Illustration: woman making candles. Credit: Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Colonial Dames Entrepreneurs: Their Stories and Their Ads

By Melissa Berry on July 30, 2020

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry shows how women in colonial America ran businesses and took out newspaper ads to promote them... (Read More)

Photo: Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States, or "Harris Treaty," 29 July 1858. Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan). Credit: World Imaging; Wikimedia Commons.

On This Day: U.S. Forced Japan to Open Its Ports to American Trade

By Tony Pettinato on July 29, 2020

After 200 years of shielding itself from the outside world, Japan was forced by a U.S. treaty to end its policy of seclusion on 29 July 1858... (Read More)

Photo: Bethany Groff. Credit: Matthew Muise Photography.

Something Old, Something New – By God’s Grace, We Will Always Have Brew!

By Melissa Berry on July 28, 2020

Melissa Davenport Berry writes about one of her ancestors in colonial America who defied authorities by brewing strong beer – and charging extra for it... (Read More)

Illustration: a woman's hand with a ring, signifying she is a "grass widow"

Was Great-Grandma a Grass Widow?

By Gena Philibert-Ortega on July 24, 2020

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega explains what a “grass widow” is – a term genealogists run across in their research... (Read More)

Photo: "Winnie Mae," Wiley Post's Lockheed Vega airplane, when it was on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, 29 January 2008. Credit: Jarek Tuszyński; Wikimedia Commons.

Wiley Post: First Solo Flight around the World, in 1933

By Tony Pettinato on July 22, 2020

An article about Wiley Post becoming the first person to fly solo around the world, on 22 July 1933... (Read More)

Photo: American Chop Suey. Credit: Roundhere44; Wikimedia Commons.

Regional Food: The Mysterious Case of Soupy Macaroni

By Gena Philibert-Ortega on July 21, 2020

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega searches old newspapers for American Chop Suey recipes – and to find the various names Americans call this dish... (Read More)

Photo: "Burning of Stamp Act, Boston" from a postcard, 1903. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Ancestor’s Outrageous Bar Bill Shows Extent of Stamp Act Protests & Drinking

By Melissa Berry on July 20, 2020

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry writes about a riotous night of drinking in September 1765 while protesting the Stamp Act. .. (Read More)

Illustration: “Endicott and the Red Cross,” by William Allen Wall, 1853. Credit: New Bedford Whaling Museum.

The Story Behind an Ancestor’s Unusual Name: Truecross Davenport

By Melissa Berry on July 17, 2020

In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry searches old newspapers to find the story behind the unusual name of a woman in colonial America: Truecross... (Read More)

Photo: (L to R) British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Harry S. Truman, and Soviet leader Josef Stalin in the garden of Cecilienhof Palace before meeting for the Potsdam Conference in Potsdam, Germany, 25 July 1945. Credit: National Archives and Records Administration.

Uneasy Alliance of the ‘Big Three’ at WWII’s Potsdam Conference

By Tony Pettinato on July 16, 2020

On 16 July 1945, leaders of the “Big Three” allied countries were in Potsdam, Germany, preparing for the next day’s start of the Potsdam Conference... (Read More)