The Department of Justice unleashed a shocking and often
violent unconstitutional nationwide dragnet — detaining as
many as 10,000 people — on this day in history, Jan. 2, 1920.

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer (above) appointed to the
office 10 months earlier by President Woodrow Wilson, led the
sweep against suspected communists and anarchists, as well
as their sympathizers.

The action was soon dubbed the Palmer Raids. 

The Foundation for Economic Education said…"The raids
constituted a horrific, shameful episode in American history,
one of the lowest moments for liberty since King George III
quartered troops in private homes."

The foundation called the effort under President Wilson
"America’s reign of terror."

Thomas Woodrow Wilson
(December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924)

A young Justice Department official, J. Edgar Hoover, 
played a key role in the Palmer Raids. He was named
FBI director in 1924. 

On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Attempting to stitch together a nation mired in a
bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln made a last-ditch, but carefully calculated, decision regarding the institution of slavery in America.

                              Alice Sanger (1864 – 1941)

President Benjamin Harrison welcomes Alice Sanger as the first
female White House staffer on January 2, 1890.

President Benjamin Harrison (1833 – 1901)

Camille Bohannon

The report also stated that Williams had been severely beaten
and kicked recently (during a fight in a Montgomery bar a few
days earlier).

Hiram "Hank" Williams was a singer-songwriter. He is regarded as
one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century. Williams recorded 55 singles that reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers
chart, five of which were released posthumously, and 12 of which reached No.1.

Hank Williams was born Hiram King Williams in Mount Olive,
Alabama, to a family of strawberry farmers and log company
workers, according to the Country Music Hall of Fame. 
(From Wikipedia)