Senator Mitch McConnell Makes History
The 118th Congress opened on January 3, 2023. Democrats and Republicans elect party leaders in the Senate and the House of Representatives at the start of each new session. The beginning of this Congress marked an important history-making event: Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, became the longest-serving Senate party leader in American history. […]
Remembering a Troubled Past
In 1880, an argument started between several customers in a saloon in Denver, Colorado. It eventually led to an anti-Chinese riot that destroyed businesses in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood and killed one person. In 2022, the City of Denver officially apologized to the city’s Asian American community for its role in the riot. The city also […]
Happy Birthday, Title IX!
Do you play a sport at school? If so, you are probably impacted by Title IX: groundbreaking legislation that passed fifty years ago this summer. This week, btw examines this important legislation, why it matters, and how it has affected generations of young athletes. What Is Title IX? Title IX was part of a bill […]
Examining the Lavender Scare
(Note: This story discusses issues that might be upsetting to some readers, such as anti-LGBTQ discrimination and suicide.) June is Pride Month: a time to honor and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. But it is also a time to remember and reflect on important historical moments in the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and equality. One such […]
Remembering Norm Mineta: Groundbreaking Cabinet Member
Norman Mineta died on May 3, 2022, at his home in Maryland. Mineta served in two presidential cabinets as head of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. Mineta was the first Asian American appointed to the Cabinet in 2000. As Transportation Secretary during the Bush administration, he helped manage the airline industry in the days following […]
Art and Politics: The 50th Anniversary of Watergate
In the early 1970s, the United States government experienced the Watergate scandal. The investigation led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. Now, the National Portrait Gallery has produced an art exhibit commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of this moment in American history. Here, btw takes a closer look at Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue. What Was Watergate? Early […]
NFL to Hire More Diverse Coaches
Lately, more and more attention has been paid to achieving equity in women’s and men’s sports. In February 2022, the U.S. national women’s soccer team settled their equal pay lawsuit and received $22 million in back pay. In March 2022, the antiperspirant company Degree launched a nationwide promotion to encourage awareness of the NCAA Women’s […]
Remembering Madeleine Albright
Dr. Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. Secretary of State, passed away from cancer on March 23, 2022, in Washington, D.C. She was 84 years old. Here, btw reflects on Albright’s incredible life and legacy. Albright’s Early Life and Early Career Madeleine Albright was born Marie Jana Korbelova in Czechoslovakia in May 1937. She was […]
Black History Month: Imani Perry’s “South to America”
During the racial and social protests of the past two years, many Americans have tried to learn more about the complicated social, racial, and economic systems that have shaped our nation’s history and present. A new book by Imani Perry examines the history of southern culture and history in the United States. It is called […]
First Native American Nominated to National Parks Service
The National Park Service was formed more than a century ago by President Woodrow Wilson. It protected the thirty-five national parks and monuments that existed at that time in 1916. Today, the National Parks Service oversees more than four hundred locations totaling 85 million acres in all fifty states. Now, for the first time, President […]