More than Dots and Dashes

On this date, April 27 in 1791, Samuel F.B. Morse was born. If you remember your grade-school history –or you were a Boy Scout who learned "Morse Code"– his name is still familiar. He is credited with developing the telegraph and the dots and dashes code that bears his name..

But there is something else about Morse that your schoolbooks probably left out. He wrote vitriolic anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant essays, published by his brother's New York newspaper. Morse even ran for Mayor of New ...