Baseball was a fading relic. Then a Chaplinesque college kid put on a chicken suit.

Humor, WITSThe AtticSeptember 14, 2018San Diego Chicken, Baseball, Ted Giannoulas, San Diego Padres Comments

Single mother of seven, Dolores Huerta left her teaching job and went into the fields. The United Farm Workers was born.

REBELSThe AtticSeptember 4, 2018History, Women, 1960s, People of Color Comment

THE MYTH OF THE MILL GIRLS

History’s Mill Girls were models of labor. Until they went on strike and sowed the seeds of the Labor movement.

REBELSThe AtticAugust 30, 2018Mill girls, Lowell, Textile history, Labor Comments

CAMPING WITH JOHN AND TEDDY

When the president and the naturalist camped in Yosemite, America got greener.

FLYING THE WRONG/RIGHT WAY

Took off for L.A. Landed in Ireland. Was “Wrong Way” Corrigan confused or just clever?

DREAMERSThe AtticJuly 10, 2018Wrong Way Corrigan, Airplane travel, Adventure Comment

SILENT SENTINELS

Women had marched, picketed protested for 70 years. Then the Silent Sentinels were jailed, tortured, force fed. And you’re too busy to vote? (As seen in “Iron Jawed Angels.”)

VICTORIA FOR PRESIDENT -- IN 1872

"They cannot roll back the rising tide of reform. The world moves."

WHY WE LAUGH, OR DO WE?

"In America, there are two kinds of travel -- first class and travel with children."

-- Meet Robert Benchley.

Humor, Arts &, WITSThe AtticMay 2, 2018Humor, American Originals, Lit Comments

THE MAD POTTER OF BILOXI

"Would y'all like to see my Daddy's pottery?" The garage door opened to reveal reds, blues, yellows, and genius.

ART-ISHThe AtticApril 10, 2018George Ohr, Pottery, Art Pottery Comments

MARGARET MEAD AND HUMANITY'S COMING OF AGE

How one woman changed the way people look at people.

Women, HEROESThe AtticMarch 20, 2018Women, Margaret Mead, anthropology, franz boas, samoa Comment

THE FLAGS OF JASPER JOHNS

Turning the grand old flag into art took genius.

ART-ISHThe AtticMarch 5, 2018Pop art, American flag, 1950s, Modern art, American Originals Comment

LINCOLN IN MOURNING

A new novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, probes the president's deep sorrow. But how did his son's death change the president and the Civil War?

UNITED WE SPEAK... AMERICAN

You say "youse." I say "you guys." You say "pop." I say "soda." Let's call ourselves American.

SPEAKING AMERICANThe AtticFebruary 22, 2018American dialect, American speech Comments

RUBE GOLDBERG -- MASTER OF CRAZY CONTRAPTIONS

Inventive, clever, funny, cartoonist Rube Goldberg captured our love/hate affair with machines.

WITSThe AtticFebruary 3, 2018Rube Goldberg, Technology, Cartooning Comments

ELIZABETH COTTEN -- THE WOMAN WHO PLAYED UPSIDE DOWN

Elizabeth Cotten charmed audiences with her "Freight Train" and her unique picking.

FOLKIESThe AtticFebruary 2, 2018Elizabeth Cotten, Folk Music, Fingerpicking guitar Comment

THOMAS PAINE -- BEYOND "COMMON SENSE"

In these "times that try men's souls," Thomas Paine offers a remedy -- believe in people, not institutions.

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER

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