Skip to main content

Francis Russell

Francis Russell, a frequent contributor, is the author of Adams: An American Dynasty , a book recently published by American Heritage.

Articles by

Francis

Russell

Articles by this Author

The Knave Of Boston, August 1976 | Vol. 27, No. 5
IN ALL THE PACK, DAN COAKLEY DESERVED TO BE CALLED
Gene Debs was America’s leading socialist, but just about everyone agreed he had
The brisk little Italian immigrant promised you 100 per cent interest in ninety days. Some people actually got it
Honey Fitz, August 1968 | Vol. 19, No. 5
John F. Fitzgerald put his seal on his city, his times, and a political tribe that still increases. To foes he was “Fitxblarney” but friends called him
Butler The Beast?, April 1968 | Vol. 19, No. 3
For nearly fifty years, in one way or another, Ben Butler courted the favor of his state and the nation. He way not have been a bona fide Beauty, but there were times when his traditional nickname did not seem quite fair either
In the summer of 1915, 1,300 blue bloods played soldier for thirty days at Plattsburg. A bully time was had by all—even though it was a far cry from the real thing
When Boston’s police walked out, a great city erupted in violence. By doggedly doing nothing, Governor Coolidge emerged as a national hero
In the life and death of a scandal-haunted President, some dark regions still remain
Did the Fathers in 1620 really land on that famous slab of granite? Through the haze of myth that surround it, a profound truth may be dimly seen
Four years ago Mr. Russell claimed in our pages that the central figures in the famous trial at Dedham had been unjustly executed. Now he has restudied the long record, held new ballistic tests, and reached a dramatic new conclusion. Should not the verdict be, he asks:
Lord Jeffery’s name is “known to fame,” but it was the five years he spent in America that rescued him from obscurity
The Last Of The Bosses, June 1959 | Vol. 10, No. 4
Part hero, part rogue, Boston’s Jim Curley triumphed over the Brahmins in his heyday, but became in the end a figure of pity.
Only Sir William Johnson, living among them in feudal splendor, won and kept the confidence of the Iroquois.
Tragedy In Dedham, October 1958 | Vol. 9, No. 6
A restrospect of the Sacco-Vanzetti trial
Lost Elegance, June 1957 | Vol. 8, No. 4
Home to royal and republican governors, host to a century of great men, stately Shirley Place in Roxbury, Massachusetts, is falling into ruin
John Eliot preached to the Massachusetts savages, printed the Bible in their “barbarous Linguo,” and tried to reply to their disquieting questions