Features | American Experience | Official Site

The Codebreaker | Primary Source

Learn More about the World of Elizebeth Smith Friedman

To learn more about the World of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, explore our suggested resources.

Further Reading poster image canonical_images/feature/Iron_further_canonical.jpg XXX

The Iron Road | Primary Source

Newspaper Account

The headline of this Los Angeles Times article reads "President Wants TV Scandals Cleaned Up." Published November 5, 1959.

Murder of the Century | Primary Source

Evelyn Remembers

Evelyn Nesbit described the events surrounding her lover Stanford White's 1906 murder in two memoirs.

Read More Learn More poster image canonical_images/feature/Orphan_Read_More_canonical.jpg XXX

The Orphan Trains | Primary Source

Newspaper Articles About The Collision

Read two articles from The New York Times and one from The Boston Post in January 1909.

Building the Alaska Highway | Primary Source

Ruth Gruber went to Alaska under the auspices of Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. Gruber describes some of the people she met in Fairbanks, and describes her hopes for bringing settlers to the territory.

Miss America | Primary Source

1948 Pageant Contract

Read the fine print in this pageant contract, which includes the notorious rule barring non-white women from competing.

Public Enemy #1 | Primary Source

Letters and Laws

Read Dillinger's fan mail, the true confessions of his sweethearts, and crime laws enacted to stop 1930s desperadoes.

Murder at Harvard | Primary Source

Trial Transcripts and Newspaper Reports

Newspaper reports on suspects and evidence, plus trial testimony and a confession.

Lost in the Grand Canyon | Primary Source

Expedition Reports

Newspaper reports about the expedition, as well as excerpts from Powell's own account of the trip.

Chasing the Moon | Primary Source

The Decline and Fall of Lunar Royalty

In the summer of 1973 an anonymous band of women at NASA's Johnson Space Center made a mockery of the beauty contest planned by the agency for its Houston staff.