All About America explores American culture, politics, trends, history, ideals and places of interest. Librarians-turned-spies helped fight the Nazis by deploying their information gathering and organizing skills as weapons during World War II. These secret agents collected everything from local newspapers and trade journals to underground resistance pamphlets, technological manuals, economic reports and land surveys. […]
Thousands of people from across the United States volunteer for a very exclusive holiday experience: decorating the White House for Christmas. Of all of those applicants, only 300 are chosen. The volunteers work during Thanksgiving week, although they do have Thanksgiving Day off. In all, 4,572 meters of ribbon, 142,000 lights, 34,000 ornaments, 22,000 bells, […]
Painting of George Washington with his family, wife Martha, and her grandchildren, by artist Edward Savage. In September 1789, members of America’s first Congress approached the nation’s first president, George Washington, and asked him to call for a national Thanksgiving. That seemingly benign request ignited a furor in Congress over presidential powers and states’ rights. […]
Every year, on the fourth Thursday in November, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a commemoration of the 1621 harvest feast when the colonists, who came from England, shared a friendly meal with the land’s Indigenous people. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, site of the first Thanksgiving, historians and others try to separate fact from fiction surrounding the legend […]