Mildred Rutherford’s War

The “historian general” of the United Daughters of the Confederacy began the battle over the depiction of the South in history textbooks that continues today.
Frank Church.

The Senator Who Took On the CIA

Frank Church and the committee that investigated the US intelligence agencies.
Illustration of Woodrow Wilson with Sigmund Freud peeking at him over his shoulder.

Pathologies of a President

A new book revisits Freud’s analysis of Woodrow Wilson to ask: how much do leaders’ psychologies shape our politics?
The community organizer Sylvester Hoover and Nikole Hannah-Jones, Greenwood, Mississippi; from episode 6 of The 1619 Project.

History Bright and Dark

Americans have often been politically divided. But have the divisions over how we recount our history ever been so deep?
J. Edgar Hoover and two other men pose with guns.

The Cult of J. Edgar Hoover

A zealot through and through, he ran the FBI like a religious sect.
Albert Sidney Burleson partially obscured by postage stamps with Woodrow Wilson's face.

America’s Top Censor—So Far

Woodrow Wilson’s postmaster put papers out of business and jailed journalists. The tools he used still exist.
Black and white photo of Eugene Debs being released from an Atlanta federal prison on Christmas Day, 1921.

The American Socialism That Might Have Been

Despite their minority status, the Socialists had been a significant force in American politics before patriotic war hysteria brought on an era of repression.

The Fight to Decolonize the Museum

Textbooks can be revised, but historic sites, monuments, and collections that memorialize ugly pasts aren’t so easily changed.

When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals

A hundred years ago, the Palmer Raids imperilled thousands of immigrants. Then a wily official got in the way.

A Hundred Years After the Armistice

If you think the First World War began senselessly, consider how it ended.

Bang for the Buck

Three new books paint a more nuanced portrait of the American militias whose gun rights have been protected since the founding.

Ku Klux Klambakes

What does the Klan of the 1920s have to teach us about the resurgence of organized bigotry in the Trump era?

When Dissent Became Treason

100 years ago, war proved to be a godsend for a president with no tolerance for opposition. We would be wise to heed the lesson.

Into the Trenches in Red and Blue

Looking at color photographs of WWI feels like seeing a familiar scene through a different pair of eyeglasses.