The American Menu

The South and West  April 14 – May 15, 1891   In the spring of 1891, two years after being in office, President Benjamin Harrison embarked o...

New York City,  1905  John W. Gates (1855-1911) was a steel magnate, financier, and gambler. He became widely known as “Bet-a-Million” Gates...

New York City,  1906  The Waldorf Hotel was built with women in mind. Proprietor George Bolt’s wife, Louise, was herself a hôtelière ...

New York City, 1906 This manuscript account book, bearing a typed label reading “Property of Mr. Oscar,” recently came into the collec...

Oakland,  ca. 1880 Novelist Gertrude Stein returned to the United States in 1934 after a 30-year absence. While crisscrossing the cou...

Paris, ca. 1928 Willis Morgan was among the several hundred thousand African-American soldiers sent to France during the First World W...

Paris,  1878-1923  French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted this portrait of a waitress at one of the Établissements Duval, ...

Steamer James Montgomery ca. 1858  Steamboats played a major role in transporting passengers and freight on the Mississippi River and...

Christmas, 1878-1882 Emerging from a deep economic depression, the United States entered a period of rapid industrial growth in 1878. ...

Kunming, China Christmas 1943  The eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains was called “The Hump” by pilots who flew transport aircraft b...