Women of the West, in a Town Called Opportunity

In some states, as many as one in five Homestead deeds were given to women. They had to be 21 years old and the head of their household, which allowed single, divorced or widowed women to claim land. “Any woman who can stand her own company, can see the beauty of the sunset, loves growing things and is willing to put in as much time at careful labor as she does over the washtub, will certainly succeed, will have independence, plenty to eat all the time, and a home of her own in the end.”

Bridge-It Jones’s Diary, Part I: The Brooklyn Bridge

She did all the duties of a chief engineer while her husband formally retained that title. She oversaw daily construction progress and decisions, navigating the needs of politicians, employed engineers and all of the workers, and built 👏 that👏 bridge👏.

Like, you’re welcome, America. You’re welcome, New York.

Raindrop. Drop top. She built a bridge when her man stopped.

The Historical Precedent for Turning 25

History remembers Queen Elizabeth I as one of England’s most successful and beloved rulers. She ushered in the Elizabethan Era, a period of unparalleled prosperity for the empire, which gave us William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. She stopped the persecution of religious minorities and led one of England’s most impressive military victories with her defeat of the Spanish Armada. And she did it all without seeming to give one single damn about what anyone else thought about her.

The Recent Past: Dorothy Counts

Imagine the meanest, worst-behaved 15-year-old boys you’ve ever encountered. Now add a thick coat of racism, total non-intervention by teachers and school staff, and the fact that a black girl entering an all-white school was entirely unprecedented, and you might get some idea of what Dorothy Counts experienced as she walked into the school.

The History of Black History Month

Negro History and Literature Week was never supposed to be about just two men, one of whom was white. It was supposed to honor the “countless black men and women who had contributed to the advance of human civilization.”

A (Female!) Buffalo Soldier

The first and only female Buffalo Soldier, who served in the Union Army and then in the U.S. Army, did so while pretending to be a man. This brave lady, Cathay Williams, offered her life in service to the United States even though she was born a slave. And her story ends in mystery and injustice.

Let’s Do The Time Warp: A Time Capsule in the Massachusetts Statehouse

The box sat there for over 150 years. Harley died. His children died. His children’s children died. Then, one day, in 2014, a water main in the statehouse needed repairs.

It took conservators from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts seven hours to safely remove the box from the cornerstone. They x-rayed the contents and then, in a press conference, removed the historical artifacts one by one.

Party Like It’s 1829

The campaign had been one of the nastiest and most grueling in presidential history. On one side, a former Secretary of…

2016: It’s History.

Coming to you from Atlanta with a look back at the year and our first 10 months of producing Sistory.