NAI's Cultural Interpretation & Living History Section

05/03/2016

Yes, it's true -- the mail used to be delivered more than once a day... sometimes several times a day.

04/12/2016

Every once in a while, we get reminded that cultural traditions are not just subject to the whims of fashion, technology, and other aspects of modern life. Here's an interesting story about New England Native American traditions threatened by an invasive insect.

A deadly insect threatens New England ash trees and a centuries-old Native American tradition—the weaving of beautiful ash baskets.

03/29/2016

The word "mauve" comes from the French word for the mallow flower. It arrived in English in the late 1700s, some fifty years before the discovery mentioned below.

Tropical diseases and coal tar have a lot to do with brightly-colored clothing

03/29/2016

A mystery solved ... 95 years later. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/discovery-uss-conestoga-researchers-have-solved-naval-mystery-was-nearly-100-years-old-180958538/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&no-ist

Even a century later, the news has brought relief to the families of the sailors who went down with their ship

03/29/2016

It may have been a grey time, but here's proof that color filled the world during the Depression.

Rare photographs show the historically bleak Great Depression in vivid color.

01/23/2016

Here's a great read from NPR about what we do.

12/23/2015

Greetings from West Virginia! The last issue of "Bridge with the Past" for 2015 is on its way to your in boxes over the next few days. (The Section has grown enough so that Gmail thinks I'm spamming if I try to send out more than 500 emails a day.) If you are a CILH member and don't receive it, especially if you are a new member, please let me know by emailing me at [email protected].
-- Andy Kling, editor

12/13/2015

I have been an admirer of Shackleton for many years. Now we have a chance to learn even more about his epic Antarctic expedition.

Photos taken during Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition have been digitally restored for the first time

12/03/2015

For , a small-beer recipe from George Washington.

12/03/2015

Got a hankering to move to South Dakota? Got a cool quarter million burning a hole in your pocket? Have I got a deal for you!

Swett, South Dakota can be yours for just $250,000

11/29/2015

It seems Reagan and Gorbachev could agree on something out of this world.

The 40th President of the United States was a big science-fiction fan

11/13/2015

I heard about this project years ago -- it's interesting to see that it's still under way.

Despite centuries of architectural innovation, this French castle is being built like it's the 13th century