State lawmakers are determined to host a convention to rewrite the state’s constitution, but they have not agreed on which aspects they want to address or who should be in attendance.
We’ve tried several approaches, and all have their strengths and weaknesses. But one relic of the Progressive Era is on the way out.
Born of opportunities created in the aftermath of the Civil War, modern day carpetbaggers are simply opportunistic — and voters no longer seem to care anymore about unrooted candidates.
A museum and memorial in a onetime Confederate capital preserve the memories of slavery, lynching and Jim Crow. Yet too much of that past is still around us.
Former presidents have managed to talk their way out of trouble, even if by the skin of their teeth. There may be a lesson in that for us today.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, more than a dozen states enacted legislation barring Asians from purchasing property. But immigrants and their families used the court system and legal loopholes to fight back.
The way we deal with it says a lot about our national and local cultures. Reforming it may not be so much about formal government action as about humans’ willingness to change their habits.
Museums are the institutional embodiment of the historical practice that to the victor go the spoils. More recently, the return of select artifacts is intended to set things right, but it’s complicated.
After the Civil War, white Southern leaders anchored the protection of their way of life in the private ownership of firearms. Piggybacking on American mobility, those ideas migrated out of the South.
Bans are an illiberal idea that undermines a long and honorable tradition of making knowledge and ideas widely available, making people free to choose what to read for themselves.
In June, a museum housing the world’s largest collection of works by Chicano artists opened in Riverside, Calif. Years of community-based work and a partnership with collector Cheech Marin set the stage for success.
There are few experiences that connect modern travelers to America’s past than on a train. Our resident humanities scholar recounts his journey west in preparation to tell the story of the man called both "The Empire Builder" and "The Devil's Curse."
The former president’s time in France changed him, and changed America. From haute culture to a silly spat over “freedom fries,” the two countries are inextricably linked.
The Corn Palace in South Dakota romanticizes the history of corn in rural America. But the current reality is that corn is now less of a food than an industrial product, raising questions about sustainability.
State governments can best lead and govern distinct and diverse communities. The founders knew that the only way to build a new nation was to avoid taking too much autonomy from them.
The outside mosaics of the Corn Palace change every year, the inside mosaics almost never. A committee meets to choose each year’s theme.
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