New UCO Library Exhibit: Fear, Identitiy & the Shaping of American Extremism

The University Of Central Oklahoma has presented a new exhibition on the first floor of the Max Chambers Library, titled ‘How We Got Here: Fear, Identity and The Shaping of American Extremism’, which is available for the rest of the 2025 Fall semester, featuring several extremist political groups from the Far Left and Far Right to show exactly how they have influenced current events in the world.

This exhibition was formed from material found in the John George Collection, which is located in the library’s Special Collections & University Archives. It is made up of an extensive library with over 600 volumes and many rare serial titles–out of the 235 available–and about four feet of vertical files, says William Long, the Max Chambers Library Collections & University Archives Specialist.

“This exhibition encourages students to learn from the past and to recognize that history often repeats itself. By presenting materials from the Far Left, the exhibit highlights the social programs and reforms achieved by individuals who stood against oppression,” said Long. 

The content spans from the years 1938 to 1998 and was entirely donated by Dr. John George, a retired Professor of Political Science and Sociology at UCO. This political extremism collection is one of the region’s largest and diverse, according to Long. 

The materials in this exhibition help give a better understanding of how diverse the political landscape of the United States has been throughout the 20th century. Long also mentions how the United States has had a complex and continuous history of active extremist organizations.

Some of the groups mentioned have perpetuated hate and contributed to the violence against marginalized communities, while others have used tactics deemed “controversial” in the “pursuit of justice and self-defense against systemic oppression,” said Long.

Long also highlights that this collection shows connections between groups like the American Nazi Party and the Christian Right and how the occurrence of extremist groups in the media has become normalized today. 

“Through materials representing the Far Right, the exhibition demonstrates that hate and intolerance are longstanding elements of our society. Many of us can become insulated in our daily lives, overlooking issues that do not directly affect us, but understanding this history helps contextualize present challenges,” Long said.

The Right-wing materials that are included in this exhibition are made up of publications and newsletters from Conservative, Patriotic, Anti Communist, Libertarian, Pro-Family, Anti-Abortion, along with White Nationalist, Gun Rights, and Free Market organizations, among many others. The Left-wing materials are less extensive, though still represent the ideologies/activities of Liberal, Socialist, Radical, Revolutionary, Feminist, LGBTQ+, Marxist, Anti-War, and also including Environmentalist and Minority Nationalist movements.

One of the books included in the collection ‘American extremists: militias, supremacists, klansmen, communists & others ’ by John George and Laird M. Wilcox, published in 1996, provides a comprehensive analysis of extremist behavior. It starts by providing information on pre-1960 movements and progresses into “the modern-day conspiracy theories and motivations behind extremism,” said Long.

George and Wilcox give a well-documented and detailed overview of both the far-left and far-right groups mentioned, and also include militia organizations from that time. The book touches on the use of fake quotes and documents that are commonly used by extremist groups.

Long also says that the collection can be comparable to the Wilcox Collection at the Kenneth Spencer Library at the University of Kansas and the Political Ephemera Collection in the Manuscripts Department at Tulane University, which are both large assemblages of U.S. left- and right-wing political literature in the country.

For any questions about the exhibit or the John George Collection, email William Long at wlong1@uco.edu or come by SC&UA, located in room 215 in the Max Chambers Library.