Walt Whitman

He was the most revered poet of his day. It’s worth trying to figure out why.

Stephen Vincent Benét’s lost epic “John Brown’s Body” envisions a nation sutured together after the Civil War, but fails to reckon with the war’s causes.

Andrew Delbanco's new book positions the debate over fugitive slaves as a central factor in the nation's slide toward disunion.

Four nineteenth-century authors offered blueprints for a better world—but their progressive visions had a dark side.

An animation of the historical trends of New York's growth since its founding.

Ronald Reagan is at the heart of the modern American politics of advertising, public relations, and a television in every home.

The surprising persistence of Henry David Thoreau.

The untold story of the eradication of the original Ku Klux Klan.

Tracing its emergence of as a distinct cultural institution.

James Gordon Bennett Jr.'s most eccentric public service announcement.

The use of the word "immigrant" in contemporary debates often reflects a lack of understanding of U.S. immigration history.

In early 1965, President Johnson made the case to Congress for comprehensive immigration reform.