Monthly Theme: The Price of Progress

“We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character.”  — Calvin Coolidge (via Marcus Aurelius, Meditations)

Honor Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

• Contributions Across Generations: Explore how Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have shaped American history in agriculture, engineering, science, literature, and politics.
• Immigration History: Study the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese American internment, and the long struggle for recognition and civil rights.
• Cultural Richness: Investigate the diverse traditions, languages, and stories of the many communities included within AAPI heritage.
• Hidden Histories: Discover figures whose contributions built American infrastructure, advanced medicine, and shaped the arts but rarely appear in standard curricula.
• Contemporary Leaders: Learn about AAPI voices making an impact today in government, technology, medicine, culture, and advocacy.

Commemorate Significant May Historical Events

• May 1, 1960: U2 Spy Plane Shot Down (66th Anniversary) — Examine Cold War tensions and the role of secrecy in American foreign policy.
• May 8, 1945: V-E Day: Victory in Europe (81st Anniversary) — Honor the Allied victory in Europe and the enormous human cost of World War II.
• May 10, 1869: Transcontinental Railroad Completed (157th Anniversary) — Study the laborers, mostly Chinese immigrants, whose work built the railroad and whose contributions went largely unrecognized.
• May 18, 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson Decision (130th Anniversary) — Explore the legal history of segregation and its eventual overturning in Brown v. Board of Education.
• Memorial Day (May 25, 2026): Honor all who gave their lives in military service; explore the history of Memorial Day from its origins after the Civil War to the present.

Celebrate Notable May Birthdays

• May 12th: Florence Nightingale (would be 206th Birthday): Explore the history of nursing, public health reform, and evidence-based advocacy for human dignity.
• May 18th: Pope John Paul II (would be 106th Birthday): Discuss his role in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and questions of moral leadership in global history.
• May 19th: Malcolm X (would be 101st Birthday): Study his evolving views on civil rights, Black identity, and justice; discuss how history treats complex, challenging figures.
• May 25th: Ralph Waldo Emerson (would be 223rd Birthday): Explore American Transcendentalism, self-reliance, and the philosophical roots of environmental and social activism.
• May 29th: John F. Kennedy (would be 109th Birthday): Examine Kennedy’s presidency, the space race, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the mythology of Camelot in American memory.