The American Menu

Savannah, Georgia  1896-1907  The message inscribed on the back of this postcard from the De Soto Hotel in Savannah, Georgia closes with the...

Washington, D.C.,  1859  One of the last glittering events of the antebellum era occurred in February of 1859 when a ball was held for Briti...

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...