The American Tapestry Project

This Classic American Tapestry episode is a reprise of Episode 13 from August 2021. It opens with Bruce Springsteen’s 2026 “Streets of Minneapolis” and then explores protest music, its global origins and examples from Beethoven’s celebration of the rights of man in the 9th Symphony’s “Ode to Joy” and Irish songs of rebellion then shifting focus to American protest music from “Yankee Doodle” to abo...

This episode of The American Tapestry Project continues our exploration of “Popular Music: A Window Into the Soul of America” It examines the difference between musical categories composers’ music, performers’ music, and traditional music with a focus on the idea of “Home” in American culture from “Home, Sweet to Home” to Carole King’s “So Far Away” to Bruce Springsteen’s “My Home Town.” “All this...

This episode of The American Tapestry Project begins on “Popular Music: A Window Into the Soul of America.” It examines the Top Ten Hits of the 20th Century for cultural insights as it surveys the history of American popular music from 19th century minstrelsy shows to the latest streaming “hit” on the platform of your choice. “American Pop” and the tapestry of America’s many stories. This episode...

This episode of The American Tapestry Project revisits that uniquely American art form – baseball music. From 1858’s “The Baseball Polka” to the Dropkick Murphy’s 21st century punk rock recreation of the Boston Red Sox’s “Tessie”, we’ll revisit the music and learn the backstory behind some classic American tunes celebrating America’s grand old game – baseball. “All this and more”, as they say on l...

How many holidays in May? More than you think? Whatever happened to May Day? Once it was a major holiday with dancing round the maypole; now, not so much. Where did “Mayday, mayday, mayday” as a call for help originate? But the big three holidays are Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, and Memorial Day. Where did they originate? What’s the Cry of Dolores? Who is Anna Maria Jarvis? And how did Decoration...

This ”Classic” episode of The American Tapestry Project celebrates Women’s History Month by telling the stories of four 19th century women who changed America. Tune in and meet Margaret Fuller, Sarah Josepha Hale and Lydia Maria Child. Never heard of them? All the more reason to hear their stories and how they prepared the way for the modern American woman. Fuller, Hale, Stone and Child – four nam...

Although Valentine's Day is not an official holiday anywhere, it is celebrated in more countries around the world than any other holiday. Where did this rose-hued holiday custom of gift-giving, card sharing, chocolate consuming courtship, and romance originate? Did you know that every February over 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold, that the average person spends $164.76 for...

This episode of The American Tapestry Project continues exploring those things Americans love in common – holidays! In this episode we look at the history of New Year’s celebrations, ask why champagne, where did New Year’s resolutions begin, are there any great New Year’s tunes, who was Robert Burns and what does Auld Lang Syne mean, where did it originate and what is its definitive version? All t...

In this Part Two of a two Part Series on the origins of The American Way of Christmas we’ll examine one of America’s most successful efforts at building a common national culture. In this episode, we’ll discover how St. Nicholas evolved into Santa Claus, what the meaning of Yuletide and Christmastide is, the importance of the Twelve Days of Christmas, what Charles Dickens taught everyone about the...

In this Part One of a two Part Series on the origins of The American Way of Christmas we’ll examine one of America’s most successful efforts at building a common national culture as we discover whether or not Christmas is a religious feast or a midwinter carnival celebrating life at its fullest. Or is it both? We’ll examine the holiday’s ancient origins and meet the six people who created America’...

This episode of The American Tapestry Project begins a series exploring those things Americans love in common – holidays! How many holidays do Americans celebrate? Where did they originate? In Harvest Festivals, we begin that exploration by examining Halloween’s roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, check out one or two Halloween songs and then ask “When was the first Thanksgiving”? Wha...

In this episode, we examine the origins of The American Tapestry Project as it seeks to answer the question “What is the American Story” and bring that quest up to date in September 2024 as we revisit and comment on the very first American Tapestry Project episode bringing it up-to-date by showing how events and attitudes emerging from the 1960s still roil American culture in 2024’s Presidential e...

