When American Governors and Moguls Came Together to Prevent Environmental
Catastrophe

A Historic 1908 Conference Transcended Party and Personal Interest for the ‘Common Good’

At the turn of the 20th century, floods, fires, and waste plagued the United States. Industries burned through resources and blew toxins into the air, with few restrictions. States and federal governments were only beginning to approach questions of the environment and did so in piecemeal ways.

In 1907, responding to the need to improve transportation, President Theodore Roosevelt tasked the Inland Waterways Commission with studying how to better manage rivers. The commissioners recognized a need for interstate coordination in this effort. Two in particular—Gifford Pinchot and William John “WJ” McGee—went …

The Global Women’s Movements That Helped Kamala Harris Rise | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The Global Women’s Movements That Helped Kamala Harris Rise

The Vice President-Elect Rides a New Wave of Feminism—Led by Women of Color From Africa and Asia to South America—to the White House

As Kamala Harris readies to take the oath of office this January, she does so knowing that she will be the first woman, the first Black woman, the first Asian …

That Time I Urinated on the White House Lawn

It Was 1954. Eisenhower Was President. And There Were No Barking Dogs or Secret Service Agents in Sight.

On a warm summer evening in 1954, my high school classmate Gerry and I walked up to the steel fence topped by tall bronze spears that surrounded the Eisenhower White …