By Karolina Castro, ’16            Stokely Carmichael was a Trinidadian-American revolutionary of the Civil Right era known for popularizing the term “Black Power.” Carmichael started his activist career as a student at Howard University in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).  He later became the prime minister of the Black Panther Party before moving in 1969 to Guinea and advocating for Pan Africanism as a … Continue reading Black Power, Kwame Ture, and College Activism in the 1960s and 1970s

By Caitlin McCallister, ’16 Former USSR president Mikhail Gorbachev visited Virginia the week of April 10, 1993, where he spoke at several colleges, including the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the University of Virginia. Coming about two years after resigning as Soviet president and six years after US President Ronald Reagan’s “Tear Down This Wall” speech in Berlin, Gorbachev was an intriguing guest … Continue reading Gorbachev: Giving and Gaining Legitimacy in Richmond, Virginia

By Brendan O’ Connor, ’16     For many people and places within the United States, the 1960s and 70s were transformational decades in American culture and politics–years of social reform, cultural creativity, and political conflict. In these years, rock music was undergoing constant redefinitions, as the emergence of top 40 pop radio was contrasted by the psychedelic movement and jam-bands of the later 60s, and … Continue reading Bruce, Rock & Roll, and Richmond: Times of Transition

By Caroline Weber, ’16 Growing up in Kansas, Amelia Earhart was viewed as  a “tomboy.”  Instead of playing with dolls, she could be found climbing trees and hunting rats. She did, however, enjoy designing clothing during weekly sewing lessons, one of the few typically female activities that she would continue to practice throughout her life. Born during a time when the issue of women’s rights … Continue reading Flight, Fashion, and Feminism: Amelia Earhart Ventures into Clothing Design

By Kasey McGhee, ’17 After English colonists landed in Virginia in the 1600s, they  established a social divide based on skin color. The Europeans regarded African slaves and Indians as a barbaric other. However, as time progressed and laws evolved, Virginians came to classify Africans and Indians differently. In his Notes on the State of Virginia,Thomas Jefferson, I compared the two groups in 1785, noting … Continue reading Black Hawk: A Study of Native Americans in Virginia and their Role in American Cultural Studies