Skip to main content

Culture

Her novel helped to end slavery and proved that Lincoln was right when he said, “Whoever can change public opinion can change the government.”

Here are some amusing -- and some very sad -- images we collected from the archives of American Heritage.

Click on the image below to start the slideshow.

Given the recent tragic shootings, historians should play a role in providing dispassionate facts regarding the history of gun rights and gun control.

Since its founding 70 years ago, American Heritage has stayed out of the fray of partisan politics, focusing instead on a straightforward telling of the American story.

The annual Burning Man Festival in Black Rock City, Nevada, is a week-long binge of festive dress, radical inclusion, and pyrotechnic display that has become a spiritual phenomenon.

Bruce Watson is a Contributing Editor at American Heritage and has authored several critically acclaimed books. He writes a history blog at The Attic.

TR’s zeal for athletics helped lead to the emergence of modern sports in America, including interscholastic competition, the NCAA, the World Series, and the first Olympics in the U.S.

The late Tony Horwitz, in his own epic journey, followed in the footsteps of Frederick Law Olmsted, who traveled through the South just before the Civil War to learn about our nation in divided times. Here are some of his observations from West Virginia.

He was unlike any other baseball star in America, a blond-haired boy from the heartland whose raw power and mythical purity made him a hero.

History professors Roberts and Smith recently co-authored A Season in t

He was unlike any other baseball star in America, a blond-haired boy from the heartland whose raw power and mythical purity made him a hero.

History professors Roberts and Smith recently co-authored A Season in t

The city embodies the American spirit: freedom, democracy, innovation, arts, and a love of knowledge.

Whether you’re a serious historian or you just enjoy learning about the past, Philadelphia has a lot to offer.

We've gotten one farce after another from the secretive judges at the Swedish Academy who confer the world's most prestigious prize for literature.

Last year’s scandal surrounding the Nobel Prize for Literature was only the latest in a history almost too farcical for Moliere.

Nearly 1800 newspapers have died since 2004, creating “news deserts” across the country. At many remaining journals, cuts have been so deep that they've become “ghost papers.” What are the implications for democracy?

The author and her team of researchers at the University of North Carolina have compiled a database of 9,000 newspapers across the U.S.

“It is recommended,” proclaimed Lincoln, that the people “celebrate the anniversary of the birthday of the Father of his Country."

It is

For most of the 1800s, whites in blackface performed in widely popular minstrel shows, creating racist stereotypes that endured for more than a century.

For most of the 1800s, whites in blackface performed in widely popular minstrel shows, creating racist stereotypes that endured for more than a century.

During the World War I, American jazz bands played at hospitals, rest camps, and other venues, delighting doughboys and Europeans alike.

Enjoy excerpts from seven great books about the founding era.

American colonial elites surrounded themselves with paintings, furniture, and other objects to shape their identities and to set themselves apart from others.

Because of wartime gas-rationing, Congress and the administration debated cancelling the famous gridiron match-up between Army and Navy in 1942. President Roosevelt found a novel solution.

In the weeks after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese conquered most of the areas of Southeast Asia that produced rubber and cut off supply to the U.S.
As a high school librarian, I am so pleased about your efforts to save American Heritage. I have always recommended it to our American history students for research purposes. The magazine serves a real need in education.

In order to have a well-informed citizenry, it's critical to focus on history and civics education in our schools.

It is painful to see a state such as Massachusetts — so central to our nation's past — plan to cut back even more on the teaching of American history.

A historian looks at the distinctive Midwestern identity of Wilder and her "Little House on the Prairie" books.

Editor's Note: We were devastated to learn that John Miller, a longtime professor of history at South Dakota State University, passed away after submitting the following essay to American Heritage.

Once the most famous Chinese dish in America, chop suey helped spur the growth of Chinese restaurants. A Smithsonian curator is now criss-crossing the country to research its beginnings. 

A slideshow of historic posters, political cartoons, and parodies of Lady Liberty

Click on the image below or here to begin the slideshow.

Bill Veeck changed baseball forever, integrating the American League in 1949 and creating a variety of stunts and promotions to bring more people to the stadium.

Entering the friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago, a first-time visitor cannot help but be struck by the panorama of ivy-covered brick outfield walls, the traditional manually operated scoreboard, and an overall scale and proportion that seems perfect for baseball.

The author was a high school football player when a junior coach from West Point tried to recruit him. Years later, the player discovered who the now-famous coach was, and learned a valuable lesson. 

To explore the American Revolution through the eyes of John Singleton Copley is to see it with fresh eyes, to understand that it was a civil war with many shades of allegiance.

 

Jefferson transformed an elegant country house into an American symbol, a paradigm for the young nation’s architecture.

More than 600 donors chipped in to help fund the re-launch of the magazine.

I recently picked up a 1961 issue of American Heritage and realized that the sign-up card bound into it for new subscribers had the same price ($15.00) that we were able to charge in 2012, more than a half century later.

After becoming president, George Washington undertook an extraordinary journey through all 13 colonies to unite – and learn from – a diverse population of citizens. His quest to unite the nation and discover the "temper and disposition" of its people are an inspiration to us today.

The claim that “Washington slept here” is so ubiquitous in the historical community that it has become something of a running joke.

Enjoy our work? Help us keep going.

Now in its 75th year, American Heritage relies on contributions from readers like you to survive. You can support this magazine of trusted historical writing and the volunteers that sustain it by donating today.

Donate