American History
From the Archives: The Swans of Harlem
As I mentioned in a recent post, I have been fascinated by ballet and its history for most of my life. So when I began to see notices for a book about the forgotten Black ballerinas who danced for the Dance Theatre of Harlem I was eager to get my hands on it. It lived…
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Cecilia Beaux, Portrait Painter
During her lifetime, Cecelia Beaux (1855-1942) was well-known in the social circles who had their portraits painted. She was often compared to John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), whose career overlapped with Beaux’s— both for her style and for her place as one of the leading society portrait painters of her day.[1] Both blended academic realism with…
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Looking for Tiny Broadwick’s Daughter
In my blog post last week about Tiny Broadwick, “First Lady of Parachuting,” I mentioned, with some sadness, that Tiny’s daughter disappears from the narrative. I am pleased to tell you that my writing friend Nancy Kennedy took up the challenge and went looking for the daughter’s story. Here’s what she found: The short version…
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