This is part 3 of a 3-part series. Read the previous installment here. Back in Berlin, Möllhausen was invited to live in Humboldt’s household for a while. He married his fiancé, Caroline Seifert, met King Frederick William IV, who was interested in hearing first-hand accounts about the American West and even bought some of the […]
This is part 2 of a 3-part series. Read the previous installment here. Compared to the earlier two-man expedition of Duke Paul and Möllhausen, the 1853 Railroad Survey under the command of U.S. Army Lt. Amiel Weeks Whipple was a large, impressive undertaking. He had assembled a wagon train and about seventy men. A few […]
Adapted from Looking for Humboldt & Searching for German Footprints in New Mexico and Beyond by Erika Schelby Few Americans are aware of the long-standing fascination Germans have for the American West. Even fewer know that it was two Germans, Heinrich Balduin Möllhausen and Friedrich Wilhelm von Egloffstein who were the first to depict the […]
The American Civil War proved to be one of the bloodiest, most devastating wars in United States history, claiming more than 600,000 lives within four years. However, twice the number of soldiers who lost their lives in battle died as a result of disease. Poor sanitation and unsophisticated medical care contributed to the contraction of […]
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the richest man in modern human history, pledged last week to give $2 billion to support homeless families and education programs in underserved communities. The announcement was met with mixed responses. Many voiced concerns about the role of the wealthy in policy making, the focus on short term solutions […]
In July of 1892, Homestead, Pennsylvania was the site of a violent labor strike between the Carnegie Steel Company and many of its employees, represented by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers. With the contract between the union and Carnegie Steel set to expire on July 1, Andrew Carnegie, away in Scotland at […]
On September 25, 1904, the “Chicago Tribune” printed an article entitled “How to Catch a Millionaire Husband.” It featured women who had made “brilliant” matches to some of the wealthiest and most prominent men of the time. With its strong use of graphics and gossipy style of writing, the article foreshadows the modern-day “listicle.” With […]
In 1915, Luisa Capetillo strolled the streets of Havana as the first Puerto Rican woman ever to wear pants in public. She was shortly stopped and arrested for “causing a scandal.” News outlets of the time reported that Luisa Capetillo petitioned ardently in her own defense. They quoted her as saying “Your Honor, I always […]
On this week’s episode of BackStory we are looking at “fake news.” The term has been used alternatively to describe the mainstream media; false stories which proliferated on Facebook over the 2016 election cycle; and even stories which extend beyond the political sphere into issues like vaccinations and celebrity gossip. But while the phrase itself […]
Fort Des Moines represents an essential space in the historical intersection of the United States military and the Civil Rights Movement. The fort served as the first Officer Candidate School for African American men during World War I, and then became the first school for Commissioned female officers in World War II. Countless human stories […]