ERIC HOFFER, LONGSHOREMAN FOR THE MASSES

When The True Believer made his name, Eric Hoffer was a San Francisco longshoreman. Decades later, the zealots he labeled “true believers,” are still “everywhere on the march.”

BASEBALL'S P.T. BARNUM

Owing team after team, Bill Veeck loved baseball and fans and fun. Not necessarily in that order.

THE SUPREMES AND THE FLAG

With soldiers coming home in flag-draped caskets, the Supreme Court considered the Pledge of Allegiance. The ruling may surprise you.

THE WOMAN WHO SPOKE TO COMPUTERS

When Grace Hopper met those beastly first computers, they spoke only in numbers. “Grandma COBOL” soon taught them English.

HOLDEN CAULFIELD HITS THE BEACH

June 6, 1944 — Sgt. Salinger, with drafts of The Catcher in the Rye in his pack, lands at Normandy.

HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE -- 13,000 KIDS, 97 BLOCKS, AND "WHATEVER IT TAKES"

The streets taught Geoffrey Canada hard lessons. His Harlem Children’s Zone is teaching success.

teachersThe AtticMay 24, 2019Geoffrey Canada, Harlem Children's Zone, Teaching, Inner city schoolsComment

WHEN BIGOTRY STRUCK OUT

When the Massachusetts team went South, its star black player came face-to-face with Jim Crow. And guess what the whole team did for Bunny?

History, HEROESThe AtticMay 17, 2019Springfield Mass, Baseball, Race Comments

TEXAS HARNESSES HOT AIR

Texas has seen the future and it blows. Wind energy, that is.

American PlacesThe AtticMay 17, 2019Texas, Wind energy, Alternative energyComment

"ICARUS" -- THE PHOTO THAT FLEW

It took courage to build skyscrapers, and courage to photograph the ones who “built America.”

IDA TARBELL -- THE WOMAN WHO TOOK ON ROCKEFELLER

Few battles had been so mismatched. A billionaire tycoon vs. a woman with a pen. The winner?

MARIAN ANDERSON AND THE CONCERT THAT STIRRED AMERICA

When the D.A.R. turned Marian Anderson away, Eleanor Roosevelt and friends found a better venue.

Women, History, HEROESThe AtticFebruary 21, 2019Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lincoln Memorial, D.A.R. Comment

HOPE'S PERSISTENT CHAMPION

"The future is dark, with a darkness as much of the womb as the grave." -- Rebecca Solnit

BOOK-ISHThe AtticFebruary 15, 2019women, lit, american originals Comments

ALAN LOMAX AND "WHERE THE SONGS LIVE"

The songs came and went but Alan Lomax hunkered down and caught them — for all time and for all people.

THE WOMAN WHO SAID 'NO' TO MCCARTHY

Bullied into silence, Congress got a lesson in integrity from Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME).

HEROES, DEMOCRACYThe AtticFebruary 8, 2019Margaret Chase Smith, Joseph McCarthy, McCarthyism, Idealism, 1950s Comments

JACOB LAWRENCE -- BLACK AND WHITE IN COLOR

The history was black. The colors were Harlem. Jacob Lawrence interwove them and lit up the past.

ART-ISHThe AtticFebruary 8, 2019Jacob Lawrence, Harlem art, Harlem, African-American art Comment

MR. FEYNMAN GOES TO WASHINGTON

When the physicist investigated the Challenger, America got a lesson from a master.

Science, teachersThe AtticJanuary 31, 2019feynman, challenger, science, American Originals Comments