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A graphic of a megaphone with a group of people inside the horn holding smaller megaphones.

Gags and Grievance: The Labor Origins of Whistleblowing

The forgotten history of the Lloyd-La Follette Act and of whistleblowing in the federal workforce.
by Sarah Milov via Knight First Amendment Institute on October 28, 2024
Abstract art piece showing various different people speaking.

The Campus Controversy Complex

Campus speech debates reveal a history of distorted narratives, balancing free speech, moral standards, and generational conflicts in U.S. universities.
by Adrian Daub via The Pennsylvania Gazette on October 24, 2024
Red elephant and blue donkey on the scales of justice.

The Origin of Campaign Finance Reform Troubles

While the Citizens United case created major shifts in campaign contributions and spending, an earlier decision played a bigger role in campaign finance laws.
by Ryan Reft via The Saturday Evening Post on October 17, 2024
Two students holding peace armbands.
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Civics Skills: How the Supreme Court's Tinker Ruling Affects Students

An anti-Vietnam protest that resulted in the Supreme Court confirming that students are persons under the constitution.
via Retro Report on August 22, 2024
Charles Francis Phillips and Owen Cattell, two Columbia University students, seated.

In 1917, Columbia’s Clampdown Remade the Antiwar Movement

When police raided Columbia University in May, commentators drew parallels to the 1968. But the school’s hostility to the antiwar movement traces back to 1917.
by Dan La Botz via Jacobin on July 11, 2024
Samuel Roth, books he sold.

Remembering Samuel Roth, the Bookseller Who Defied America’s Obscenity Laws

Samuel Roth was the sort of bookseller whose wares came wrapped in brown paper.
by Ed Simon via Literary Hub on July 3, 2024
University of California President Clark Kerr giving speech to crowd
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What University Presidents Can Learn From Past Protests

Successes that came when presidents protected student protesters from outside meddling are worth remembering when students return to campus.
by Eddie R. Cole via Made By History on June 4, 2024
Pro-Palestinian campus protest.
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Why Colleges Don’t Know What to Do About Campus Protests

Despite frequent litigation, U.S. courts have created a blurry line that puts administrators in an impossible situation.
by Jack Hodgson via Made By History on April 29, 2024
Fred Dube at a 1981 UN meeting, “South African Women and Labour under Apartheid.”

The Silencing of Fred Dube

Forty years ago, the exiled South African activist dared to teach Zionism critically. A furious backlash ensued.
by Abena Ampofoa Asare via Boston Review on January 18, 2024
Ivy League presidents testify before Congress about campus antisemitism.
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What Today’s University Presidents Can Learn From the 1st Modern Expulsion Over Campus Hate Speech

A 1990 case from Brown University was the first time a modern university expelled a student for a violation of a "hate speech code.”
by Matthew Pratt Guterl via Made By History on December 19, 2023
SECRET stamped multiples times over the United States emblem.

The Troubled History of the Espionage Act

The law, passed in a frenzy after the First World War, is a disaster. Why is it still on the books?
by Amy Davidson Sorkin via The New Yorker on December 11, 2023
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When Art Fuels Anger, Who Should Prevail?

Controversial artworks are flashpoints when artistic freedom and religious sensitivities collide.
via Retro Report on November 9, 2023
A librarian protects a book from a fat man in a suit who is burning books that don't look "American."

How Librarians Became American Free Speech Heroes

In the past and present, librarians have fought book bans and censorship.
by Madison Ingram via Zócalo Public Square on October 5, 2023
Director Edward Dmytryk and actress Jean Porter.

The 1950s Hollywood Blacklist Was an Assault on Free Expression

The blacklist didn’t just ruin many workers’ careers — it narrowed the range of acceptable movies and contributed to the conservatism of the 1950s.
by Larry Ceplair via Jacobin on May 18, 2023
A microphone animated as a black snake.

