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American South

The Tougaloo Nine, from left: Joseph Jackson Jr., Geraldine Edwards, James Bradford, Evelyn Pierce, Albert Lassiter, Ethel Sawyer, Meredith Anding Jr., Janice Jackson and Alfred Cook

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Nine Black College Students Were Arrested in 1961 for Reading at a Segregated Public Library. Their Contributions to the Civil Rights Movement Have Long Been Overlooked

Known as the Tougaloo Nine, the demonstrators staged a sit-in that helped the NAACP push for the desegregation of public spaces in Mississippi’s capital

Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Take in some of the sites and landmarks across the American South that were pivotal to the Civil Rights Movement and the advancement of social justice

Jermain Wesley Loguen’s former enslaver offered to relinquish her claim on him in exchange for $1,000. But Loguen refused as a matter of principle, even turning down others’ offers to pay the fee.

Untold Stories of American History

After the ‘King of the Underground Railroad’ Escaped From Slavery, He Led 1,500 Others to Freedom

Jermain Wesley Loguen opened his home to fugitives fleeing the South. He publicized this work openly, risking arrest or even re-enslavement

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Here Are 250 Places to Visit to Celebrate America’s 250th Birthday. How Many Have You Been To?

Journey around the nation with this interactive map, divided by region or category, and discover American history in a way you’ve never seen before

Claudette Colvin, photographed here in 1998, helped end segregation on public transportation.

Women Who Shaped History

Months Before Rosa Parks Made Headlines, Claudette Colvin Refused to Give Up Her Seat for a White Woman on a Segregated Bus

Colvin, a lesser-known figure who took a stand against racial discrimination as a teenager in Montgomery, Alabama, has died at age 86

Detail of a 19th-century mural in the Library of Congress that depicts America as a successor to ancient Egypt

How White Southerners Distorted the History of Ancient Egypt to Justify Slavery in the U.S.

American writers misleadingly interpreted Egypt’s past to argue that slavery was a divinely sanctioned institution

The house is located in Tryon, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Nina Simone’s Childhood Home, Saved From Demolition Years Ago, Has Now Been Fully Restored

A group of contemporary artists purchased the house in 2017, and its long-awaited renovation began in June 2024

Pauline Baker, Daisy Whitner, John Williams and Priscilla Williams Carolina are all descendants of potter David Drake.

An Enslaved Man Made Thousands of Ceramic Pots. Now, a Boston Museum Has Returned Two of Them to His Descendants

Many of David Drake’s large vessels featured his signature and inscriptions, even though he created them during a time when literacy among enslaved laborers was illegal

Harper Lee's best-known work, To Kill A Mockingbird, has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.

You Can Now Read Eight Previously Unseen Short Stories by Harper Lee, the Famed Author of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

Released this week, “The Land of Sweet Forever” includes stories the author wrote in the years before her debut novel became an instant classic in 1960

Zora Neale Hurston posing outside of a cabin in Belle Glade, Florida, circa 1935

Zora Neale Hurston’s Forgotten Play Premieres on Stage for the First Time

Based on the author’s short story and ethnographic fieldwork, “Spunk” languished in Library of Congress’ archives for decades

The gun is now part of a permanent exhibition about TIll at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson.

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

The Gun Linked to Emmett Till’s Murder Is Now on Display at a Museum in Mississippi

The weapon is thought to have belonged to J.W. Milam, one of the two men who kidnapped, tortured and killed the Black teenager for whistling at a white woman in a grocery store in 1955

Water surrounds homes in New Orleans, Louisiana, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina

Twenty Years After Hurricane Katrina, Many of Us Are Still Missing All That We Lost—and Grappling With One of the Country’s Worst Disasters

In Louisiana, heat and hurricanes can feel like a generational curse. After two decades, an editor who grew up in the state remembers and reflects on Katrina

Fragments of the McDonough Meteorite, which fell through the roof of a home in Georgia in June

A Meteorite Tore Through a Georgia Home’s Roof. It Turns Out the Space Rock Is Older Than Our Planet

A planetary geologist finds that the meteorite, which fell in June, came from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

On June 10, state and tribal officials recovered the vessel from the water.

Cool Finds

This Dugout Canoe Made From a 12-Foot-Long Log Was Found Bobbing in a North Carolina River

The newly discovered vessel is one of 79 known dugout canoes that have been unearthed throughout the state

A bright streak moves across the sky in broad daylight in Monroe, Georgia.

Ultra-Bright Meteor Seen in Broad Daylight, Stunning Residents Across the Southeast

More than 200 sightings were sent to the American Meteor Society, and a Georgia resident reported a rock falling through a roof around the same time

Wade in the Water, Stephen Towns, 2020

Women Who Shaped History

See the Artworks That Explore the Forgotten History of Harriet Tubman’s Civil War Triumphs

Tubman’s 1863 raid, which destroyed seven plantations along the Combahee River in South Carolina and freed 756 enslaved laborers, is now the subject of an exhibition in Charleston

Clifton Chenier at Fitzgerald's, Berwyn, Illinois, 1984

How the Charismatic King of Zydeco Introduced the Music of the Bayou to the Nation

The lively songs and performances of Clifton Chenier, who would have turned 100 today, brought fans—including the Rolling Stones—to their feet

Many of O'Connor's artworks drew on the rural Southern surroudings of her family farm in Milledgeville, Georgia.

See Flannery O’Connor’s Little-Known Visual Artworks That Had Been Collecting Dust in Storage

From childhood cartoons to thoughtful self-portraits, the acclaimed Southern writer was always a keen observer of her surroundings

The Grand Ole Opry’s famous six-foot circle of wood was carefully carved from the previous stage at the Ryman Auditorium.

How the Grand Ole Opry Put Uniquely American Music at Center Stage

Through daring business decisions and an eye for talent, the vaunted country radio program still stands as a tastemaker for the fastest-growing genre in popular music

The story of the descendants of Wong On offers a multi-faceted look at the intersection of the African American and Chinese immigrant communities.

The Real History of the Complex Relationship Between Chinese and Black Americans in the Mississippi Delta

The remarkable success of the movie “Sinners” has sparked a renewed interest in how the two communities wrestled with life under Jim Crow

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