Category: American History

In 1894, Coxey’s Army knew how to get the attention of Congress (without a gyrocopter)

Guest post by Benjamin Alexander Apparently Doug Hughes, after writing a letter to each of the 535 members of Congress about the need for more campaign finance reform, didn’t think his missives would get adequate notice if he just dropped them in the nearest mailbox. So, the 61-year-old mailman from Florida set out to deliver…

In 1894, Coxey’s Army knew how to get the attention of Congress (without a gyrocopter)

Guest post by Benjamin Alexander Apparently Doug Hughes, after writing a letter to each of the 535 members of Congress about the need for more campaign finance reform, didn’t think his missives would get adequate notice if he just dropped them in the nearest mailbox. So, the 61-year-old mailman from Florida set out to deliver…

Happy birthday, Frederick Law Olmsted

Sunday, April 26th, marks the birth date of Frederick Law Olmsted. No short list of the most important and influential Americans of the nineteenth century would omit the name of Frederick Law Olmsted: mid-century agricultural reformer; sharp-eyed observer of slavery and slave society before the Civil War; mainstay of the United States Sanitary Commission; and…

Happy birthday, Frederick Law Olmsted

Sunday, April 26th, marks the birth date of Frederick Law Olmsted. No short list of the most important and influential Americans of the nineteenth century would omit the name of Frederick Law Olmsted: mid-century agricultural reformer; sharp-eyed observer of slavery and slave society before the Civil War; mainstay of the United States Sanitary Commission; and…