Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America

Anarchist Globe Bomb, c. 1886.

Black Tom. Haymarket. The Palmer Raids. These names may not evoke a strong response today, but each represents a decisive - and sometimes deadly - chapter in U.S. history. The Tampa Bay History Center invites you to revisit these sometimes-overlooked events during Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Fear and Freedom in America, on exhibit Sat., Feb. 4 through June 24.

How did the government respond after German saboteurs detonated a bomb in New York Harbor in 1916? How did the public feel about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII? Was the FBI's monitoring of celebrities and writers such as Marilyn Monroe and John Steinbeck justified?

Spies presents more than 100 acts of terror, treason  and civil disobedience in American history, allowing viewers to consider how they might have responded, the motivations of the participants, and whether the government's response was adequate or a violation of our basic rights and liberties.

For more information about the exhibit, visit our website or, listen to an interview with History Center Curator Rodney Kite-Powell. To see more images from the exhibit, visit our facebook page.