Back to School: Origins of the Pledge

Children say it every day in school, but have you ever wondered why we recite the pledge of allegiance? We journey back to the late 1800s to understand how a massive wave of immigration and sagging magazine subscriptions gave rise to this vow of patriotism. From the Civil War to anti-immigrant nativism and Cold War politics, this one pledge tells many stories. Guests: Debbie Schaefer-Jacobs , curator for the history of education collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History Marc Leepson, author of Flag: An American Biography

You can listen to Back to School: Origins of the Pledge online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Back to School: Origins of the Pledge is an episode from Sidedoor by Smithsonian Institution .

This episode is 31:30 long.

This episode was published on Aug 20, 2025.

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