Diverse American history books about all the people and events in history you didn’t learn about in school.
The History of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Military Policy You might be familiar with the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy from the 1990s, but have you ever wondered how we got there? In the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy, leader of the fear-based anti-communism campaign known as the “Red Scare,” launched the “Lavender Scare.” A…
A Brief History of the KKK What is the history of the KKK? It all starts with the Civil War. On March 21, 1861, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stevens declared in his Cornerstone Speech: “Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea {of the United States’ Constitution declaring equality for everyone}; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone…
Native American Residential Schools in the United States Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania was the first Native American Residential School in the United States. The school was founded by U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, a self-proclaimed Christian who wanted to “save” Native American children through cultural genocide. Across the United States and parts of Canada, over…
History of Forced Sterilization in the United States When we think of the term “genocide,” we think of Hitler and his 1930s-1940s eugenics campaign, but the part that is not taught in schools is that Hitler was inspired by none other than the practice of forced sterilization in the United States. What Are Eugenics? The term “eugenics”…
Who Was Ely S. Parker? Born with the name Hasanoanda, meaning “Leading Man,” Ely Samuel Parker was a member of the Wolf Clan in the Seneca Nation, part of Six Nations of the Iroquois. He was raised in the traditions of his Native Nation, and he attended the Baptist “mission” school to learn English. Education…
Tuskegee Syphilis Study The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was started in 1932 at the Tuskegee Institute in Macon, Alabama. Sponsored by the U.S. Public Health Service, the subjects were mostly undereducated sharecroppers who were enticed to join the program by benefits like hot food and complimentary visits to a healthcare clinic. Out of around 600 participants, the control group of syphilis-free…
My mother didn’t learn about the Trail of Tears until she was in college, because it was left out of her Midwestern history textbooks in the 1960s. What Was the Trail of Tears? In 1828, someone discovered gold in Cherokee territory. On May 28, 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed The Indian Removal Act. This act basically…
Who Are the Central Park Five? On April 19, 1989, jogger Trisha Meili was brutally attacked and left for dead in Central Park. Once she was found in the bushes in the early morning hours of April 20th, the New York Police Department collected a group of five young teenage boys and interviewed them, the oldest among them was…
The time between when AIDS was first recognized as an epidemic and when President Reagan finally publicly acknowledged it was approximately four years. When it was first publicly acknowledged by the White House staff in 1982, the Press Secretary, Larry Speakes, took the opportunity to crack a homophobic gay “joke” rather than answer the question professionally, and asking the reporter,…
“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble. Voting and participating in the democratic process are key. The vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have in a democratic society…In my life I have done all I can to demonstrate that the way…