News

Byline: Laura Reiley

Computer screen showing images of three newspaper ads from a long time ago
Devin Flores/Cornell University Enslavers posted as many as a quarter-million newspaper ads and flyers before 1865 to locate runaway slaves. Ed Baptist is leading the public crowdsourcing project, Freedom on the Move, that has digitized tens of thousands of these advertisements in an open-source site accessible to the public.
History

Research at risk: Records of enslaved people seeking freedom

Cornell Chronicle

A research project collecting records of freedom-seeking enslaved people in the pre-Civil War U.S. came to a halt in early May.

"I Voted" sticker on a coat lapel
Government

Study of democracy’s decline offers roadmap for fighting back

Cornell Chronicle

The study of pathways to democratic backsliding provides clear examples of the risks currently posed to the U.S. system of government.

Two kids sitting on a floor
Chayene Rafaela/Unsplash The Child Tax Credit expansion reduced the number of children living below the poverty line by more than a third.
Government

How to craft effective policy messages to advance equity

Cornell Chronicle

Expansion of the Child Tax Credit gives researchers a unique example of a universally praised social good that disproportionately benefited some populations.

Person bending over to sweep a flat grave marker
Jason Koski/Cornell University Gerry Monaghan is an unofficial tender of Sagan’s grave at Lake View Cemetery in Ithaca, stopping by to tidy the astronomer's gravesite and those of his parents, buried nearby.
Astronomy

At Carl Sagan’s gravesite, inspiration endures

Cornell Chronicle

On the eve of what would have been Sagan's 90th birthday, well-wishers commune at Lake View Cemetery, leaving notes and trinkets.