The 50th anniversaries of the Stonewall riots and my entry into the field of early childhood education prompt me to reflect both on the initial years of my activist and professional life and on these, the final ones. Feeling historical, increasingly connected to both the past and the future, I am discomforted by traditional notions of legacy,…

Stories live to be told to others, Dan McAdams (2008) writes: "Life stories therefore are continually made and remade in social relationships and in the overall social context provided by culture. As psychosocial constructions, life stories reflect the values, norms, and power differentials inherent in societies, wherein they have their…

Background/Context: Women's sexuality, and the ways they experience it, has been a major topic in feminist theories and movements throughout history. For the more than 20,000 working-class women who participated in the Free Women movement in Spain (the libertarian women's movement, which started in 1936), women's sexuality was also a key topic in…

The movie "Lee Daniels' The Butler" is an example of a work that is meant not only to entertain but to convey an important attitude and offer important viewpoints. The movie deals with a deep issue in the history of movies and the history of the country: racial inequality. Three issues are discussed in this article: (a) African…

American publishers have published numerous children's books about Barack Obama over the past several years; most take the form of informational biographies. This article reports on a research project aimed at how these books incorporate sociohistorical narratives, particularly those related to the civil rights movement. Though the features of the…

Comparing the biographies of individuals is a technique that can be used to illuminate the larger history of a society. As an illustration, comparative biographies of two dissident leaders, Huey Long and Father Charles Coughlin, are discussed to show how they reflect the social and political history of the 1930s. (RM)

Four authors of young adult literature describe a year off from writing, the manner in which a nonfiction author chooses his subject matter, what impelled a journalist to write his first novel 20 years ago, and how a novelist calls her imagination into play in the writing process and why she does not like to discuss it. (NKA)

Through her studies of "subordinated populations," Shirley Brice Heath has committed herself to fostering appreciation of diverse cultures and understanding how those cultures affect children's learning experiences. While at Stanford University, Heath began studying neighborhood-based organizations in three major cities. These groups…

Discusses how the intersection of biography and history serves as an appropriate vantage point for understanding human lives. Explains how a course which embodied this idea was developed and implemented focusing on the 1935 Vassar class. Examines oral histories as a central feature in designing and conducting the course. (GEA)

Presents information related to the attempts on discovering the true identity of Tituba. Focuses on theories presented about her identity and her role in the Salem (Massachusetts) witchcraft trials. Discusses the images of Tituba portrayed in literature and U.S. history. (CMK)

Evaluates biographies of Cesar Chavez for children and teenagers and provides descriptions of recent books on the children of migrant farm workers. The books, mostly published in the 1990s, cover Chavez's rise as a farm worker activist and include several new works that address the social history of Chavez and the farm workers' struggle. (GR)

Follows Kumar Goshal's life, which led him from the theatre to a position with the "National Guardian," where he was revered as an expert on Asia and Africa and the struggles going on throughout the underdeveloped world. Focuses on the viewpoint on world affairs that he introduced to leftists. (JS)

Offers a bibliography that provides suggestions for further information on the First Ladies. Types of information sources suggested include general overviews of the First Ladies, biographies and autobiographies of First Ladies, specialized studies, White House social history resources, and books for young people. (CMK)

This article tells the stories of four middle class, white, English women whose participation in educational policy making is little known: Annie Leigh Browne (1851-1936), Margaret MacDonald (1870-1911), Hilda Miall-Smith (born 1861) and Honnor Morten (1861-1913). In doing so, it provides a perspective on the circumstances that enabled or…

Presents a review of stories about and historical portrayals of Pocahontas, the Native American who saved John Smith in Colonial America. Indicates that prescripted roles for women and Native Americans have been variously applied to her. Argues that for all the interpretations, there is a dearth of works by Native Americans on the subject. (10…