August Wilson

The Man Who Transformed American Theater

How August Wilson became one of the country’s most influential playwrights.
Charles Chesnutt portrait

The Atlantic Writers Project: Charles Chesnutt

A contemporary Atlantic writer reflects on one of the voices from the magazine's archives who helped shape the publication—and the nation.
A large federal style brick house, the William Paca House in Annapolis, Md.

I Searched for Answers About My Enslaved Ancestor. I Found Questions About America

'Did slavery make home always somewhere else?'
Still Life with Ham, 1625.

Thanksgiving and the Curse of Ham

19th-century African American writer Charles Chesnutt’s subversive literature.
Light reveals the faces three Black people expressing confidence and joy.

Racism Is Terrible. Blackness Is Not.

So many people taught us to be more than the hatred heaped upon us.

Voter Suppression Carries Slavery's Three-Fifths Clause into the Present

The Georgia governor’s election was the latest example of how James Madison’s words continue to shape our views on race.

Can Trump Really End Birthright Citizenship?

Not directly. But it's more complicated than you think.

As Goes the South, So Goes the Nation

History haunts, but Alabama changes.