Drawing on contemporary accounts and the landmark history Crying the News, this article explores the lives of America’s newsboys—their labor, their struggles, and their symbolic power—from the 1830s to the 1930s, culminating in the 1899 strike against Hearst.
Drawing on first-hand testimony from Bloc Life and other primary sources, this article reconstructs the daily routines, fears, and small pleasures of ordinary people who lived under Communist rule in Eastern Europe—from the queues and shortages to the surprising sense of security many remember.
Drawing on U.S. Embassy telegrams and UPI wire reports from June and November 1965, this article reconstructs how a 34-year-old air force commander, Nguyen Cao Ky, seized the premiership of South Vietnam, the fears and expectations that surrounded his rise, and the fragile political landscape he inherited.
Drawing on contemporary BBC reports, Mass Observation diaries, and official accounts, this article reconstructs the strange calm of the Phoney War—the months when Britain braced for air raids that never came, and the boredom and anxiety of waiting became a national experience.
Drawing on contemporary newspaper reports and eyewitness accounts, this article reveals how the Nazi regime used the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a global propaganda stage—masking persecution while projecting an image of a peaceful, united Germany to the world’s press and visitors.
Drawing on contemporary headlines, surrender dispatches, and eyewitness accounts, this article reconstructs how American newspapers broke the news of Germany’s surrender on May 7–8, 1945, and how the nation celebrated the long-awaited victory in Europe.
Drawing on front pages and editorial columns from October 22–29, 1962, this article reconstructs how Americans and the world read the Cuban Missile Crisis as it unfolded—through the urgent headlines, official statements, and the raw fear of nuclear war that shaped daily life.
Drawing on UPI and AP dispatches, NASA’s official report, and eyewitness memories, this article reconstructs the January 1967 Apollo 1 fire as it was experienced and reported at the time—a shock that nearly derailed America’s race to the Moon.
From the first shots at Fort Sumter to Lincoln’s assassination, ordinary Americans recorded their experiences in letters and diaries. This article explores the personal writings that have become the most intimate window into the Civil War, drawing on the extensive collections now available to researchers.
In the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake, women in San Francisco’s relief camps took on roles of leadership, protest, and daily survival. From a diamond-adorned matron leading a protest to an Irish working-class mother defying eviction, their stories reveal a city where class and race shaped the disaster’s aftermath.