How a Dancer Raised to Believe Dance was a Sin Revolutionized the Artform

Every field has its revolutionaries – dance is no different. 

Martha Graham, 1919. Image: Picryl

Martha Graham, along with Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Hanya Holm, has been recognized a one of the 'big four' founders of American modern dance. For 70 years she dedicated her life to the art form, first as a performer and later as a choreographer. She ran a dance company and received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and National Medal of Arts. In 2015, Graham was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

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See Images By America's First War Photographer

Who was the father of American photojournalism? Here's a look at the Civil War work of Mathew Brady.

Confederate prisoners awaiting transportation, Belle Plain, Va, 1865. (Image: Picryl)

Despite the limits of early picture-taking technology, in the 1840s photography had become a popular art form and a profitable business.

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How Ancient Greece and Rome (But Definitely Not Britain) Inspired American Architecture

Wake up and smell the independence. Thomas Jefferson urged 18th century Americans to think of themselves not as colonial Englishmen, but as a new culture. To that end, he used architecture to serve as a visual reminder of America's proud new direction.

1979. U.S. Capitol dome, Washington, D.C.

The United States was a brand-new country in the 18th century. A country that had just fought for independence and won it. Across the ocean in Europe, that same century was the Age of Enlightenment, the Age of Reason. Liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, and constitution reigned with a thick French accent.

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