This blog post examines the history of Marvel comic book characters Agatha Harkness and Wanda Maximoff and their relationship to the witches' road featuring titles from the comic book collection at the Library of Congress
For a good many years, when I was in the library, they would not buy science fiction and fantasy books, because those were considered trash… So I fought and fought to get them on library lists.” -Andre Norton (Dream Makers Volume II: The Uncommon Men & Women Who Write Science Fiction, 1983) The first woman …
“First, no woman should say, ‘I am but a woman!’ But a woman! What more can you ask to be?” – Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), American Astronomer Meteor showers, comets, eclipses, and other celestial events have captured human interest and imagination for thousands of years. Astronomical phenomena have long been speculated over in the press, and …
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) dedicated her whole life to advocating for civil rights, especially the education of youth. You can find her work making headlines in Chronicling America newspapers, as well as her friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and other high profile people of the day. Even some comic books featured her biography.
Acclaimed author Truman Capote was born in 1924 in New Orleans. An openly gay man from the deep south, Capote defied social expectations and lived his life authentically despite the risk. Known for his small stature and large personality, he surrounded himself with the most famous, fashionable, and wealthy women in New York, whom he …
Marguerite Harrison is a name you might not recognize. Under the guise of a newspaper correspondent, she was an American woman who worked as a spy in Europe and Asia in the years between World War I and World War II. This post illustrates her life in newspapers articles- some penned by her and others about her.
The Edwardian era bride was expected to be the image of modesty. High necklines, long gloves, and ruffled petticoats were prominent to achieve head to toe coverage. While the fashionable silhouette shifted from the idealized S-shape of a Gibson Girl to a more A-line shape over time, satin, ruffles, and lace reigned supreme throughout the …
“Could I pass a week in the insane ward at Blackwell’s Island? I said I could and I would. And I did.” In 1887, investigative journalist for the New York World newspaper Nellie Bly went undercover to expose the dreadful conditions at the Women’s Lunatic Asylum, a mental institution on Blackwell’s Island. Read more about Bly’s fearless investigation and how her work forever changed the field of journalism.