american chronicles

How an American Radical Reinvented Back-Yard Gardening

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“God expects me to stand up fearless for what I believe, to speak up against what I think is wrong, but not to worry, either in small personal matters or in world affairs, for fear,” Ruth once wrote. Bonner abides by Ruth’s rule for living. In “The Hand in the Glove,” Bonner solves the murder … Read more

When an American Town Massacred Its Chinese Immigrants

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The town of Rock Springs sprouts out of a vacant landscape of sandstone cliffs and sagebrush in southern Wyoming. It is a fading former mining town, where herds of deer now meander through the streets. A century-old sign overlooking the railroad tracks downtown reads “Home of Rock Springs Coal.” The mines closed decades ago. In … Read more