American History Stories

Stories from U.S. history covering remarkable people and cultural movements from the Revolutionary War to the 1980s.

Newspaper cartoon against smallpox inoculation

George Washington’s Fight for Smallpox Inoculation

Constance Kopp in 1916 newspaper article.

How Constance Kopp Became First Female Sheriff’s Deputy

Filipino farm workers in 1920s California

The Anti-Filipino Watsonville Riots of 1930 in California

1st MN private Marshall Sherman with Confederate battle flag

Marshall Sherman’s Capture of Virginia Battle Flag at Gettysburg

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Black ultramarathoner Edward Gardner at start of the Bunion Derby race in Los Angeles

The Triumphs of Edward Gardner at the 1928 Bunion Derby

Dead Rabbits and Bowery Boys during a gang riot.

Sadie The Goat & The Female Gangsters of New York City

Zazu Nova at New York's Gay Youth meeting in 1970.

Why Zazu Nova’s Legacy at Stonewall Deserves More Recognition

Woman holding hat pins, ready to stab.

Hatpin Panic: How Hat Pins Upended Gender Politics in 20th Century America

Alvin Shipwreck Kelly flagpole sitting in 1928.

Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly & Flagpole Sitting in the 1920s

FDA protests for HIV cure and research

Silence = Death: The AIDS Crisis Was So Much Worse Than We Talk About

Women working in piecework factory in 1909.

The Power of a 20th Century Spinster

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