AMERICA'S FIRST FREEDOM RIDER Elizabeth Jennings, Chester A. Arthur, and the Early Fight for Civil Rights It wasn’t easy to get around New York City in 1854. Omnibus accidents were commonplace. The Five Points gangs regularly attacked pedestrians. Pickpockets, drunks and kidnappers were part of the daily street scene. And, rival police forces watched and argued over who should help. But none of this was on Elizabeth Jennings’s mind the day she climbed the platform onto the Chatham Street horsecar.…

INFLUENZA The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History While the United States was embroiled in the Great War overseas, a lethal enemy was at work stateside as well.  In October 1918 alone, 195,000 Americans died, making it the deadliest month in American History.  The killer was influenza.  It infected about 500 million people—one third of the world’s population.  At least 50 million people died worldwide, with about 675,000 deaths in the United States. Now, more than a…

YALE NEEDS WOMEN How the First Group of Girls Rewrote the Rules of an Ivy League Giant 1969 was a landmark year. More than 350,000 rock-n-roll fans flocked to Woodstock, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet made its debut, and the Apollo 11 mission put the first two men on the moon. What else?  Yale University, dedicated to graduating “one thousand male leaders every year” finally opened its door to women. For the very first time, the top female students from…

THIS GULF OF FIRE The Destruction of Lisbon or Apocalypse in the Age of Science and Reason On All Saints Day 1755, tremors from an earthquake measuring 9.0 (or higher) on the Moment Magnitude Scale swept from the Atlantic seabed toward the Iberian and African coasts.  Lisbon, one of the wealthiest cities in the world and the capital of a vast global empire, was directly in their path.  Within minutes, much of the city lay in ruins.  But this was…

SUSAN B. ANTHONY Re-Enactor, Sheryl Faye This is going to be the best party ever. One of the most famous women in American history is celebrating her 200th birthday this year—and you’re invited. Susan B. Anthony was born February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts.  The famous social reformer and activist devoted her life to racial, gender and educational equality and played a prominent role in the women’s suffrage movement. We can only imagine the stories she’ll tell: perhaps she’ll share…

COAST TO COAST IN 48 HOURS On July 7, 1929, Charles Lindbergh’s dream of coast-to-coast travel came true. That’s when Transcontinental Air Transport (T.A.T.) began providing passenger service between New York and Los Angeles using airplanes by day and trains by night. The ambitious trip across the country on what would become known as the “The Lindberg Line” took 48 hours, cutting the 72 hour travel time by rail alone by two-thirds. A one-way ticket cost $338, more than half…

SUDDEN COURAGE Youth in France Confront the Germans from 1940-1945 On June 14, 1940, German tanks rolled into Paris. Eight days later, France accepted a humiliating defeat and foreign occupation.  Most citizens adapted; many even allied themselves with the new fascist leadership. Yet others refused to capitulate and joined the French Resistance. But,this is not your typical war story. It’s a coming-of-age story during war. Among this shadow army of Jews, immigrants, communists, workers, writers, police officers and shop owners…

FURIOUS HOURS Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee There are two stories here. The first goes back to the 1970s, down into the Deep South. Reverend Willie Maxwell, a rural preacher, was accused of murdering five of his family members to collect the money from the insurance policies he took out on them. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last…