Nine Black Cat Stickers
They crossed our path and we lived to tell the tale. Check them out in the Street Arts Graphics Collection!
At First, the Guitar Was a “Women’s Instrument”
The history of the guitar shows that musical instruments have been gendered—but just how changes over time.
The Bizarre Marvels of Segundo de Chomón, Father of Spanish Cinema
Segundo de Chomón made “trick films” that experimented with color and temporality, influencing the surrealist work of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí.
How Trumbull Park Exposed the Brutal Legacy of Segregation
Frank London Brown’s 1959 novel, which presents a powerful story of white supremacist hatred, has been selected for the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.
The Creepy Backstory to Horatio Alger’s Bootstrap Capitalism
In a famous essay, a scholar uncovered difficult truths about Alger, whose name has been associated with the "rags to riches" myth.
The Paintings That Tried (and Failed) to Codify Race
Casta paintings of the eighteenth century tried to show who was who in New Spain. But reality was much more complicated.
Polish Posters in the RISD Library Collection
Posters are part of a tradition of object-based learning at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Lon Chaney’s Movie Monsters
You might know him from Phantom of the Opera or The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Marian Anderson Photo Archives
The African American opera singer made history with a stirring concert at the Lincoln Memorial. But there was much more to Marian Anderson.
How the Artists Union Shook Up the New Deal
When artists showed solidarity with one another and the larger labor movement, they won federal patronage.