The images are striking. A toddler, his tiny sock caught on barbed wire as he’s passed through a barricade in Albania. A couple holding hands as they walk down a street filled with burning wreckage from a Haitian earthquake. A young refugee from the war in Sierra Leone jubilantly raising …
Most of what I know about poetry can be summed up in this opening line: “There once was a girl from Nantucket …” I’m kidding, of course (kind of). But we’re talking poetry today because American poet Louise Glück was just awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature. In announcing …
As a war correspondent, Dickey Chapelle talked her way onto the front lines of battlefields from WWII to Vietnam and revolutions in places like Hungary, Algeria, Lebanon and Cuba. Unmistakable in her uniform of fatigues, harlequin glasses and pearl earrings, Dickey covered the world’s hotspots. She took photos under fire …
In 2017, a replica of the ancient Greek Parthenon, widely acknowledged to be the first symbol of democracy, was erected in Kassel, Germany. Built from 100,000 banned books, it was the creation of Argentinian artist Marta Minujin and erected on the site where thousands of banned books were burned by …
When Kate Warne interviewed for a job at the Pinkerton Detective Agency, no one would have predicted that she would save the life of Abraham Lincoln. When Warne arrived for her interview in 1856, it was assumed that she was there for a secretarial position. Instead, she charmed Allan Pinkerton …
When tattoos began popping up everywhere in our research this week, we took it as a sign and discovered Maud Stevens Wagner, credited as the first female tattooist in the United States. Born in Kansas in 1877, little is known of her early life. By adulthood, Maud was performing as …
Born in 1875 in a Michigan town named after her family, Katharine had lineage, serious lineage. Her great-grandfather had served in both John Adams’ and Thomas Jefferson’s cabinets and was honored to read George Washington’s eulogy before the Senate. Intelligent and determined, Katharine wanted to make her own mark. She …
One of the most glamorous actresses of the 1930s and 1940s, Hedy Lamarr was promoted as “the world’s most beautiful woman.” She co-starred with the likes of Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and Spencer Tracy. She dated Howard Hughes. She produced movies at a time when, particularly for a woman, that …
Three young Black girls in flowered dresses are pictured laying on a lawn, one gazing skyward, one looking askance and one looking straight at the camera, flowers wrapping her hair, as she seemingly dares the viewer to look away. The photo is from the series Mayflowers by visual artist Carrie …
