Magazine Archives:American History

Richly illustrated, relentlessly researched, and vividly written, American History magazine delivers unexpected insights into familiar and unfamiliar topics and characters crucial to our national story. The magazine’s compelling portrayals of events and individuals will surprise and delight readers who seek dynamic historical writing that illuminates the intersections between past and present.

Facebook | Twitter

Drawing of a enthusiastic audience roaring its approval of a speech by Carl Schurz in New York City’s Cooper Union.

European Monarchs Crushed Rebellions in the Mid-1800s — and America Benefited

by Raanan Geberer7/4/20237/12/2023

Photo of men testing an electric train in Thomas Edison experimental laboratory. Menlo Park, 13th May 1880.

Zap! American Railroads Go Electric

by Richard Brownell6/20/20236/22/2023

A Look at Fallingwater

by Dana B. Shoaf6/14/20236/15/2023

Photo of The Drake Well Museum and Park, where in 1859 Edwin Drake drilled a successful oil well and launched the modern oil industry, Titusville, Pennsylvania.

The Small Pennsylvania Town Where the US Oil Industry Started

by Heidi Campbell-Shoaf6/13/20236/13/2023

Painting, The Mount House, by William Sidney Mount.

The Racially Diverse Paintings of a 19th-Century American Artist

by Katherine Kirkpatrick and Vivian Nicholson-Mueller6/9/20236/9/2023

Photo of a Colonial Revival kitchen that was created in 1930 and sponsored by Oklahoma at the DAR museum.

What Does Home Mean?

by Melissa A. Winn6/6/20236/7/2023

Photo of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (left) rides in an automobile with Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes (center), and Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace (right). The photo was taken in August of 1933, at the beginning of the New Deal administration.

No One Wants to Grow Up and Be Vice President: The Worst Job in American Politics

by Richard Brookhiser5/30/20235/3/2023

Photo of American financier and president of the New York Stock Exchange Richard Whitney poses with his wife Gertrude (nee Sheldon Sands) and his daughter Nancy at an unidentified event, 1934.

From Embezzling Millions to Milking Cows, the Rise and Fall of a Wall Street Swindler

by Peter Carlson5/23/20235/23/2023

Rare painting of President Abraham Lincoln.

‘Old Abe’ is 9 Feet Tall in Rare Lincoln Portrait

by Melissa A. Winn5/16/20235/3/2023

It’s May Day!

by Dana B. Shoaf5/10/20235/10/2023