Pocahontas is a renowned historical figure, thanks in the most part to the eponymous Disney film that placed her firmly in our historical awareness. Daughter of Powhatan, the leader of an Algonquin tribe, Pocahontas’ life has been sanitised and romanticised to erase any suggestion of the violence of colonialism, from her supposed relationship with John Continue Reading
Angela Davis: Feminist & Fugitive
Angela Davis is undoubtedly an iconic figure in 20th century American history. The Rolling Stones’ Sweet Black Angel was dedicated to her, and it was reported last year that a biopic of her is now in the works. Yet, the same Angela Davis was fired from her professorship by Ronald Reagan and described by Continue Reading
Michelle: An Icon
Michelle Obama is recognised globally for her position as First Lady of the United States, a position she held from 2009 to 2017. Being the first African American First Lady, Michelle Obama is an icon of the progressive and more liberal America which was practiced under the Obama administration. Obama was named Most Fascinating Continue Reading
The Nineteenth Amendment
18 August 1920 marks the day American women were granted the right to vote under the constitution, with the addition of the Nineteenth Amendment. This signified a judicial end to the contradiction and hypocrisy which had tainted the lives of women for so long. Men had enjoyed universal suffrage for almost a century already when Continue Reading
Edith Cavell – An insight into the nurse executed by the Germans
2017 will mark the 102nd anniversary of Edith Louisa Cavell’s death. Born on the 4 December 1872 in a small Norfolk town, Cavell began training to become a nurse at the age of 21 and finally qualified in 1896. After moving to Belgium, her career went from strength to strength; she became matron of The Continue Reading