History is being made every day, and the week of January 26th has historically been extra significant. From huge moments in pop culture history to the start of massive civil rights movements, these day-to-day events became something much bigger. Using the resources available in the Community History Archives, we can experience the events of this […]

Each year, kids eagerly write to old Saint Nick to tell him what they hope to see under their Christmas tree, a tradition that has spanned generations. Around this time last year, I shared a handful of old letters to Santa I found in our partner’s archives. I had such a blast doing this last […]

First, we have some reflections of Christmas memories from The Akron Hometowner, published in Akron, Iowa, on December 14th, 2016. Three women, one of whom was 97, shared their favorite Christmas memories with the paper. Sybil Campbell remembers playing with her cousins, going to midnight mass, and helping her mother cook dinner during the holidays. […]

On a cool October day in 2003, excitement was growing among fans of the NBA as the rookie Lebron James prepared for his first game in the professional league. An extremely talented player, Lebron was drafted straight from high school as a first-round draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Going pro straight out of high […]

Starting off we have some Halloween-themed treat recipes from Fort Stockton, Texas. These recipes were published in the Fort Stockton Pioneer on October 20, 2011. The article briefly describes the origins of Halloween– it was originally a Celtic festival called Samhain– and compares the similarities between the festival and modern traditions. The author’s personal favorite […]

The first comic I pulled out is an edition of ‘Baby Blues’ from The Quincy Herald Whig, published on October 16th, 2011. Baby Blues first appeared in papers in 1990, and has been published in the Sunday comics all over the country since then. The comic strip is centered on the Macpherson family as they […]

On October 1st, 2024, Claudia Sheinbaum made history. Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, was sworn into office that day, becoming the first female president in Mexican history. Not only was she the first female president of Mexico, but she was also the first Jewish descent president. The journey to becoming president was full […]

Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on September 26th, 2024. The category four hurricane was the second major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season. With 252 fatalities, Helene was the deadliest hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Fears lingering from Katrina and other […]

Occupy Wall Street was a protest that began on September 17, 2011, but lasted far beyond a single day. The protest was a result of the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. Many Americans found themselves in bad financial situations, and grew angry as the income gap between the upper and middle classes began to […]

Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, caused a controversy that grew beyond the scope of football. Kaepernick had been sitting on the bench during the national anthem for the 2016 pre-season games. His actions were a form of peaceful protest sparked by the killings of multiple black men that summer, joining a […]

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit the Gulf Coast in the 21st century. On August 28, 2005, a day before the storm reached Louisiana, it intensified to a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds at times reaching 145 mph. The next day, Katrina brought devastating winds and floods to the […]

Sometimes the answer you are looking for is the one hiding in plain sight. This was certainly the case for Kristofer Helgen and his team, who set out into the cloud forests of South America to answer the question of a mistaken identity. In many museum collections, his team found multiple teeth and pelts labeled […]

On August 8, 2023, parts of the Hawaiian Island of Maui were set ablaze as wildfires began to break out. A combination of high wind speeds and dry weather created the perfect conditions for a small blaze to turn into a massive wildfire. The worst of the fire’s impact was felt in the city of […]