AMERICAN HERITAGE

Featured Articles

Did the First Lady Advise the President Not to Run Again?

President Johnson shocked the nation when he ended his bid for reelection in 1968. As early as 1964, Lady Bird had suggested that he might not want to run for a second term.

Lafayette's Grand American Tour

by Elizabeth Reese

Enormous crowds greeted the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, during his visit to all 24 states nearly 40 years after the war ended.

Two Years That Made the West

by Elliott West

In a momentous couple of years, the young United States added more than a million square miles of territory, including Texas and California.

Save the Glover House!

by Edwin S. Grosvenor

We can’t let the home of one of the great heroes of the American Revolution be demolished.

Classic Essays from Our Archives

The Treasure From The Carpentry Shop | December 1979, Vol 31, No 1

By David McCullough

THE EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS OF THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

Did Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson Love Each Other? | Fall 2008, Vol 58, No 5

By Annette Gordon-Reed

To call it loaded question does not begin to do justice to the matter, given America’s tortured racial history and its haunting legacy.

Growing Up Colored | Summer 2012, Vol 62, No 2

By Henry Louis Gates Jr.

The noted writer and educator tells of his boyhood in the West Virginia town of Piedmont, where African Americans were second-class citizens but family pride ran deep.

Range Practice | Februrary 1968, Vol 19, No 2

By Dean Acheson

Our former Secretary of State recalls his service fifty years ago in the Connecticut National Guard—asthmatic horses, a ubiquitous major, and a memorable

“The Tide Is Setting Strongly Against Us” | Winter 2010, Vol 59, No 4

By Edward L. Ayers

Lincoln’s bid for reelection in 1864 faced serious challenges from a popular opponent and a nation weary of war

"The Sparck of Rebellion" | Winter 2010, Vol 59, No 4

By Douglas Brinkley

Badly disguised as Indians, a rowdy group of patriotic vandals kicked a revolution into motion

Today in History

Dillinger gunned down

John Dillinger, the notorious Depression-era gangster and bank robber, is killed during a gunfight with the FBI outside of a Chicago theater.
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Lincoln announces Emancipation Proclamation to Cabinet

President Abraham Lincoln announces the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.
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John White leads colonists to Roanoke

Governor John White leads English settlers to the island of Roanoke, establishing the community that will soon be known as "The Lost Colony."
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