NELLIE ON THE FLY

Long before journalists were “embedded,” Nellie Bly amazed readers from inside an asylum and by circling the globe — in 72 days.

DUELING HISTORIES (VIDEO)

Why are Americans so divided? Whole books have tried to answer. The Attic explains it in three minutes (and change.)

AMERICA'S DIY MUSIC -- JUG BAND

Got the blues? Listen to its offspring and try not to smile. And hear six jug band tunes in “I Hear America Singing.”

CAROL GILLIGAN AND THE BOOK THAT LISTENED TO GIRLS

The study said… The study said… Then Carol Gilligan realized. The study had only studied boys. Might girls speak “In a Different Voice”?

REBELS, BOOK-ISHThe AtticDecember 31, 2018Carol Gilligan, Women's psychology, Girls education, STEM Comments

FANNIE LOU HAMER -- IS THIS AMERICA?

Fannie Lou Hamer was the soul of Mississippi’s civil rights movement. Soon all of America would hear her voice.

JEANNETTE RANKIN -- THE WOMAN WHO SAID 'NO' TO WAR

As the first woman in Congress, Montana's Jeannette Rankin had many goals. But war intervened -- twice.

HEROESThe AtticDecember 15, 2018women, history, Jeannette Rankin, World War I, Pacifism, Women in politics Comments

HELEN KELLER'S MOMENT

Deaf, dumb, and blind, she lived “at sea in a dense fog.” And then her teacher came. (As seen in “The Miracle Worker.”)

W.E.B. DUBOIS -- LIFTING THE VEIL OF RACE

Long before Martin Luther King, W.E.B. DuBois had a dream.

HEROES, BOOK-ISHThe AtticNovember 25, 2018People of Color, W.E.B. DuBois, The Soul of Black FolkComment

KEROUAC ON THE BRINK

On Desolation Peak, Jack Kerouac expected to find God. Instead he found himself, and his best book, The Dharma Bums.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticNovember 23, 2018Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, "On the Road", Beats, Beat literature, The Beats Comments

THE AMAZING TOWERS OF WATTS

One man. A vision. Thirty years working in his backyard. The Watts Towers are "as pure a work of art as this country can rightly call its own."

BUILDERS, WONDERS, ART-ISHThe AtticNovember 14, 2018Simon Rodia, Watts Towers, Folk art, Art, American Originals Comments

FLAME

A century ago, in the bleakest of years, other poets despaired. But one lit her candle -- at both ends.

BOOK-ISHThe AtticNovember 1, 2018Edna St. Vincent Millay, American poetry, Women poets, Millay Comments

HARVEY MILK -- OUT OF THE CLOSET, INTO THE HEART

Loss after loss, Harvey Milk kept battering at the door. If he could only “give them hope.” (As seen in “Milk.”)

REBELS, ATTIC AT THE MOVIESThe AtticOctober 16, 2018Harvey Milk, Gay Rights, San Francisco, The Castro, Dan WhiteComment

"SHENANDOAH" AND THE ATTIC OF OUR PAST

A shrill song is stuck in our heads. Once it plays out, we should listen to the old tunes.

FOLKIESThe AtticOctober 8, 2018Folk music, Music, Shenandoah, Shenandoah National Park Comments

ART FROM THE ALLEYS -- THE ASHCAN SCHOOL

American art was pretty and pink until The Ashcan School took the streets as its canvas.

ART-ISHThe AtticOctober 8, 2018Ashcan School, Glackens, Robert Henri, John Sloan, American Art Comments

THIS IS LONDON!

Radio news was dead on arrival until Edward R. Murrow went live from the rooftops of London.

History, HEROESThe AtticOctober 5, 2018Edward R. Murrow, Hear it Now, World War II, London Blitz, Radio Comment

MISS MITCHELL'S COMET

Alone on an island rooftop, Maria Mitchell’s telescope “swept” the stars. Could a woman calculate the clockwork of heaven?

DREAMERSThe AtticOctober 3, 2018Maria Mitchell, Astronomy, Vassar, Comets Comments