HELEN KELLER'S MOMENT

Deaf, dumb, and blind, she lived “at sea in a dense fog.” And then her teacher came. (As seen in “The Miracle Worker.”)

W.E.B. DUBOIS -- LIFTING THE VEIL OF RACE

Long before Martin Luther King, W.E.B. DuBois had a dream.

HEROES, BOOK-ISHThe AtticNovember 25, 2018People of Color, W.E.B. DuBois, The Soul of Black FolkComment

KEROUAC'S SUMMER ON THE BRINK

On Desolation Peak, Jack Kerouac expected to find God. Instead he found himself, and his best book, The Dharma Bums.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticNovember 23, 2018Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, "On the Road", Beats, Beat literature, The Beats Comments

THE AMAZING TOWERS OF WATTS

One man. A vision. Thirty years working in his backyard. The Watts Towers are "as pure a work of art as this country can rightly call its own."

BUILDERS, WONDERS, ART-ISHThe AtticNovember 14, 2018Simon Rodia, Watts Towers, Folk art, Art, American Originals Comments

FLAME

A century ago, in the bleakest of years, other poets despaired. But one lit her candle -- at both ends.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticNovember 1, 2018Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poetry, Women poets, Millay Comments

HARVEY MILK -- OUT OF THE CLOSET, INTO THE HEART

Loss after loss, Harvey Milk kept battering at the door. If he could only “give them hope.” (As seen in “Milk.”)

REBELS, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticOctober 16, 2018Harvey Milk, Gay Rights, San Francisco, The Castro, Dan WhiteComment

"SHENANDOAH" AND THE ATTIC OF OUR PAST

A shrill song is stuck in our heads. Once it plays out, we should listen to the old tunes.

FOLKIESThe AtticOctober 8, 2018Folk music, Music, Shenandoah, Shenandoah National Park Comments

ART FROM THE ALLEYS -- THE ASHCAN SCHOOL

American art was pretty and pink until The Ashcan School took the streets as its canvas.

ART-ISHThe AtticOctober 8, 2018Ashcan School, Glackens, Robert Henri, John Sloan, American Art Comments

THIS IS LONDON!

Radio news was dead on arrival until Edward R. Murrow went live from the rooftops of London.

History, HEROESThe AtticOctober 5, 2018Edward R. Murrow, Hear it Now, World War II, London Blitz, Radio Comments

MISS MITCHELL'S COMET

Alone on an island rooftop, Maria Mitchell’s telescope “swept” the stars. Could a woman calculate the clockwork of heaven?

DREAMERSThe AtticOctober 3, 2018Maria Mitchell, Astronomy, Vassar, Comets Comments

THE SOUL OF A MAN

The guitar growls, moans, weeps. A bass riff surrenders to a squeal of pain. . .

FOLKIESThe AtticOctober 2, 2018Blues, Music, Folk musicComment

LANGSTON HUGHES -- "LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN"

How Langston Hughes touched bottom during the Depression and wrote an American anthem.

BOOK-ISH, DEMOCRACYThe AtticOctober 1, 2018American dream, Lit, People of Color Comments

BACK TO "HARLAN COUNTY, USA"

Coal miners distrusted Barbara Kopple until she hunkered down with them -- for three years -- and came home with a living, breathing masterpiece.

THE CHICKEN WHO SAVED BASEBALL

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

IN THE ORCHARD OF DOLORES HUERTA

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

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER

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