Holidays at the White House have evolved over the years from intimate family gatherings to national celebrations, ranging from an indoor snowball fight between grandchildren, to a first lady ride on a cherry picker! Discover how U.S. Presidents of the past celebrated Christmas. “Old Hickory,” President Andrew Jackson, threw an elaborate party for his grandchildren …
Dr. Daniel Peretti, Assistant Professor of Folklore at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, is the author of “Superman in Myth and Folklore” (University Press of Mississippi, 2017), as well as other essays on folklore, myth, and popular culture. His current research focuses on Santa Claus, ritual, and the traditions of Christmas. Here Dr. Peretti answers …
Wally Wallgren and C. LeRoy Baldridge, the two-person art department of the WWI era military newspaper, The Stars and Stripes, created cartoons that took the paper's motto to heart: "By and For the Soldiers of the A. E. F."
From falling furniture to forest fires, the U.S. government works to get information to citizens on the best ways to be safe and prepared. But in a society with overwhelming amounts of media, how do you get information to the people who need it most? You make it go viral.
For a seemingly interminable 65 days the Mayflower was the floating home of pilgrims, officers and crew as they made their famous journey to America. For some it was a graveyard, and for others, a symbol of life renewed. Those who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 are commonly known as pilgrims, but the sailors who …
“Onstage, she looks as regal and exotic as a Russian princess; offstage, she is as American as wampum and apple pie,” cheered TIME magazine about prima ballerina Maria Tallchief in 1951. One of the most celebrated Native American women of the 20th century, Tallchief was the first American dancer in the history of ballet to earn …
The following guest post was also written by Marissa Ball, Head of the Humanities & Social Sciences Section in the Researcher and Reference Services Division; Peter Armenti, a reference specialist in the Researcher and Reference Services Division; and Ashley Cuffia, a science reference specialist in the Science, Technology, and Business Division. On October 24, 2019, …
From the beginning comic books have published war stories and adventures, profiling every branch of the military and visually portraying every aspect of modern warfare. Even before the United States entered World War II, Captain America fought Adolph Hitler on the cover of Captain America no. 1 (1940). Contemporary comics on war and the …
Have your Halloween costume picked out yet? Why not go dressed as Bessie McCoy, the original Yama Yama Girl? During the 1910s, the Yama Yama Girl costume was all the rage. But who was the Yama Yama Girl and why did people dress up as her? Stage actress and vaudeville performer Elizabeth G. McEvoy (also …