December 1961

The spinster thought she’d been proposed to; the young minister thought not. Their courtship and quarrel rocked devout New Haven

Near the close of a gaudy career, P. T. Earnum took the “greatest show on earth” to London. His scrapbook reveals the master of hokum at the top of his form

As Owens Valley water came down the aqueduct, thirsty Los Angeles rejoiced. But angry farmers were buying dynamite and cleaning guns

Blending satire and nostalgia, Washington Irving taught his readers both to love the past and chuckle over its absurdities

exhibit one in a gallery of men who fought the good fight in vain

His feat was more daring than Paul Revere’s, but Virginia’s hero had, alas, no Longfellow

Connecticut-born John Ledyard became the first American to see Alaska and Hawaii. Years before Lewis and Clark, he planned to cross the North American continent—from west to east

AMERICA & RUSSIA, PART XI
The Communist party in America was so small, so faction-ridden, so isolated. How could it enlist so much popular support? How could illiberalism take in so many liberals?

For centuries the world’s envoys kowtowed to China’s proud rulers. Then along came a crusty American with a stubborn pride of his own