TheArchive: Reviewing the Rare, Retro, and Restored

For many Americans, Labor Day means one last long weekend before summer officially ends!  Labor day equals barbecues, a trip to the beach, and a Monday off. But the holiday began with the belief that working people deserved recognition and a say in shaping the conditions of their labor.  The first Labor Day celebration took place in New York City on September 5, 1882, organized by the Central Labor Union. Thousands of workers marched through the city in a public demonstration that showed the unity in organized labor. The exact person who first proposed the holiday remains disputed between labor leaders Peter J. McGuire and Matthew Maguire, but its purpose was to celebrate the contributions workers made to the country and to demonstrate what could be accomplished through solidarity. By 1894, Labor Day had become a federal holiday, officially observed on the first Monday of September. The labor movement fought for many things that are now so embedded in American life that it can...

The entertainment world lost two truly singular stars last week. Dolly Parton and Tim Curry both died last week on August 25 at the age of 80, leaving behind careers that stretched across decades, genres, and generations. They were both beloved  At first glance, Parton and Curry may seem like very different performers. One became the rhinestone-covered queen of country music, while the other built a career playing some of film and theater’s strangest, funniest, and most unforgettable characters. But both shared something that made them impossible to imitate: they understood the power of being completely, unapologetically themselves! Few entertainers have ever been as universally beloved as Dolly Parton. Born in rural Tennessee in 1946, Parton transformed her beginnings in the Smoky Mountains into a career that made her one of the most successful singer-songwriters in history. Songs like “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “9 to 5,” and “I Will Always Love You” became classics, while...