Whether you consider the Olympic Games a triumph of human endeavor and achievement, or an appalling cesspool of corruption and drug experimentation, it is that rare mega-event that always grabs the world’s attention. […]
Fannie Barrier Williams celebrated
Progressive Era activist and reformer Fannie Barrier Williams was one of the most prominent educated African American women of her generation. A new effort to honor the woman who was a prominent spokesperson […]
“Serious crimes” keep Corrupt Illinois figure in prison
Inmate No. 40892-424, better known as former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, had hoped to he would be able to return home early. Those hopes were dashed by a the federal […]
Release Party: Mister Pulitzer and the Spider
New in stores, Mister Pulitzer and the Spider marks the release of a truly monumental reconsideration of what journalism’s journey from the 1800s to today. A spidery network of mobile online […]
Q&A with Afro-Paradise author Christen A. Smith
Christen A. Smith is Assistant Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Anthropology at The University of Texas at Austin. Below she answers questions about her book Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: Welcome to the Machine
With robots and other thinking devices prepared to replace us in about eight days, we thought it time to curry favor by highlighting UIP titles that engage the dilemmas and […]
Release Party: Indians Illustrated
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Americans swarmed to take in a raft of new illustrated journals and papers. Engravings and drawings of “buckskinned braves” and “Indian princesses” […]
200 Years of Illinois: Playing the Numbers
On July 30, 1974, the state government of Illinois changed the dream life of its citizens. That day, the first state lottery tickets went on sale. Opened as a cabinet level […]
Happy birthday, Eugene Kinckle Jones
Social activist and influential executive secretary of the National Urban League Eugene Kinckle Jones was born on July 30, 1885. Felix L. Armfield‘s biography Eugene Kinckle Jones: The National Urban League […]
Trivia Friday
Answers below. 1. Alta Saunders (nee Gwinn) co-founded the U. of I. chapter of the Delta Gamma sorority. Along with her sister Delta Gammas, Alta spearheaded the purchase of the […]
Hillary the “Boss’s Wife from Hell”
Tonight, former U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will throw down political style as she officially kicks off her bid for the White House. The speech will cap twenty-five years in a […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: Women’s Work
Well, less than 100 years after women won the right to vote, one of them is running for the White as the nominee of a major political party. Tonight, Hillary […]