After Apollo 14, Edgar Mitchell kept soaring. ESP? Psychokinesis? UFOs? When you’ve been to the Moon, anything seems possible.

American Originals, HistoryThe AtticJuly 12, 2019Comment

A FLAG ON THE MOON

The astronauts rehearsed every maneuver for the moon landing, except planting the flag. Oops!

HistoryThe AtticJuly 11, 2019 Comments

THE LONGSHOREMAN AND THE MASSES

When The True Believer made his name, Eric Hoffer was a San Francisco longshoreman. Decades later, the zealots he labeled “true believers,” are still “everywhere on the march.”

American OriginalsThe AtticJune 19, 2019Comment

"WHAT, TO THE AMERICAN SLAVE, IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?"

Once Frederick Douglass rose to speak, Independence Day no longer seemed so free.

HistoryThe AtticJune 16, 2019Comment

A POEM AND ITS PARODIES -- THIS IS JUST TO SAY...

A refrigerator note. A spark of genius. A classic poem and the freedom it inspired.

Lit, Humor, ArtsThe AtticJune 12, 2019Comment

THE SUPREMES AND THE FLAG SALUTE

When the Supreme Court considered the pledge of allegiance, soldiers were coming home in flag draped caskets. What would a patriot do?

HistoryThe AtticJune 6, 2019Comment

FATHER'S DAY AND THE GHOST OF OZZIE NELSON

Those Fifties TV fathers may have been corny, but they sowed the seeds of a revolution.

American OriginalsThe AtticJune 3, 2019 Comments

THE WOMAN WHO SPOKE TO COMPUTERS

When Grace Hopper met those beastly first computers, they spoke only in numbers. “Grandma COBOL” soon taught them English.

Women, American OriginalsThe AtticMay 31, 2019 Comments

HOLDEN CAULFIELD HITS THE BEACH

June 6, 1944 — Sgt. Salinger, with drafts of The Catcher in the Rye in his pack, lands at Normandy.

History, ArtsThe AtticMay 29, 2019Movies, History, lit Comments

13,000 KIDS, 97 BLOCKS, AND "WHATEVER IT TAKES"

The streets taught Geoffrey Canada hard lessons. His Harlem Children’s Zone is teaching success.

American OriginalsThe AtticMay 24, 2019Comment

WHEN BIGOTRY STRUCK OUT

When the Massachusetts team went South, its star black player came face-to-face with Jim Crow. And guess what the whole team did for Bunny?

HistoryThe AtticMay 17, 2019 Comments

EVERY CHILD'S BEST FRIEND

Children were to be “seen and not heard” until Arnold Gesell’s clinic changed childhood.

American Originals, HistoryThe AtticMay 9, 2019Comment

WHAM-O -- NOTHIN' BUT FUN

Most toys were stupid and dull. But one company owned American childhood.

History, American OriginalsThe AtticMay 2, 2019 Comment

THE (BLACK) WOMAN WHO MANAGED MORGAN'S MILLIONS

From “behind the curtain of my mind,” the fabulous Belle da Costa Greene masterminded the Morgan Library.

Women, HistoryThe AtticApril 25, 2019 Comments

THE PUDDLE-WONDERFUL POET OF SPRING

Think April is “the cruelest month?” E.E. Cummings will cure your despair.

wholly to be a fool

while Spring is in the world

Arts &, American OriginalsBruce WatsonApril 19, 2019Comment