Dr. Karl Menninger

Should Punishment Fit the Crime?

Dr. Karl Menninger on the crime of punishment.
A uniformed member of the Nazi SA and a student of the Academy of Physical Exercise examine materials plundered from the library of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, director of the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin on May 6, 1933.

90 Years On: The Destruction of the Institute of Sexual Science

In May 1933, Nazi-led student groups organized public burnings of "un-German" books, including those held in the library of the Institute for Sexual Science.
Linda Brown Smith, Ethel Louise Belton Brown, Harry Briggs, Jr., and Spottswood Bolling, Jr. during press conference at Hotel Americana, 1964

Brown v. Board of Education: Annotated

The 1954 Supreme Court decision, based on the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, declared that “separate but equal” has no place in education.
king cake with baby surrounded by mardi gras beads

Should We Teach K-12 Students the History of King Cake?

King cake, eaten during Carnival season in New Orleans, is more than just a sugar-sprinkled treat. Should students learn about its connections to white supremacy?
Cook County jail detainees cast their votes after a polling place in the facility was opened for early voting on October 17, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois

Voting Rights for People Convicted of Felonies

Formerly incarcerated people comprise the largest group of disenfranchised American voters. The American Prison Newspapers collection offers fresh insight into the issue.

The Lives Beyond the Life Sentences

Their lives didn't stop when the judge sentenced them to life in prison. Then what? A 1994 issue of The Angolite profiled the longest-serving Americans.
Harvey Milk at Gay Pride, San Jose 1978

Harvey Milk’s Gay Freedom Day Speech: Annotated

Five months before his assassination in 1978, Harvey Milk called on the president of the United States to defend the rights of gay and lesbian Americans.
Sing Sing prison, with warden T. M. Osborne and two other men, c. 1915

Were Early American Prisons Similar to Today’s?

A correctional officer’s history of 19th century prisons and modern-day parallels. From Sing Sing to suicide watch, torture treads a fine line.
The cover of issue #10 of Anarchist Black Dragon, Spring 1982

Prison Abolition from Behind Prison Walls

The Anarchist Black Dragon was produced inside of the Walla Walla State Penitentiary. One of their journalists was murdered. Could the paper survive?
Image from a poster for safe sex awareness

Gay Bars and Gay Rights

One of the flash points in the LGBTQ+ movement was liquor licenses, which were the subject of important legal cases.