On March 25, 1931, nine black youths ages 13-19 were arrested for rape in Alabama. The Scottsboro Boys became famous as a case of racial injustice that shone a light on the treatment of blacks in the South. The nine had been traveling on a train as hoboes when Read more…
Jimmy Stewart was one of the top actors in Hollywood when he became the first major star to enter the military before WWII. Stewart came from a military family. His two grandfathers had fought in the Civil War and his father had been in the Spanish-American War and WWI. Read more…
Everyone has heard the story of Pocahontas saving John Smith’s life (which may not be true), but few know what happened to the famous Indian maiden. First, she did not marry John Smith, that would have been creepy considering the age difference. But she did marry an Englishman. Pocahontas, Read more…
Today is the anniversary of the birth of the only nonconsecutive President. Grover Cleveland was born on March 18, 1837. Here is the most famous story about him. The most famous story of Cleveland is the one about his fathering a child while a bachelor. In the official version, Read more…
Recently the Tulsa Massacre has been revived as a tale of poor treatment of blacks in America’s past. Another forgotten massacre that deserves to be in history classrooms is the Carrollton Massacre. It occurred in Mississippi in 1886. In January, Ed and Charley Brown, part Native American and part Read more…
His parents were Irish immigrants. Andrew was born on the border between the Carolinas. Both states claim his birthplace. During the American Revolution, he was a courier for the Continental Army. At age 13, he and his brother were taken captive. When he refused to shine the boots of a Read more…
Netflix has a new movie called “The Bombardment”. It is a Danish film (with dubbed dialogue) that tells a fictional tale based on one of the greatest tragedies of collateral damage in WWII. I don’t recommend showing it in the classroom unless you want a class full of crying kids, Read more…
The worst mining disaster in European history occurred on March, 10, 1906. 1,099 coal miners at a mine in northern France were killed when coal dust exploded. (The worst mining accident was the Benxihu Colliery Incident in China in 1942. 1,549 miners were killed.) On March 9, a fire Read more…
Lizzie Magie was a woman ahead of her time. She was a feminist and a socialist. In fact, she was an anti-monopolist at a time when the Robber Barons reigned. She wrote poetry. She also designed games. In 1904, she came up with a game she called “The Landlord’s Read more…
Anne Sullivan is the most famous teacher of the deaf in American History. She limited herself to one pupil – Helen Keller. The two met on March 3, 1887. Keller was the daughter of well-to-do ex-Confederate officer. She had a stable family life, although she was the cause of Read more…