This Learning Lab collection explores the life of Anna Dickinson, an abolitionist who became a prominent public speaker as a teenager during the Civil War. Consider the following guiding and supporting questions as you navigate the collection: What is the power of youth voice in the fight against

American women have always worked, but their work in the home is often unpaid and invisible. One way to see this work is through what women wore. This labor—cleaning, cooking, child rearing, and other care work—fused with notions of what it meant to be a woman and shaped Americans’ ideas ab

These shoes, worn by dancer Stella Abrera in a January 2018 production of The Nutcracker, have been pancaked to match Abrera's skin color. When they are dancing without wearing tights, dancers pancake their shoes to match their skin color.Stella Abrera joined the American Ballet Theatre in 1996 and

“The word “philanthropy” has had different meanings throughout American history, and the changing fortunes of the word reflect various eras’ debates about exercising power through giving. African American women in Philadelphia presented this fireman’s presentation trumpet to white firemen

“They had just arrived in a foreign country and the small girl’s mother was sent away. Ernest and Mimi Hausner fled their home in Vienna in 1938, when little Evelyn was just a toddler. Nazi Germany had annexed Austria, putting the lives of Jews like the Hausners at risk. They made it to England

“A sudden tragedy thrust Rebecca Lukens into the family business and into history, making her the nation’s first woman industrialist and the only woman to run and eventually own an iron mill in the United States during the 1800s. In 1825, at the age of 31 and expecting her sixth child, Rebecca L

This Santa Cruz helmet was worn by downhill skateboarder Judi Oyama while racing during the late 1970's and into the 1980s. Oyama began skating as a teen and was sponsored by Santa Cruz Skateboards in the mid-seventies. She skated both vert and street but her passion was slalom and downhill racing w

A New Havel Motor brand pocket watch with black faceplate and radium painted numbers and clock hands. The watch case is made of plated metal and has a ridged winding mechanism at the top. "New Haven Motor" and "Radium" are printed in white lettering on the watch face.In the 1910s–1920s, radium was

Speaking before hundreds of thousands of people can be nerve-racking. But you'd never guess that watching Naomi Wadler. At age 11, she rose to national prominence as a leader in the 2018 March for Our Lives to end gun violence. She remembers becoming politically aware at age 5 when George Zimmerman

“While the iconic egg-shaped Beautyblender sponge is wildly popular and used by makeup professionals and everyday people from all backgrounds all over the world, few people know the story behind the company and how it got its start. The history and development of Beautyblender, as well as the life