The 1917 Halifax Explosion: The World’s Largest Accidental Man-made Explosion By Donna K. Keesling December 6, 1917 dawned bright and cold in Halifax Harbor in the Canadian province of Nova [...]
British Flying Training Schools – “The seas divide, but the skies unite” By Donna K. Keesling The Texas Historical Commission’s marker at the former site of No. 1 British Flying [...]
Treaty of Paris (1783): An Honorable Peace By Donna K. Keesling Two hundred and forty years ago this month, the American Revolution officially came to an end when British and [...]
What's ahead for History Camp and The Pursuit of History and how you can be involved Next year is the 10th anniversary of History Camp. We had the first [...]
Rapidan Camp: President Hoover’s Rustic Retreat By Donna K. Keesling Beginning with George Washington, presidents of the United States have sought a place to temporarily retreat from many of the [...]
Drive-In Theaters: Movie Night Under the Stars By Donna K. Keesling “Here the whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are apt to be” said Richard Milton [...]
Great Camps of the Adirondacks: A Grand Life in the Wilderness By Donna K. Keesling In the late 19th century and early 20th century, wealthy families vacated their New York [...]
Federal Writers’ Project: Chronicling American Life During the Great Depression By Donna K. Keesling During the Great Depression, as many as one out of four Americans were without work. Through [...]
Freedmen’s Bureau – Bringing Freedpeople to Full Citizenship By Donna K. Keesling On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring "that all persons held as slaves" [...]
To 2026 or not to 2026? That is the question… With the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution approaching, many historians, teachers, historic sites, and museums are considering how to [...]
The Statue of Liberty – A Universal Symbol of Political Freedom and Democracy By Donna K. Keesling You probably know her as the Statue of Liberty or Lady Liberty, but [...]
Fresnel Lenses: Illuminating the Seacoast By Donna K. Keesling From the earliest times, man attempted to light the shoreline so that seagoing vessels would have a safer passage. But it [...]
Radio City Music Hall – “The Showplace of the Nation” Turns 90 By Donna K. Keesling In late 1929, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. decided to build a complex of [...]
Tutankhamun: 100 Years Since Carter’s Wonderful Discovery By Donna K. Keesling When British archaeologist Howard Carter declared that he saw “wonderful things” when he peeked into the tomb of Tutankhamun, [...]
Valley Forge: A Place of Transformation for the Continental Army By Donna K. Keesling In Dember of 1777, the Continental Army established its winter encampment in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Historian [...]
Pullman – America’s First Planned Industrial Community By Donna K. Keesling What comes to mind when you hear the word “Pullman?” Do you think of elegant railway sleeper cars from [...]
The WASP – First American Women to Fly for their Country By Donna K. Keesling In the late summer of 1942, twenty-eight experienced civilian women pilots volunteered to ferry aircraft [...]
Dr. Robert Krim’s work over the past 20 years has been focused on Boston’s four centuries innovation. He worked with a team to establish a very broad organization – The [...]
Chautauqua Institution: A Model for Life-Long Learning By Donna K. Keesling Founded in 1874 as a summer assembly to train Sunday school teachers, Chautauqua Institution evolved into an active community [...]
Camp David – The Presidential Retreat By Donna K. Keesling The president of the United States lives a very public life, especially when he is at the White House. Each [...]
Fred Harvey: Defining Hospitality in the American West By Donna K. Keesling Fred Harvey, a nineteenth century entrepreneur in the hospitality industry is credited with standardizing food service along the [...]
USS Constitution Proves Its Mettle By John Allison It took Naval Constructor George Claghorn and his crew of shipwrights three tries to launch the USS Constitution. On a cold October [...]
Commanding USS Constitution By Donna K. Keesling USS Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat and is the oldest sailing vessel worldwide that can still sail under her own [...]
Friendship 7: NASA’s First Manned Orbital Spaceflight By Donna K. Keesling Sixty years ago, on February 20, 1962, an Atlas 6 rocket was launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station [...]
Towns of the Swift River Valley – Lost to the Quabbin Reservoir By Donna K. Keesling Four towns – Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott – were incorporated in the Swift [...]
2021 Highlights and Accomplishments 2021 was an exciting year and included the launch of our first all-day online History Camp America; 50 online, free History Camp Discussions with historians [...]
Sparrows Point: From Steelmaking to Distribution Center Hub By Donna K. Keesling In the mid to late 1800s, the railroad industry was laying new tracks and spurring industrial growth in [...]
Operation Torch: Striking Back in North Africa By Donna K. Keesling “You have embarked for distant places where the war is being fought.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote these words [...]
The Gettysburg Address Still Resonates Today By John Allison Why should we care about the Gettysburg Address? Lincoln wasn’t the keynote speaker at the dedication of the National Cemetery on [...]
Still Searching for the “Lost Colony” By Donna K. Keesling “CRO” and “CROATOAN,” carved into a tree and a post were the only clues that Englishman John White found when [...]