September/October 2014

Photo caption

James Abbott McNeill Whistler by Walter Greaves, a studio assistant to Whistler in London, where Whistler defended his experimental work in court. See "How did James McNeill Whistler create his distinctive brand?"

Volume 35, Issue 5

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HUMANITIES: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities

In This Issue

James Abbott McNeill Whistler in a grey suit and yellow tie, hand on his hip

How James McNeill Whistler Became a Brand and Fought for It in Court

An artist sues his biggest critic.

Mary Zajac

black and white photo of Sontag, lying down with her hands underneath her head

Susan Sontag, Essayist and So Much Else

A new film on Susan Sontag gives an intimate look at her passions.

Emily St. John Mandel

Teddy Roosevelt from the chest up, drawn using charcoal, wearing eyeglasses

The Roosevelt Bond

Politics and war brought Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt ever closer.

Meredith Hindley

Also in this issue

Nineteenth-Century Whaler Takes Twenty-First Century Voyage

The Charles W. Morgan sails New England

Charlotte Bruce Harvey

Bird Artist John Gould and the Man Who Lost a Fortune Collecting Him

The story of an entrepreneurial artist and an avid book collector

Steve Moyer

Getting to the Roots of Jewish Comedy

Tracing Jewish-American comedy through the Borsht Belt and beyond

Julie Yue

The Highwaymen, a School of African-American Artists Who Hawked Their Work on the Side of the Road

The art of Florida's Highwaymen finds a new audience

Lynn Wadell

After Much Debate, Not a Little Anguish, and Defining of Terms, Park Service Confirmed Site of Hostilities between Indians and Soldiers

Exact location of Sand Creek conflict had gone missing

Steve Moyer

John Donne Delivered a Sermon on Gunpowder Day in 1622. What Did It Sound Like?

Getting Donne down, virtually

Steve Moyer

Sue Shillinglaw on Grapes of Wrath, Published Seventy-Five Years Ago

Meredith Hindley

Editor's Note

David Skinner