First Red Scare

16 Socialists Poised for State Legislature, Most in New York State History

June 25, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

At least seven Democratic Socialist candidates have won primary elections for the New York Legislature in districts considered safe in November. The primary sweep included multiple victories over incumbent Democrats and in competitive open seats.

Not only will it more than double the socialist contingent in the state house to 16 across both chambers, it will mark the largest socialist contingent in the state legislature in New York history. [Read more…] about 16 Socialists Poised for State Legislature, Most in New York State History

Lesbian History: Eve Adams, Monocles, Tearooms & Deportations

April 24, 2026 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

Launched in July 1900, the transatlantic liner S.S. Vaderland (Flemish for fatherland) sailed the route between Antwerp and Hoboken on behalf of the Red Star Line. Catering for 340 first-class, 200 second-class, and over 600 third-class (formerly steerage) passengers, the liner was one of “mid tier” elegance rather than opulence and designed to compete with its rivals of the Cunard and White Star lines. She played a key role in the early history of mass emigration from Europe to the United States.

On May 25, 1912, the liner left Antwerp, arriving at Ellis Island for immigrant inspection on June 4th. On board was a talented twenty-year-old Polish woman keen to break free from traditional Jewish domestic constraints and find intellectual and sexual freedom in Manhattan. [Read more…] about Lesbian History: Eve Adams, Monocles, Tearooms & Deportations

Strike! 13 Strikes Every New Yorker Should Know About

January 23, 2026 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Today the state of Minnesota is engaged in the first General Strike in nearly 80 years. There have been thousands of strikes in American history, but only about a dozen General Strikes. One of the first strikes took place in the city of New York in 1677. Afterward a dozen cart-men (one-horse cart operators) were criminally prosecuted “for not obeying the Command and Doing their Dutyes as becomes them in their Places” and fined.

About 80 strikes in the U.S. have involved over 100,000 workers. Here are 13 strikes every New Yorker should know about: [Read more…] about Strike! 13 Strikes Every New Yorker Should Know About

New York State Deportation Raids & The First Red Scare

December 12, 2025 by John Warren 2 Comments

The Palmer Raids are generally understood by professional historians to have been unconstitutional, aggressive and abusive mass arrests and deportations of political enemies in 1919 and 1920. The raids and deportations in 36 cities, but especially in New York State, provoked a national reaction focused on protecting the human rights and civil liberties won during the American Revolution.

The Palmer Raids, in conjunction with raids conducted by New York State’s Lusk Committee, were some of the most egregious constitutional violations in the era now known disreputably as “The First Red Scare.” At the time the American understanding of the social contract was being intensely debated as part of a great international war between the haves and the have-nots. [Read more…] about New York State Deportation Raids & The First Red Scare

Americanism in the Classroom: New York’s Teacher Witch-Hunt

February 17, 2025 by Bill Greer 1 Comment

Long before the recent calls for “Patriotic Education,” New York State undertook its own program to promote “Americanism” in the classroom.

The effort kicked off in Brooklyn’s Commercial High School. On January 14, 1919, teacher Benjamin Glassberg opened a discussion about Bolshevism in his history class. [Read more…] about Americanism in the Classroom: New York’s Teacher Witch-Hunt

Red Scare Mania: The Karl Marx of Music

January 22, 2025 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

Composer Hanns (Johannes) Eisler was born in July 1898 in Leipzig, Saxony, where his Austrian father Rudolf worked as an academic. The family moved to Vienna in 1901 and settled in Leopoldstadt, a district known for its large Jewish population. Being an outspoken atheist (although of Jewish descent), Rudolf was denied a post at Vienna University and worked for the publisher Werner Klinkhardt as editor for a series of books on philosophy and sociology. [Read more…] about Red Scare Mania: The Karl Marx of Music

The Syracuse Riot of 1919: Red Summer in Upstate New York

July 31, 2024 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The Syracuse Riot of 1919 was a violent racial attack that occurred when the management of the Globe Malleable Iron Works pitted striking white unionized workers against black strikebreakers on July 31, 1919.

After the First World War white unionized workers across America were facing difficult working conditions and striking for better conditions and pay. At the same time, as part of the Great Migration, black Americans were moving from the South to urban manufacturing towns in the Northeast and Midwest. [Read more…] about The Syracuse Riot of 1919: Red Summer in Upstate New York

Village Radicals & A Delirium of Deportations

March 23, 2024 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Manhattan’s MacDougal Street was named after merchant Alexander McDougall, a Scottish immigrant who hailed from the Isle of Islay. A rebellious character, he had been actively involved in the Revolutionary War.

In later years, McDougall represented New York in the Continental Congress and became the first President of the Bank of New York. Until their reckless destruction in 2008 to make space for New York University’s law school, the buildings from number 133 to 139 were landmark addresses in the history of Greenwich Village. [Read more…] about Village Radicals & A Delirium of Deportations

Trailblazing Women: Peace Activist Tracy Mygatt

March 25, 2021 by Chuck Howlett Leave a Comment

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 12th, 1885, Tracy Mygatt was inspired by her New England ancestors’ religious convictions and translated those spiritual roots into radical social change, one that was highlighted by her own political determination.

After her graduation from Bryn Mawr College in 1908, she devoted her life to a number of reform causes, which included child labor and unemployment, world peace through her association with peace organizations and calls for world government, and an economic system based on democratic-socialist principles. [Read more…] about Trailblazing Women: Peace Activist Tracy Mygatt

The First Red Scare: Socialist Suppression and Explosive Anarchism

July 26, 2020 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

In the course of the nineteenth century, powerful and relatively stable explosives were developed. Dynamite became synonymous with radicalism and the moniker “dynamitist” preceded that of terrorist.

On September 16, 1920, a bomb was set off on a busy corner of Manhattan’s financial district. At 12:01 pm, a horse-drawn wagon concealing 100 pounds of dynamite was detonated. The blast killed thirty-eight people. [Read more…] about The First Red Scare: Socialist Suppression and Explosive Anarchism

First Red Scare

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