History

A recent version of Indian Slapjacks, a recipe featured in American Cookery, the first cookbook of American food.

Books
Arts

New Nation, New Cuisine: The First Cookbook To Tackle 'American Food'

12:45pm July 03, 2015

by Anne Bramley

The first American cookbook, published in 1796, promised local food and a kind of socioculinary equality. But generations later, foodies are still puzzling over how to define "American food."

This is a photo taken in the town of Smell No Taste, where a teenager died of Ebola this past week. The home where he passed away is now under quarantine.

Yes, There Really Is A Town In Liberia Called 'Smell No Taste'

8:19am July 03, 2015

by Marc Silver

It's the place where a teenager died of Ebola this week. And, like all unusual geographic names, there's a story behind it.

Royals All Star Voting Echoes Last Time MLB Fans Stuffed The Ballot Box

6:35pm July 02, 2015

Eight Royals could start in the All Star game July 14. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Chris Eckes, curator of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, about the last time this happened.

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How Mississippi Defaulted On $7 Million Worth Of Bonds In 1841

6:22pm July 01, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Clifford Thies, a professor of economics and finance at Shenandoah University, about Mississippi's unpaid bonds from the 1840s and collecting on old state-owed debt.

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Afternoon Tea, 1886. Chromolithograph after Kate Greenaway. If you're looking for finger sandwiches, dainty desserts and formality, afternoon tea is your cup.

High Tea, Afternoon Tea, Elevenses: English Tea Times For Dummies

4:17pm July 01, 2015

by Nadia Whitehead

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the English and their social tea traditions. What time does each of them take place, anyway? But don't fret. The Salt is here to offer guidance.

Fire crews took two hours to control the blaze at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville, S.C., on Tuesday.

National

20 Years Ago, Mount Zion AME Was Set On Fire. Last Night, It Burned Again

4:06pm July 01, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

In 1996, Bill Clinton spoke at the reopening ceremony of this historically black church. On Tuesday, Mount Zion became the latest in a wave of fires at black churches since the Charleston shooting.

National

A Baltimore Civil Rights Icon Is Still Pushing To Help City's Young

4:00pm July 01, 2015

by Jennifer Ludden

Sixty years ago, Helena Hicks helped desegregate the city's lunch counters. In the wake of Freddie Gray's death, the 80-year-old has continued to advocate for Baltimore's poor, black residents.

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National

Did Slaves Feel Fortunate? And Other Questions Asked Of A Plantation Tour Guide

9:54am July 01, 2015

by Kinsey Clarke

In an essay at Vox, a white woman who used to lead tours at a historic Southern plantation recounts questions tourists asked her over the years.

Art of the people: Fill a glass with hope, a butter sculpture crafted by Jim Victor and Marie Pelton. "People don't understand how [the sculpting] is done -- it's like magic and just appears," Victor says. "But people understand butter."

A Toast To Butter Sculpture, The Art That Melts The Hearts Of The Masses

5:51pm June 29, 2015

by Tove Danovich

Once the province of nobles, food sculptures became the art of the people in America. Nowhere is this truer than the butter sculpture, a form that is at once familiar and impressive.

This Confederate monument in located in a cemetery in a mostly African-American part of Kansas City, Mo.

National

Beyond The Battle Flag: Controversy Over Confederate Symbols Unfurls

3:14pm June 29, 2015

by Frank Morris

Hundreds of Confederate memorials and markers dot the South and beyond. Even as far north as Missouri, two memorials have become flash points.

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