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Heather Joinville

Heather Joinville holds a BA in English from Southern Illinois University and an MLIS from San Jose State. Her poetry has been published in Bookends Review and Athena Review. Her latest short story will be featured in the 2026 WriteHive Anthology.

Illustration of two women in regency-style dresses standing in a grassy field under a tree. One in green holds a small flower while the other in a patterned red dress leans in closely, suggesting intimacy. In the background, figures work in a field near a distant village.
Before Bridgerton: How a Real-Life Regency Relationship Fascinated the World
Dearest Gentle Reader, Since 2020, Bridgerton has captivated the world with its dramatic costumes, Regency estates, and steamy romances. Executive producer Shonda Rhimes has breathed fresh life into...
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Engraving showing a 19th-century royal interior where men in formal dress carry a decorated Christmas tree through a grand room, while other figures look on. The scene depicts an early British royal Christmas celebration, with period clothing, ornate architecture, and a sense of ceremony.
Dinner with Victoria: Recreating the 1894 Christmas Feast with Old American Recipes
Industrial class opulence, stark social inequality, and unmatched global influence, this mixture of power and disparity not only reshaped the political and social world but also left enduring cultural...
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An 18th-century prison scene depicting British soldiers guarding sick and emaciated prisoners inside a dark, crowded cell aboard a ship. The central figure, a red-coated guard with a musket, stands among suffering inmates—some lying on straw, others slumped or comforting one another. Light filters dimly through barred windows, highlighting the harsh and unsanitary conditions. The illustration conveys despair, illness, and confinement during wartime imprisonment.
"Rebels! Turn out your Dead!": The Prison Ship Martyrs of the American Revolution
The modern rush of life in Brooklyn's historic Wallabout neighborhood is a stark contrast to the brutal history beneath the pavement. Just a stone's throw away is Wallabout Bay where, in the winter of...
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Silhouettes of two women, Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, in profile facing each other, one on the left and one on the right, both with hair styled in buns and soft facial features. The silhouettes are set against a textured background and framed with twine loops, including a heart shape made from the same twine at the center bottom.
Those They Left Behind: The Hidden Grief of LGBTQ+ Loss in 19th and Early 20th Century Obituaries and Poetry
Scottish poet Thomas Campbell wrote, "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." While each life is unique, some experiences and emotions—such as fear, excitement, love, and loss—are universal...
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Photograph of Susanna Salter in 1887. She has light skin, high cheekbones, and a serious expression. Her hair is neatly pulled back with curls framing her forehead. She is dressed in a high-collared dark dress adorned with a brooch at the collar and a decorative chain. The background is softly faded, highlighting her face and attire. Image: Kansas Historical Society, Wikimedia
"Come west, young woman, come west!" Susanna Salter and her unlikely rise to first woman U.S. mayor
In 1776, early women's rights advocate Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, future President John Adams, urging him to "Remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your...
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Portrait of Nellie Bly (ca. 1890). Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2010631213/>.
Nellie Bly and the 'Stunt Girls' that Smashed Barriers in Turn-of-the-Century Journalism
Legendary investigative journalist Nellie Bly (born Elizabeth Jane Cochran) died more than 100 years ago. Bly's legacy shaped both the lives of women and the field of journalism. After her death...
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"When the Waters Reached the Orphan Asylum," Project Gutenberg's The Complete Story of the Galveston Horror, by Various
The Great Galveston Hurricane and the Sisters of St. Mary's Orphanage: "They did not save them, but they did their best. Try to save something of real value in the world."
In September and October 2024, two historic hurricanes slammed into Florida's Gulf coast and wreaked havoc into the Appalachia region, impacting 6 states, and resulting in over 230 casualties. It is...
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Opening ballot boxes (LOC). Bain News Service, publisher. [between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920]. https://flic.kr/p/ANNMmc
The Electoral College: How One Senator from Indiana Almost Brought It Down
Much like Black Friday and spray cheese, the electoral college is a uniquely American invention. Surprisingly, though, unlike Americans' undying love of discount TVs and processed cheese product, the...
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Mrs. Yoshiye Abe, an American of Japanese ancestry, helps to make American flags in a Denver factory, from The Library of Congress
"This year, many persons of Japanese ancestry in the United States will once again observe this great day within the confines of a relocation center." Fourth of July celebrations in Japanese Relocation Centers during World War II
July 4, 2024, marked 82 years since thousands of Japanese Americans faced Independence Day behind barbed wire. Japanese Americans - forcibly relocated to ten concentration camps during the Second...
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From Academic Dissertations to World Literature: Highlights from 'Defining a Nation: The Literature of Early America'
The literature of Early America is a window which gives us a view into major events and everyday minutiae of the time that helped shape the United States into what it is today. In its earliest stages...
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Image: Interior of the old John St. Theatre, N.Y., 1791
"All the World's a Stage": Highlights from The American Stage to 1819
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” As You Like It by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s influence over theater and literature far exceeded the borders of Europe and...
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Lloyd Gaines, 1938.
“Choose your goal, and success is yours…Follow it, even though you may never reach it.”: Lloyd Gaines and the Case Against the University of Missouri
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education and declared state laws establishing “separate but equal” public schooling to be unconstitutional...
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From The American Slavery Collection.
“All those individuals who, until this day, looked upon themselves as slaves, are free”: The Lost History of the Mexican Underground Railroad
When we are first taught about the Underground Railroad, we learn about following the drinking gourd and how “conductors,” such as Harriet Tubman, helped free enslaved people in the south, ushering...
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The Hunt for Captain Kidd’s Treasure and The Enduring Mystery of Oak Island
Any good mystery demands an answer; the best mysteries never give them up. For over 225 years, Oak Island has held its secrets and has unceasingly thwarted those who have tried to expose them. That...
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The Davenport brothers and William Fay with their spirit cabinet. Library of Congress
The Davenport Brothers: The act that divided Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Houdini
March 1865 Liverpool, England. It stood in the center of the stage, at least six feet tall, perched on two-foot-tall supports, with a decorative crown of wood carved vines and fleur-de-lis. To...
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