Why Henry George Matters in This Second Gilded Age Edward T. O’Donnell What value does the story of Henry George, a self-taught economist from the late nineteenth century, hold for Americans living in the early 21st century? Quite a lot, if we stop to consider the ways in which contemporary … [Read more...]
Why Henry George Matters in This Second Gilded Age
The Birth of Labor Day
Back in the late nineteenth century Labor Day meant something more than a three-day weekend and the unofficial end of summer. This unique holiday was first celebrated on September 5, 1882. On that day thousands of workers in New York City risked getting fired for taking an unauthorized day off to … [Read more...]
Tubman on the New $20 Bill – Move Over Jackson
[Note: a version of this piece originally ran in the Huffington Post on April 23, 2016; You can also hear this and related pieces in Episode 010 of my podcast, In The Past Lane] The recent announcement by the United States Treasury Department that Harriet Tubman, escaped slave and abolitionist, … [Read more...]
Hercules Mulligan, Patriot Mentor and Spymaster
Who was Hercules Mulligan? Well, he certainly was a man with one of the great names in American history. Hercules Mulligan – you can’t make up a name like that. But beyond that great name, Hercules Mulligan has existed as a mere footnote for the last 200+ years of American history. That is, until … [Read more...]
America’s Last Ice Age (more recent than you think)
What on earth is an “ice famine”? Well, if you were alive in the nineteenth century and the U.S. was experiencing winter as mild as this one in 2012-2013, the newspapers would be full of stories about a potential “ice famine.” The problem was not a shortage of ice in January and February, but rather … [Read more...]
When Americans Saw Irish Immigrants as Terrorists
[NOTE - this piece accompanies a similar feature in my podcast, In The Past Lane http://inthepastlane.com/podcast-episode-007-irish-terrorists-spies-and-more/] In case you haven’t noticed, there’s lots of talk about immigration and terrorism these days. Specifically, many Americans are worried … [Read more...]
Why Do We Hold Presidential Primaries?
As the citizens of the United States follow this wild and often bewildering presidential primary process, few stop to ask a very important question: why do we have primaries in the first place? In the history of American democracy, political primaries are of relatively recent origin, so when and why … [Read more...]
Lady Liberty Had Something Else in Mind – The Statue of Liberty Originally Had NOTHING to Do with Immigration
InThePastLane.com by Edward T. O'Donnell The story of the Statue of Liberty provides an excellent opportunity to examine how the icons and traditions a society holds dear often originated with very different purposes and meanings. … [Read more...]
OP-ED The Pope is Coming to Get Us
[Please note: this piece originally appeared in the Huffington Post, September 23, 2015] When Pope Francis arrives in the United States this week, he will be greeted with an extraordinary outpouring of affection and adulation. It will come not merely from Catholics, but also from among … [Read more...]
OP-ED Laboring Against Inequality
[Note: this op-ed was originally published in Newsweek, Sept 5, 2015] This Labor Day weekend finds the United States confronted by many troubling and contentious questions related to workers and the economy. These questions range from the minimum wage to paid family leave, from collective … [Read more...]
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