Part IV of “The Birth of the Women’s Movement” traces the final drive for a national women’s suffrage constitutional amendment – the Susan B. Anthony Amendment -- culminating in the adoption of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920. We’ll meet Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice Paul, the Silent Sentinels, and the ‘New Women of the Old West’ where women’s right to vote was first adopted in Wyoming, Utah, C...

Who was Susan B. Anthony? Like George Washington, she’s so famous she almost disappears in plain sight. Most people know her name; she even know she had something to do with women’s right to vote. But beyond that they can’t tell you where she came from, what she did, how she did it, and what she hoped for the future. This episode answers those questions in Part III of “The Birth of the Women’s Mov...

You probably know the names Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but what exactly did they do? You might not know the names Lydia Maria Child, Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Miller Smith, Amelia Bloomer, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Elizabeth Blackwell, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Carrie Chapman Catt, Frances Willard, Mary Church Terrell, Anna Howard Shaw, Ida B. Wells, and Alice Paul – but you...

You probably know the names Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but what exactly did they do? You might not know the names Lydia Maria Child, Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Miller Smith, Amelia Bloomer, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, Elizabeth Blackwell, Sojourner Truth, Lucy Stone, Carrie Chapman Catt, Frances Willard, Mary Church Terrell, Anna Howard Shaw, Ida B. Wells, and Alice Paul – but you...

This episode of The American Tapestry Project begins a two-part series on the life and times of Irving Berlin – The American Songbook and the invention of American popular music culture. In Part One we’ll meet Berlin, discover his immigrant heritage, his experiences on Tin Pan Alley, on Broadway, and in Hollywood musicals as his music sings of America. Meet Irving Berlin and hear the sounds of “Am...

This episode of The American Tapestry Project explores things Americans love – holidays! How many holidays do Americans celebrate? Where did they originate? In Harvest Festivals, we begin that exploration by examining Halloween’s roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, check out one or two Halloween songs and then ask “When was the first Thanksgiving”? What actually happened at Plymouth P...

In this fifth episode of The American Tapestry Project’s “Americans and Their Games: Sports in American History and Culture” we examine the immigrant experience in America through the lens of sports. Picking up from Part 4, we meet the rise of Jewish and Italian boxers like Max Baer and Rocky Marciano in the earlu 20th century and New Americans like Martina Navratilova, Charles Jock, and Patrick E...

In this fourth episode of The American Tapestry Project’s “Americans and Their Games: Sports in American History and Culture” we examine the immigrant experience in America through the lens of sports. From Irish and German immigrants dominating baseball in the 19th century to the rise of Jewish and Italian boxers like Max Baer and Rocky Marciano in the 20th century to Martina Navratilova, Charles...

In this third episode of The American Tapestry Project’s “Americans and Their Games: Sports in American History and Culture” we examine the quest for women’s rights through the lens of sports. From Catharine Beecher in the 19th century advocating physical education for girls through the New Woman at the turn of the 20th century to Babe Didrickson Zaharias and Althea Gibson pre-Title IX to 1972’s T...

In this second episode of The American Tapestry Project’s “Americans and Their Games: Sports in American History and Culture” we examine the experience of the Indigenous People and African Americans through the lens of those first excluded’s struggle for inclusion in the Story of America. We’ll discover lacrosse’s origins, meet Jim Thorpe, learn about the great Black jockeys who won 7 of the first...

In this episode The American Tapestry Project begins a new series – “Americans and Their Games: Sports in American History and Culture”. Why are Americans so passionate about sports? What does their sports passion tell us about the American Story? What impact did sports have on minority civil rights, women’s quest for equality, and the assimilation of immigrants into American culture? And, just ho...

What’s the hardest job in the world? Is it the American presidency? With four or five Baby Boomer presidents, as the internet meme “OK Boomer” implies, did the Boomers, as some claim, break America? All these questions explored (if not answered) in Episode 30 of The American Tapestry Project.

In this episode we chat with St. Bonaventure University historian Phil Payne about how he became a historian, what’s the difference between commemoration and history, how and why the President of the United States became the avatar of all of American cultures; hopes and fears!