Alessandro Meregaglia – The Conversation

Dans l'un de ses numéros les plus célèbres, Mabel Stark luttait avec un tigre. Circus and Allied Arts Collection, Illinois State University's Special Collections, Milner Library

April 4, 2026

L’histoire hors norme de Mabel Stark, la plus célèbre dresseuse de tigres des États‑Unis

Alessandro Meregaglia, Boise State University

Infirmière devenue dresseuse de tigres, Mabel Stark a fait trembler les foules dans les plus grands cirques américains. Son destin éclaire une page méconnue de l’histoire du spectacle.

Mabel Stark tamed tigers – and even wrestled with them. Circus and Allied Arts Collection, Illinois State University's Special Collections, Milner Library

March 3, 2026

The inspiring and tragic story of Mabel Stark, America’s most famous female tiger trainer

Alessandro Meregaglia, Boise State University

Long before Joe Exotic became Tiger King, Mabel Stark reigned as Tiger Queen.

Outside of teaching and writing, Samuel Steward took up tattooing. The Estate of Samuel M. Steward

February 23, 2023

Novelist, academic and tattoo artist Samuel Steward’s plight shows that ‘cancel culture’ was alive and well in the 1930s

Alessandro Meregaglia, Boise State University

The ability of professors to freely teach and write about controversial topics without fear of retribution is nothing new.

In a 1949 photograph, Mori works in his family’s nursery in San Leandro, Calif. Courtesy of Steven Y. Mori

February 15, 2022

Toshio Mori endured internment camps and overcame discrimination to become the first Japanese American to publish a book of fiction

Alessandro Meregaglia, Boise State University

On Dec. 2, 1941, a publication date was set for Mori’s first book. Five days later, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, upending the writer’s life and throwing the book’s publication into doubt.

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