April 2026

Editor's Note: Mark Kawar is a first-time author whose recent book, America, but Bigger: Near-Annexations, from Greenland to the Galapagos, explores the history of the United States' territorial ambitions, both realized and unrealized. Here, he recounts the very first attempt by American officials to acquire Greenland, a goal the country would pursue again and again over the following years, including most recently during the presidency of Donald Trump.  

Bruce Watson, a contributing editor of American Heritage, writes blogs for our website and his own at TheAttic.space.

WOODSTOCK, NY — Thirty miles down the road, on a slope so green and sweeping that it looked like God’s own amphitheater, the crowds poured in over a half century ago. But the human hordes of Woodstock are long gone now. In their memory, summer crowds pour into this Hudson Valley hamlet with the name that still sings.

Editor’s Note: Nancy L. Schultz is a retired professor and chair of the Swampscott Historical Commission, which is working with other local partners to save the General John Glover Farmhouse. For more information, read her first article on the Glover House in American Heritage or visit SavetheGlover.org.

Editor's Note: Catherine Allgor is President Emerita of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the author of Dolley Madison: The Problem of National Unity. This essay first appeared In Pursuit, a series of posts on Substack edited by by Dr. Colleen Shogan, former Archivist of the United States.