jan 17, 20242752
Published inNew American HistoryBeyond DispossessionAt public history sites around the country, simplistic representations of Native Americans are giving way to a much more complex story.Dec 6, 202381Dec 6, 202381
Published inNew American HistoryWhere Kansas BledHow can one place represent the complexity of the Civil War’s beginnings?Nov 29, 202380Nov 29, 202380
Published inNew American HistoryBorderland StoriesWhat we remember when we remember the Alamo.Nov 13, 20235143Nov 13, 20235143
Published inNew American HistoryThe Richest Square Mile on EarthAlmost by accident, we find ourselves at the epicenter of the Colorado Gold Rush, which attracted prospectors to the Rockies after ‘49.Oct 31, 2023131Oct 31, 2023131
Published inNew American HistoryOregon TrailsAfter navigating a minor hiccup in our own provisioning process, we set out for the West on what would be our longest trip yet.Oct 24, 2023330Oct 24, 2023330
Published inNew American HistoryEdgar Allan Poe’s AmericaTracing the life of the author who seemed to be from both everywhere and nowhere.Oct 2, 20234386Oct 2, 20234386
Published inNew American HistoryMettlesome, Mad, Extravagant CityIn the streets of New York, we try to imagine the city as Walt Whitman, and other artists of his time, experienced it.Sep 21, 20232918Sep 21, 20232918
Published inNew American HistoryA Gateway to the PastThe Arch in St. Louis stands as a monument to contradictory histories.Sep 13, 2023167Sep 13, 2023167
Published inNew American HistoryLost Prophets and Forgotten HeroesTracing the currents of American history that run through the Great Lakes region.Sep 6, 2023Sep 6, 2023
Published inNew American HistoryCommunity IdealWe visit the sites of two 19th-century utopian experiments in the American Midwest.Aug 29, 20233Aug 29, 20233
Published inNew American HistoryFreedom By the SeaOn the trail of whales, Melville, and Douglass in New Bedford.Aug 9, 20232Aug 9, 20232
Published inNew American HistoryThe Book Read ‘Round the WorldLiterary history is packed into Concord’s “Old Manse,” but the tiny abode of Walden’s author proves the highlight of our New England trip.Jun 23, 2023Jun 23, 2023
Published inNew American HistoryPieces of the PastA spine-tingling day of visits to the places where James Fenimore Cooper, Herman Melville, and Thomas Cole created their most famous works.Mar 15, 2023Mar 15, 2023
Published inNew American HistorySacred PlacesA visit to the site of Joseph Smith’s divine revelation makes for a different kind of public history experience.Feb 27, 2023Feb 27, 2023
Published inNew American HistoryNo Better SoilIn the first half of the 19th century, upstate New York was a hotbed of movements for reform. How visible is that history today?Jan 23, 2023Jan 23, 2023
Published inNew American HistoryRainbows and DisappointmentsThere is a long and storied tradition of feeling underwhelmed by the natural spectacle of Niagara Falls. Still, the visitors keep coming.Dec 14, 2022Dec 14, 2022
Published inNew American HistoryTime for a RevolutionThe economic transformations wrought by industrial capitalism in the 1820s and 30s look different when viewed up close.Nov 28, 20221Nov 28, 20221
Published inNew American HistoryTidying Up the PastA history tour at Harper’s Ferry suggests that “commemoration” and “desecration” might be two sides of the same coin.Oct 12, 2022Oct 12, 2022