The Dark Side of Defamation Law

A revered Supreme Court ruling protected the robust debate vital to democracy—but made it harder to constrain misinformation. Can we do better?
by Jeannie Suk Gersen via The New Yorker on May 11, 2023
University of Berlin, Germany, circa 1900

Academic Freedom’s Origin Story

While academic freedom is foundational to American higher education today, it is a relatively recent development.
by Melissa De Witte via Stanford Graduate School Of Education on May 1, 2023
Anthony Comstock.

One of the 19th Century’s Greatest Villains is the Anti-Abortion Movement’s New Hero

Anthony Comstock, the 19th-century scourge of art and sex, is suddenly relevant again thanks to Donald Trump’s worst judge.
by Ian Millhiser via Vox on April 12, 2023
Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson locking hands.

Tennessee

The state GOP's expulsion of legislators Justin Pearson and Justin Jones echoes Georgia's refusal to seat congressman Julian Bond in 1965 for opposing the Vietnam War.
by Joyce Vance via Joycevance.substack on April 7, 2023
Inflatable rat known as "Scabby" in midtown New York City in 2019.

Scabby the Rat Is an American Labor Icon. Why Are His Manufacturers Disowning Him?

The frightening character who appears amid US union disputes can be traced back to a single factory, which wasn’t unionized.
by Tarpley Hitt via The Guardian on March 9, 2023
Illustration of a fist smashing a tiny blue academic building.

The 50-Year War on Higher Education

To understand today’s political battles, you need to know how they began.
by Ellen Schrecker via The Chronicle of Higher Education on October 14, 2022
Illustration overlaying an image of Lucille Brown and a group of women over an image of Howard University

Higher Ed and the Policing of Memory

Why universities must help lead the battle to defend and expand critical race theory.
by Danielle Conway via The Forum on August 8, 2022
Illustration by Nilé Livingston of the many flags used throughout America as symbols of freedom, patriotism, and protest.

Scars and Stripes

Philadelphia gave America its flag, along with other enduring icons of nationhood. But for many, the red, white and blue banner embodies a legacy of injustice.
by Martha S. Jones via Philadelphia Inquirer on April 6, 2022
Tommie Smith on podium receives gold medal with fist raised, holding shoe.
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Rule 50 and Racial Justice

The long history of the international olympic committee's war on athletes' free expression.
by Debbie Sharnak, Yannick Kluch via HNN on August 22, 2021
Collage of sexual freethinkers with a book, a gavel, and a bra.

The Radical Women Who Paved the Way for Free Speech and Free Love

Anthony Comstock’s crusade against vice constrained the lives of ordinary Americans. His antagonists opened up history for feminists and other activists.
by Margaret Talbot via The New Yorker on July 15, 2021
U.S. Supreme Court justices.
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A Major Supreme Court First Amendment Decision Could be at Risk

Without New York Times vs. Sullivan, freedom of speech and the press could be drastically truncated.
by Samantha Barbas via Made By History on July 13, 2021
Henrietta Rodman walking

How Teachers Won the Right to Get Pregnant

In the early twentieth century, teachers were prohibited from keeping their jobs after getting pregnant. Socialist feminists organized to change that.
by Christopher Phelps via Jacobin on July 11, 2021
UNC president with Eleanor Roosevelt
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A Legendary UNC Leader Displayed the Benefit of Academic Freedom — And the Limits

Academic freedom can help universities flourish, while political compromises can hold them back.
by William A. Link via Made By History on May 26, 2021
Father Coughlin gives a radio broadcast.

The Late ’30s Deplatforming of Father Coughlin

Then as now, not many people were willing to raise their own voices to defend the speech of a vulgarian spewing hate over a mass medium.
by Thomas Doherty via Slate on January 21, 2021
January 6th rioters.
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What the 1798 Sedition Act Got Right — And What It Means Today

It forced a conversation about the dangers of misinformation, one we need to have again today.
by Katlyn Marie Carter via Made By History on January 14, 2021

Our First Authoritarian Crackdown

A new book persuasively argues that the Federalists’ attempt to squash opposition and the free flow of ideas was even more nefarious than we thought.
by Brenda Wineapple via New York Review of Books on June 23, 2020
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