The close of the Civil War ushered in profound changes in the character of American society. The North emerged from the war at the forefront of the process of recasting the national identity. In spite of the men it had lost, the North had been secure...

A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management; while tenant farmers...

In the middle of a nationwide manhunt during the most watched case of his career, Ed Brown sneaked away from detectives and reporters alike to teach Sunday school. The lesson: "Facing Opposition.""It really blesses you when you step back to think, 'This came up right...

Mass public shootings have become such a part of American life in recent decades that the most dramatic of them can be evoked from the nation's collective memory in a word or two: Luby's. Jonesboro. Columbine.And now, Virginia Tech.Since Aug. 1, 1966, when Charles Whitman...

New Yorkers who missed The Quilts of Gee's Bend, an exhibition seen at the Whitney Museum of American Art during the winter of 2002-3, should have their collective knuckles soundly rapped. There can't have been an excuse good enough to merit by passing a show...

Roy Reiman started out as a farm boy. Now he's a philanthropist.In between, he built "the world's best publishing company you never heard of." That's how Reader's Digest then-CEO Thomas Ryder put it in 2002, announcing the $760 million buy of Reiman Publications.At the time,...