DOROTHEA LANGE -- BEYOND "MIGRANT MOTHER"

Dorothea Lange gave the Depression a human face, but she was more than a “one-picture photographer.”

ART-ISHBruce WatsonMarch 10, 2022Dorothea Lange, American photography, Migrant Mother, Depression, Okies, Grapes of Wrath, Japanese Internment Camps Comments

CLASSICAL'S CLEVER CUT-UP -- P.D.Q. BACH

Tongue in cheek and baton in hand, Peter Schickle poked fun at classical music and the justly forgotten P.D.Q. Bach.

WITSThe AtticMarch 3, 2022PDQ Bach, Peter Schickele, Classical Music, P.D.Q. Bach Comment

MA RAINEY -- MOTHER OF THE BLUES

Ma Rainey sang, lived, and became the blues. But there was more to her than that “Slow, Drivin’ Moan.” (As seen in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”)

REBELS, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticFebruary 24, 2022Ma Rainey, Gertrude "ma" Rainey, Blues music, 1920s, Black women, African-American history Comment

DAVID BYRNE, AMERICAN OPTIMIST

Reeling from the news, David Byrne began compiling “reasons to be cheerful.” His website now shines a light on innovation, progress, and what works.

BATTLING THE B.S.The AtticFebruary 18, 2022David Byrne, Talking Heads, Reasons to be Cheerful, reasonstobecheerful.world, Hope, optimism Comments

THE NEWS IN WHITE AND BLACK

When Jim Crow whitened American newspapers, the Chicago Defender spread news about “the Race.”

HEROESThe AtticFebruary 10, 2022Chicago Defender, African-American history, Negro press, Robert Sengstacke Abbott, Black Migration, The Great Migration Comments

TABASCO -- THE LITTLE SAUCE THAT SPICED UP AMERICA

American food was bland until Edward McIlhenny mashed peppers with vinegar and salt. And an American icon was served.

ART-ISHThe AtticFebruary 3, 2022Tabasco sauce, Edward McIlhenny, Hot sauce, Bloody Mary, Louisiana, New Iberia Louisiana, Avery Island Comments

"BIRTH OF A NATION" AND THE BIRTH OF BLACK HISTORY

When the first blockbuster movie spread dangerous myths, one man rose to challenge them. And seeds were sown.

teachers, TEACHERS, TEACHERS & HEALERSThe AtticJanuary 27, 2022Birth of a Nation, Black History Month, Carter G. Woodson Comment

THE MOTHER, THE DAUGHTER, THE "LITTLE HOUSE"

Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up in the “little house” but her daughter, Rose, became the story’s midwife.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticJanuary 19, 2022Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, Little House on the Prairie, Little House in the Woods Comments

MLK'S EPIC LETTER

From behind bars, King wrote an amazing letter with all the power of his dream.

HEROESThe AtticJanuary 13, 2022Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, Birmingham 1963, Civil Rights Movement Comments

THE ADS THAT TICKLED THE WASTELAND

Madison Avenue had statistics and selling points but one Mad Man dared to think different.

WITSThe AtticJanuary 6, 2022Doyle Dane Bernbach, Bill Bernbach, TV advertising, I can't believe I ate the whole thing, Mad Men, Advertising's creative revolution, 1960s tv advertising Comments

THE TOWN THAT SECEDED TO SUCCEED

Denied government aid for a water project, Kinney, MN (pop. 325) and its “little old lady” mayor got a radical idea.

REBELS, WITSThe AtticDecember 31, 2021Kinney, Kinney Minnesota, Midwest life Comments

WINIFRED REMBERT -- LEATHER SOUL

When the horror surfaced, Winfred Rembert carved his stories into leather. And a survivor became an artist.

ART-ISHThe AtticDecember 9, 2021Winfred Rembert, Folk art, Jim Crow artist, Jim Crow, Chasing Me to My Grave Comments

WHEN 'WE SHALL OVERCOME' WENT VIRAL

When voting rights hinged on Selma, LBJ stunned the nation with a single phrase.

HEROESThe AtticDecember 7, 2021LBJ, MLK, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Voting Rights Act, Selma alabama, We shall overcomeComment

GERTRUDE EDERLE, QUEEN OF THE WAVES

Gertrude Ederle not only swam the English Channel. She swam it faster than anyone — man or woman. (As seen in “Young Woman and the Sea.”)

HEROES, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticDecember 3, 2021Gertrude Ederle, English Channel, English Channel swim, 1920s, Women heroies, Women's athletics, Swimming, Ederle Swim Comment

STUDS TERKEL -- TO HEAR AMERICA TALKING

On radio he interviewed the famous but in his spare time Studs Terkel listened to “the etceteras” of history. And he heard America talking.

SPEAKING AMERICANThe AtticNovember 26, 2021Studs Terkel, American speech, Working, The Good War, Oral history Comment

MENCKEN GIVES OUR 'TONGUE' A TWIST

First there was Webster, then Twain. But it took Mencken to celebrate how Americans really talk.

SPEAKING AMERICAN, BOOK-ISHThe AtticNovember 19, 2021H.L. Mencken, The American Language, American slang Comments

KINDER, COOLER, SMARTER

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