Exhibit uncovers U.S. past's dark side

History is not always neat and clean. Often it's messy and mean. Though America's past is filled with feel-good stories of pioneers braving the odds and rugged individuals fighting for their freedom, there are dark moments.

Like the kind displayed in a new exhibit, "Spies, Traitors and Saboteurs" at the Tampa Bay History Center. There are photos and news reels of terrorism that happened on the shores of the United States long before Sept. 11, 2001. There are replica robes of the Ku Klux Klan and details of various acts of subversion.

"The show displays acts of sabotage from 1812 to now," said Dan Treado, the exhibitions productions manager with the International Spy Museum in Washington, which is loaning the exhibit to the history center until June. He admitted the exhibit casts light on some dark moments in this nation's history, both historic events and, more importantly, in some cases, the subsequent reactions and overreactions of government.

At each stop is an interactive computer screen asking museum goers how they feel about what happened and the responding government reaction. Next to the KKK exhibit, a computer screen asks if the government should or should not enact laws to prohibit hate speech fostered by the KKK.

One exhibit resembles an FBI basement records section in the 1950s. There are file cabinets open, some with files displayed showing information about celebrities investigated during the nation's "Red Scare" period. Marilyn Monroe and Eleanor Roosevelt are among those whose files were created.

It's a reminder of how events can create a public hysteria, which can lead to a chill on free speech and bump up racial and ethnic discrimination. Besides the "Red Scare" years, which targeted celebrities and politicians, there were examples of discriminatory action against immigrants throughout the nation's history.

"This exhibit has some pointed things to say about civil liberties," Treado said. "Sometimes the government reacts with overkill."

The exhibit takes up 4,000 square feet on the third floor of the center, located in downtown Tampa just west of the Channelside District.

Many of the exhibits are from private collectors, and some even come from the government. The FBI loaned old booking booklets.

Another exhibit explains that the idea of a car bomb is not new. On Sept. 16, 1920, a horse-drawn carriage loaded with dynamite detonated in front of the J.P. Morgan Bank, killing 38 people and shutting down New York's financial district for days.

That act of terrorism and several others, including the bombing of a New York harbor munitions depot by German agents and American collaborators in 1916, are among the exhibits.

Artifacts include debris from one of the airliners that hit the World Trade Center and a replica of a "globe bomb" that was used in the trial of eight anarchists charged in the Chicago Haymarket riot of 1886.

There are identification cards of agents with the federal government who spied on American citizens during World War I and the charred remnants of the White House torched by British troops in 1814.

The display details 80 domestic- and foreign-spawned terrorist attacks, many of which most people have never heard of. In all, the exhibit sheds light on about 170 different events occurring in the nation over more than two centuries.

This is the only stop in Florida for the exhibit, which will be here until June 24. It includes 145 historic photographs and documents and is recommended for ages 12 and up.

Rodney Kite-Powell, the museum's curator of history, welcomed the exhibit to show locals a bigger picture. "There's a lot of buzz about this," he said.