A Usable Past

1962, Seattle, Washington, USA --- An 11-year-old girl bends light waves on the Hartl Disc inside the US Junior Laboratory of Science Pavilion at the World's Fair. This pavilion allows children to interact and gain knowledge of complicated science facts. --- Image by © Ted Spiegel/CORBIS

The FJ Holden, 1954.

No strings attached: Berlei girdles, 1954.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, circa 1905. "West Hotel." Busy both architecturally and commercially. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co.

…aaaaaand Monkees!

Cookbook collection at the Monash University Library!

British “Hello-girls” ready to “carry on” In case of an air-raid, 1938

I should be reading Glenda Gilmore’s Defying Dixie right now, but – ooh, look! pretty!

Did you know that Woodrow Wilson used sheep to keep the White House lawn trimmed during WWI?  It’s true!

But the sheep did more than keep the grass at bay. The auctioning of prized White House wool raised over $100,000 for the Red Cross. That’s equivalent to $1.5 million in today’s dollars—money that could be well spent restoring the decrepit National Mall. But even beyond the sale of shearings, the federal flock would be an economic boon for Washington. Just think of the tourist kitsch.

via GreaterGreaterWashington

Hattie McDaniel Oscar Acceptance Speech

Hattie McDaniel wins Best Supporting Actress for Gone With The Wind, becoming the first black actor to win an Academy Award.

Punk Zine Archive!

Senator Verda Welcome
December 1950
Paul S. Henderson (d. 1966)
4×5 inch black and white negative
Henderson Collection, Maryland Historical Society
HEN.00.B1-054

Verda Freedom Welcome (1907-1990) was a teacher, Civil Rights leader, and the first African American woman to be elected to the state senate. Welcome moved to Baltimore in 1929 and graduated from Coppin State Teachers College. Welcome was elected to the Maryland State Senate in 1962 and survived an assassination attempt in 1964, after which two men were convicted.

h/t blackvintage