Ever wondered what you can do with a history degree? Teacher, lawyer, librarian—all valid options. But how about working as, well, an historian? Yes, such a profession exists…and even outside the hallowed halls of academia! Kevin Hymel is one such historian who eschewed the teaching route and is now an historian with the Army. He …
When Michael Hill opened his mailbox in 1982 and found a letter from renowned historian David McCullough he was astounded, and his life changed forever. Two months earlier he’d sent a letter to Mr. McCullough offering his research services, the envelope addressed only to David McCullough, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts—no zip code, no street address. Somehow …
The flags decorating the theater box where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated were almost an afterthought, but they became central to the legend and lore surrounding his assassination. On April 14, 1865, just hours before the President arrived at Ford’s, John Ford, the proprietor of the theater, thought it appropriate to adorn the box where …
The picture of May Day with merry lads and lasses dancing around the May Pole stands in stark contrast to the May Day parades held in the former Soviet Union when the top brass brought out their nuclear warheads to the (forced) delight of the comrades. How did the bucolic rites of changing seasons become …