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James H. Kirkland studied grammar and literature in Leipzig in the 1880s, part of a wave of Americans earning degrees abroad. He believed that study of bigger philosophical questions was important, not merely for career advancement, but for personal…

University tradition describes this award as a contest for the most popular male student who represented “the ideal of young manhood.” Elected by his peers, the Bachelor of Ugliness was first chosen on Founder’s Day in 1895. In 1898, writers at Phi…

The six-month Tennessee Centennial attracted over one-and-a-half-million tourists to see the “Athens of the South.” Despite extensive railway promotion, attendance was low due to an outbreak of Yellow Fever across the Gulf States. Like San…

The six-month Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition attracted over one-and-a-half-million tourists to see the “Athens of the South.” Despite extensive railway promotion, attendance was low due to an outbreak of Yellow Fever across the…

Completed in 1695, Fort Marion (now Castillo de San Marcos) is the oldest surviving masonry fort in the continental U.S. Engineer Ignazio Daza followed standards for building defensive structures that would withstand cannon projectiles and maximize…

The Union Pacific Railroad tracks visible in the right half of this image connect Pulpit Rock near Echo City with Portland and San Francisco. The town provided coal and water for trains entering Echo Canyon. Echo began as a stopover on the Mormon…

After the Civil War, telegraph and railroad companies created new demands for natural resources. The four major western survey expeditions mapped geological features and mineral resources of the Western Territories targeting military posts and…

In 1874, Congress debated civilian versus military control of the four western mapping surveys. Hayden’s Survey, mapping the western territories, joined the U.S. Department of the Interior. Named for explorer Zebulon Pike, the area grew in the 1890s…

Images of natural landmarks were also part of the North American views published by the Detroit Photographic Company. When New York was the nation’s capital, Alexander Hamilton picked Patterson as a site for an industrial city in 1792 based on the…

Like postcards, photochrom prints appealed to consumers as souvenirs of landscapes, tourist attractions, and idealized locales. Carmelita Garden in Pasadena showcased plants from around the world, all seen thriving in Southern California’s mild…