Figures 3a and 3b: Zuni Salt Lake in western New Mexico, circa 1950. A still-sacred resource to Zuni and other Indigenous peoples in western and central New Mexico, the Zuni Salt Lake attracted considerable attention from Spanish and, eventually, American colonial entities who sought to exploit the lake’s quality salt. Still, the Pueblo of Zuni has successfully fought to maintain deep connections to the lake and its salt. Twenty years ago, in the lake’s more recent past, the Pueblo of Zuni won a major legal victory in defeating a strip mine proposal that would have disrupted the lake’s aquifer. National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons and Zuni Salt Lake. Netherzone, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.
Welcome to Commonplace, a destination for exploring and exchanging ideas about early American history and culture. A bit less formal than a scholarly journal, a bit more scholarly than a popular magazine, Commonplace speaks—and listens—to scholars, museum curators, teachers, hobbyists, and just about anyone interested in American history before 1900. It is for all sorts of people to read about all sorts of things relating to early American life—from architecture to literature, from politics to parlor manners. It’s a place to find insightful analysis of early American history as it is discussed in scholarly literature, as it manifests on the evening news, as it is curated in museums, big and small; as it is performed in documentary and dramatic films and as it shows up in everyday life.
In addition to critical evaluations of books and websites (Reviews) and poetic research and fiction (Creative Writing), our articles explore material and visual culture (Objects); pedagogy, the writing of literary scholarship, and the historian’s craft (Teach); and diverse aspects of America’s past and its many peoples (Learn). For more great content, check out our other projects, (Just Teach One) and (Just Teach One African American Print).
How to cite Commonplace articles:
Author, “Title of Article,” Commonplace: the journal of early American life, date accessed, URL.
Sophie White, “Trading Looks Race, Religion and Dress in French America,” Commonplace: the journal of early American life, accessed September 30, 2019, https://commonplace.online/article/trading-looks-race-religion-dress-french-america/
Joshua R. Greenberg, editor
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