Society & Culture

Thomas Dewey was never president of the United States—no matter what the headlines said. His letters, photographs, recordings, and campaign buttons are available to the public for research in the department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation.

America typically celebrates the 4th of July as a unifying victory for the country, but the road to independence was more divisive and violent than most people realize, according to historian Thomas Slaughter.

"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?" Frederick Douglass delivered his rousing oration on July 5th at Rochester's Corinthian Hall. An original printing of the speech has been digitized by Rare Books and Special Collections and can be read online.

Summer vacation is upon us. And while kids often look forward to the break from their studies, professor Carol St. George warns that the time off can lead to some back-sliding when it comes to learning. / Democrat and Chronicle

The grant will be used to continue and expand the collaboration with volunteers from the Highlands at Pittsford retirement community and retired UR staff and librarians to transcribe, annotate, and tag achival documents.

History professor Pablo Sierra is working to document the forgotten history of the Africans who passed through the slave market in his hometown and contributed to the diverse culture of modern Mexico.

Tiffany Miller '00 and her family worked for years to overturn a ruling that prohibited World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots—known as WASPs—from being buried at Arlington National Cemetery. President Barack Obama signed their bill into law last week.

How can neighbors who knew each other before a genocide go back to living side by side? In Remediation in Rwanda, anthropology professor Kristin Doughty argues that the new court systems "created a space for people to work through this messy process of rebuilding relationships."

A new study finds that what might have been described as "maladapted" behavior or a lack of self control may actually be beneficial and thoughtful behavior for children who have been raised in resource-poor environments.

A self-reinforcing cycle of large brains, early birth, vulnerable infants, and intelligent parents is at the center of a novel model of human intelligence developed by brain and cognitive science researchers.

The professor of history was honored by the largest gathering of medievalist scholars in North America for her book The Saint and the Chopped-Up Baby: The Cult of Vincent Ferrer in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.

Rochester will join forces with the Cornell Prison Education Program next year, as assistant professor of religion Joshua Dubler and his students bring the value of a higher education to an often invisible population while addressing the epidemic of mass incarceration.