The Last Days of David Crockett
Did he die swinging his empty musket in a valiant last stand? Or was he captured and coldly executed?
by Stephen Harrigan
What We Owe Jehovah’s Witnesses
Their persistent proselytizing and refusal to kowtow to earthly authorities led to more freedoms for all Americans
by Sarah Barringer Gordon
Founding Foodie
Thomas Jefferson was America’s first obsessive gardener and gastronome
by Kristen Hinman
New Americans
Immigrants donned their Old World best for an Ellis Island portraitist
by Claudia Glenn Dowling
The Immortals
Babe Ruth and the Hall of Fame dream team chosen 75 years ago belong to a pantheon that transcends baseball
by Allen Barra
The Man Who Defined America
Noah Webster’s dictionary is now ubiquitous, but his efforts to unify the young republic are largely forgotten
by Joshua Kendall
DEPARTMENTS
Gazette
Ike’s military-industrial complex speech revisited; Ice Age critters unearthed; Pocahontas wedding site found; drug-smuggling Civil War dolls exposed; and more
The Big Picture
Public libraries
We’ve Been Here Before
Brash new congressmen storm Capitol Hill
The First
Comic strip hero
Interview
Civil War historian Ed Ayers calls for a national Emancipation Day
Details
Confederate Lost Cause quilt
Encounter
Lyndon Johnson meets the press (in the buff)
Reviews
The Killing of Crazy Horse; the life of Robert E. Lee; George Washington’s maps; Jimi Hendrix’s roots; and more
From America’s Attic
Lewis and Clark compass, 1803
