the past is never dead. it's not even past.

An anti-Andrew Jackson pamphlet from the 1828 presidential campaign. These "Coffin Handbills" were widely distributed by his opponents, and attacked Jackson for, among other things, executing militiamen and massacring Native Americans. After describing how Jackson personally stabbed a man to death, the handbill asks,

The American Continental Congress actually voted for and declared independence on July 2nd. John Adams, in a letter to wife Abigail, thought this date would become a special holiday:

But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. 

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. [x]

Last Columbus Day, the oatmeal published a comic arguing that we should ditch celebrating Columbus in favor of las Casas, a Spanish priest who preached against the enslavement of and cruelty towards the indigenous people of Latin America. I'm seeing it circulating again, and I just want to voice my discomfort: yes, it's true that las Casas was a "better" man in the sense that he saw the error of his ways (he spent the first half of his life owning a slave plantation) and became "better." But, to be fair, the bar for human decency when talking about colonization was set pretty low. He was "better" because he didn't actively support barbarically enslaving, torturing, and murdering the people of the Americas...not in the sense that he saw them as human beings equal to the Spanish, and deserving of the same rights and protections. On the contrary, las Casas wrote about the natives as though they were simple, docile, and completely childlike, uninterested in wealth and knowledge. He wrote,

God created these simple people without evil and without guile.  They are most obedient and faithful to their natural lords and to the Christians whom they serve.  They are most submissive, patient, peaceful and virtuous.  Nor are they quarrelsome, rancorous, querulous, or vengeful.  Moreover they are more delicate than princes and die easily from work or illness [x].

Irene Irving Paull in the 1930s, criticizing the state of social activism towards the poor [x].

Yiddish insults are renowned for being colorful, witty, and biting, but not grievously mean. This may be because the Eastern European Jews who spoke Yiddish often lived in crowded conditions, and it was not the best idea to seriously insult a next door neighbor you saw fifteen times a day. Nonetheless, the language lets speakers say exactly what is on their mind, and nowhere is this more true than in its insults: 

May you run to the toilet every three minutes or every three months.  (Zolst azoy farfoylt vern az tsign, tchoyrn, un chazirim zoln zid opzogn tsu forn mit dir in eyn fur)

May you turn into a pancake and he into a cat. He should eat you and choke on you - that way we will be rid of both of you.  (Vern zol fun dir a blintshik in fun is a kats. Er sol dir oyfesn un mit dir zin dervargn - volt men fun ayn beyd ptur gevorn)

May your soul enter a cat and may a dog bite it.  (Dyn eshome zol arayngeyn in a kats, un a hoont zol er a bis tun)

May you be invited to a feast by the governor and may you belch in his face. (Me zol din aynladn tsum gubernator oft a seydeh in du zolst im gebn a grepts in ponem arayn)

May a soft balcony fall on your head.  (A vecher balkon dir in kop)

Women Voting at the Polls in New Jersey, 1800

Believe it or not, the first American women voters lived way back the 18th century! In 1776, early state constitutions granted American women the vote in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Through the 1770s and 80s, these rights were slowly stripped away. By the ratification of the American constitution in 1787, New Jersey was the only state left that allowed women's suffrage. Most states gave the vote to those who could meet certain property and wealth requirements, but New Jersey was unique in not specifying race or gender in their qualifications - meaning free African Americans and unmarried women (widowed or single) who owned 50 pounds' worth of property could, and did, vote. Unfortunately, this was rescinded in 1807, after a local election was overturned due to massive voter fraud, leading legislators to place the blame on minorities. Said legislator John Condict, 

Francois Boucher, Madame du Pompadour, 1756 [x].

Valentina Bukhanevich-Antonova's summer dress, 1938/39

Antonova (1907-1993) was wearing this dress when she was arrested, and continued to wear it continuously for an entire year during her stay in three Moscow prisons. She was part of the "Great Purge" of the Stalinist era, during which millions of people, particularly political party members, were arrested for arbitrary reasons, such as being part of an opposition or nationalist group, or even sustaining brief contact with someone who had already been denounced and arrested.

Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952) was a Russian revolutionary who became instrumental in achieving recognition for women's contributions to the Russian revolution. She argued that the feminist ideas of the "bourgeoise" did not apply to working-class women, who continued to be subjected to exploitation. She believed women's rights could only truly be achieved through political and economic equality for all genders. In 1913, Kollontai wrote,

"For the majority of women of the proletariat, equal rights with men would mean only an equal share in inequality, but for the 'chosen few,' for the bourgeois women, it would indeed open doors to new and unprecedented rights and privileges...but each new concession won by bourgeois woman would give her yet another weapon for the exploitation of her younger sister..."

Sarah Parker Remond: African-American Orator and Physician  Remond was born 1826 in Salem, Massachusetts, into an abolitionist family who supported her efforts to become an anti-slavery orator. She and her brother Charles Lenox Remond were two of several abolitionists chosen by the American Anti-Slavery society to tour the country in 1856, giving speeches in Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, often travelling without a male escort. Prominent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison praised her "calm, dignified manner, her winning personal appearance and her earnest appeals to the conscience and the heart." 

Remond was also responsible for one of the earliest recorded acts of the very same civil disobedience that became central to the Civil Rights Movement a century later. In 1853, Remond bought a ticket for the opera, Don Pasquale, at the Howard Athenaeum in Boston. She refused to accept segregated seating, however, and in response she was forced to leave the theatre and pushed down several stairs. Remond took action, sued for damages, and was found to be wronged by the theatre, winning an award of $500 for damages. When the Civil War broke out, the American Anti-Slavery society, recognizing Remond's skills, asked her to continue her oratorial career in Britain. In the early stages of the war, the Confederacy was hopeful for British support - because most goods were manufactured in the North, trade with Britain was crucial. Remond lectured on the cruel treatment of slaves in the Confederacy and helped raise support for a trade blockade with the Confederacy. 

An excerpt from an 1859 speech shows how strong and poetic her speeches were, and her attempts to appeal to the morality of her British audience: 

"I ask you, raise the moral public opinion until its voice reaches the American shores. Aid us thus until the shackles of the American slave melt like dew before the morning sun. I ask for especial help from the women of England. Women are the worst victims of the slave power. I am met on every hand by the cry, "cotton! cotton!" I cannot stop to speak of cotton while men and women are being brutalised [x]."

After the war, she continued to give speeches, soliciting mass funds to help feed and clothe the millions of freed slaves that had come out of the war.

Anti-Religion Campaigns in the Soviet Union

Imagine this: an entire working class neighborhood in a bustling city is completely demolished over the course of three decades to make way for modern high-rise condominiums and office space. That’s exactly what happened to the West End neighborhood of Boston in 1958.

Since the 1920’s, the area had been home to thousands of Irish, Italian, and Jewish families, many of whom were working-class, second generation immigrants. Many tried to retain their unique cultural and religious traditions, and the neighborhood was a mixture of families living side-by-side. Street culture ruled: kids played, women congregated and gossiped after church, men smoked on street corners. While the buildings were often dilapidated, West Enders took great pride in making sure their apartments were clean and comfortable. Most importantly, rent was affordable and the location in central Boston would have been unattainable for working class families anywhere else. 

By the 1950s, cities across America were undergoing urban renewal projects in efforts to "modernize" and draw affluent, white suburbanites back into the city. The narrow streets, alleys, and dense blocks of tenements didn't exactly meld with the midcentury idea of a "modern city." The West End was labeled a slum and scheduled for demolition. Landlords were instructed to stop repairing their buildings, and people who had called the neighborhood home for decades were pushed out to the outer areas of Boston. The entire neighborhood was razed over the course of 30 years and rebuilt from the ground up. While affordable housing units in new condos were promised, those who took the initiative to move back found the old sense of community gone. By the 1980s, it was decided that the project had largely been a failure.