September 21, 2026
Patricia Bath: How an Ophthalmologist Turned the Fight Against Blindness Into an Invention
Patricia Bath saw preventable blindness as both a medical problem and an inequality problem. Her work helped make eye care…
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People
September 21, 2026
Bessie Coleman: How a Texas Dreamer Opened the Sky to Black Women
In 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first Black woman—and the first woman of Native American descent—to earn an international pilot’s…
September 21, 2026
Neighbors Who Care: How Scottsdale Volunteers Make Everyday Aging Less Alone
In Scottsdale, a volunteer network helps older adults with the ordinary tasks that can become difficult with age—while proving that…
September 21, 2026
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona: How Ordinary Time Becomes a Lasting Gift
In a world full of urgent needs, mentoring offers a quieter form of kindness: showing up, paying attention and giving…
September 21, 2026
Foster Grandparents: How Older Arizonans Turn Time Into a Gift for Children
Across Arizona, older adults are stepping into classrooms, child-care centers and community programs as mentors, listeners and steady friends. The…
September 16, 2026
The Federal Writers’ Project: How America Put Its Stories to Work
During the Great Depression, the United States hired thousands of writers, editors, researchers, and interviewers to document the country’s places,…
September 16, 2026
The Harlem Renaissance: How Black Artists Built a New American Culture
In 1920s and 1930s Harlem, writers, musicians, painters, photographers, and performers transformed a New York neighborhood into one of the…
September 16, 2026
Black Mountain College: How a Small School Made Collaboration an American Art Form
For 24 years, an experimental college in rural North Carolina gave artists, writers, musicians, dancers, and designers room to learn…
September 16, 2026
Chicano Park: How San Diego’s Barrio Turned Concrete Pillars Into a Living Gallery
In San Diego’s Barrio Logan, generations of artists and neighbors transformed an underpass into one of the largest collections of…
September 16, 2026
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival: How Living Traditions Found a Place on the National Mall
For more than half a century, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival has invited musicians, cooks, craftspeople, farmers, storytellers, and communities to…
September 16, 2026
Poetry 180: How a U.S. Poet Laureate Put One Poem a Day Within Reach
In 2002, Billy Collins created Poetry 180, a free online collection designed to bring contemporary American poetry into ordinary school…
September 16, 2026
StoryCorps: How Ordinary Conversations Became an American Archive
A small recording booth in New York grew into one of the country’s most ambitious living archives—built not around presidents…
September 16, 2026
826 Valencia: How a Pirate Supply Store Made Writing Feel Possible
In San Francisco’s Mission District, a neighborhood writing center turned an ordinary storefront into an imaginative gateway for young people.…
September 13, 2026
William Rathje: How a Tucson Archaeologist Turned America’s Trash Into History
In 1973, University of Arizona archaeologist William Rathje began studying modern garbage as seriously as ancient ruins. His Tucson project…
September 13, 2026
Lorna Lockwood: How an Arizona Judge Opened the Door to Women in Law
From a small Arizona mining town to the state’s highest court, Lorna Lockwood built a legal career that changed what…
September 13, 2026
The Navajo Code Talkers: How a Native Language Became a Wartime Secret
During World War II, Navajo Marines built a fast, field-ready communications system from their language—and helped give the United States…
September 13, 2026
Isabella Greenway: How an Arizona Widow Built a New Kind of Public Life
From a Tucson inn to the halls of Congress, Isabella Greenway turned personal loss, design, and practical problem-solving into an…
September 13, 2026
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West: How a Desert Camp Became a New American Idea of Home
In the Sonoran Desert, Frank Lloyd Wright and his apprentices built more than a winter studio. Taliesin West became an…
September 13, 2026
Annie Dodge Wauneka: How an Arizona Health Advocate Turned Navajo Knowledge Into Public Health
From the Navajo Nation, Annie Dodge Wauneka built a public-health movement around language, trust and practical knowledge—and became the first…
September 13, 2026
Harrison Begay: How a Navajo Painter Carried Diné Life Into American Art
From a small community near White Cone, Arizona, Harrison Begay developed a quiet, enduring art of Navajo people, places, and…