October 1-2, 2016: September 2016 Recap

[A Recap of the month that was in AmericanStudying.]September 5: The Radical Origins of Labor Day: A Labor Day series kicks off with a link to my Talking Points Memo piece on the holiday’s forgotten origins.September 6: Cultural Work: Melville’s “Paradise” and the Lowell Offering: The series continues with two distinct but complementary ways to give literary voice to working women. September 7: Cultural Work: Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’ “Tenth of January”: The short story that combines local color and sentimental fiction and builds to so much more, as the series rolls on.September 8: Cultural Work: John Sayles’ Matewan: When subtlety isn’t necessary in portraying oppression and activism—but why it still helps.September 9: Cultural Work: Miner Texts: The series concludes with three different types of cultural representations of mining communities.September 10-11: Labor Day Links: A special weekend post highlighting a handful of scholarly pieces to keep the Labor Day studying going.September 12: MusicalStudying: The Black Crook: A series inspired by the Crook’s 150th anniversary starts with the histories and legacies of that first stage musical.September 13: MusicalStudying: Rodgers and Hammerstein and History: The series continues with historical stereotypes and revisions in three of the duo’s most famous musicals.September 14: MusicalStudying: West Side Story: The musical’s surprising history, and its limits and strengths as a cultural text, as the series rolls on.September 15: MusicalStudying: Angels in America and Rent: The play and musical that together helped change our national conversations on AIDS.September 16: MusicalStudying: Allegiance and Hamilton: The series concludes with what links and differentiates two important recent musicals.September 17-18: Crowd-sourced MusicalStudying: My latest crowd-sourced post, featuring the analyses of fellow MusicalStudiers—add yours in comments!September 19: Rhode Island Histories: Roger Williams: A Little Rhody series starts with two inspiring layers and one frustrating one to the colony’s founder.September 20: Rhode Island Histories: Beavertail Lighthouse: The series continues with three telling moments in the history of America’s third oldest lighthouse.September 21: Rhode Island Histories: The Name: Two debates over the state’s name, and why we should better remember it in any case, as the series rolls on.September 22: Rhode Island Histories: Political Corruption: Three figures who embody the small state’s outsized history of political corruption.September 23: Rhode Island Histories: Providence Sites: A few beautiful and compelling cultural and historic sites from the state’s capitol.September 24-25: Rhode Island Colleagues: The series concludes with five wonderful Rhode Island scholars I’m proud to call AmericanStudying colleagues!September 26: Legends of the Fall: Young Adult Lit: An autumn series on falls from innocence starts with two iconic YA novels that fractured their characters’ and my innocence.      September 27: Legends of the Fall: American Pastoral: The series continues with the louder and quieter moments of fallen innocence in the recent classic novel.September 28: Legends of the Fall: The Body and Stand By Me: Cynical and nostalgic narratives of childhood innocence lost, as the series rolls on.September 29: Legends of the Fall: Presumed Innocent: Scott Turow’s novel and the multiple layers of fallen innocence built into the best mystery stories.September 30: Legends of the Fall: American Pie: The series concludes with the straightforward and more subtle sides to a beloved ballad about lost innocence.Next series starts Monday,BenPS. Topics you’d like to see covered in this space? Guest Posts you’d like to contribute? Lemme know!