Amy Crawford

Amy Crawford

 

Amy Crawford is a Michigan-based freelance journalist writing about cities, science, the environment, art and education. A longtime Smithsonian contributor, her work also appears in CityLab and the Boston Globe.

By digging through archives, researchers can piece together the life stories of the millions of people who were enslaved in the Americas.

A Massive New Database Will Connect Billions of Historic Records to Tell the Full Story of American Slavery

The online resource will offer vital details about the toll wrought on the enslaved

Shaikh Zain ud-Din’s Brahminy Starling with Two Antheraea Moths, Caterpillar, and Cocoon on an Indian Jujube Tree was originally part of an album commissioned by his British patrons.

The Awe-Inspiring Wildlife Drawings of Shaikh Zain ud-Din

An 18th-century album of India's flora and fauna showcases the startling work of an overlooked master

Diane Meyer walked the entire 96-mile perimeter of the former wall to take pictures for her hand-sewn photograph series “Berlin.” Above, Brandenburg Gate, 2015.

Where the Berlin Wall Once Stood

Even after a terrible barrier comes down, an artist conjures its haunting presence

The artist says he paints to music, improvising his brushstrokes in the manner of a jazz soloist.

How Peter Wayne Lewis Infuses His Artwork With the Spirit of Jazz

A new exhibit explores bebop and the Buddha

19th-century engraving depicting the Santa María, the ship used by Christopher Columbus.

Why Spain Is Seeking to Catalog All of Its Historic Shipwrecks

A deep dive into the archives yields hundreds of long-forgotten journeys

"The paint went all over, and of course some of it went off the canvas," the photographer says of Pollock's technique, re-enacted here in his studio.

Dramatic New Photographs Recreate Scenes of Artists at Work

Adrien Broom's series brings vitality to how we think about the likes of Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner or Mark Twain

“Don’t! Photography and the Art of Mistakes,” opening July 20 at SFMOMA, celebrates overexposed, out-of-focus and otherwise flawed images as art.

New Exhibit at SFMOMA Highlights the Art of the Mistake

These photographs make the most of getting it wrong

S.T.A.R. (2012) by Tuesday Smillie. Watercolor collage on board.

New Brooklyn Museum Exhibit Explores the Cultural Memory of Stonewall

Artists born after the galvanizing moment in gay rights history, which took place 50 years ago, present their interpretations

A rendering of the lobby of the Statue of Liberty Museum, featuring the statue's original torch

A New Museum Sheds Light on the Statue of Liberty

The revamped building will open in May

Daesha Devón Harris Combines Oral History and Antique Portraits to Tell a Story of Loss and Hope

These layered works testify to African-American history

Dugger makes a stylish statement by superimposing vibrant images of women jumping and twirling over photographs of patterned mats common in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, the Veil Is a Fashion Statement

Artist Medina Dugger finds joy in a colorful yet complicated symbol of faith

Women make up less than 19 percent of Wikipedia's biographies.

One Tool in the Fight Against Wikipedia's Notorious Gender Bias

Can an obscure 19th-century literary form help solve a 21st-century problem?

The 'Pole of Inaccessibility' Has Eluded Adventurers for More Than a Century

This winter, explorers will once again set out for the most remote part of the Arctic Ocean

Ida O’Keeffe created seven abstract paintings of Cape Cod’s Highland Light (pictured: Variation on a Lighthouse Theme V). The first in the acclaimed series has been lost.

Who Was Ida O'Keeffe, Georgia's Lesser-Known, But Perhaps More-Talented, Sister?

The painter who toiled in the shadow of her celebrated sibling is the subject of a new, major exhibition

Unidentified 60, 2017. Meyer learned the art of making headdresses from Swazi women.

How Kyle Meyer's Photo-Tapestries Give Voice to a Silenced Community

The New York artist combines digital photography and African fabrics to create deeply textured portraits of persecuted Swazi men

Cathleen Naundorf’s signature style celebrates the Grand Palais’ dramatic design and the “sculptural” details of two dresses from Chanel’s 2010 collection.

A Vintage Take on High Fashion Showcases the Beauty of a Stitch in Time

Photographer Cathleen Naundorf mined Chanel's archives for a majestic new book

Mean Dog (Verso: Man Leading Mule), c. 1939-1942, by Bill Traylor, poster paint and pencil on cardboard

Born Into Slavery, Bill Traylor Would Become a Leading Light of Self-Taught Art

A new show at the Smithsonian American Art museum highlights his work

Members of Revitalization Corps marching in Old Saybrook

Racism Kept Connecticut's Beaches White Up Through the 1970s

By bussing black kids from Hartford to the shore, Ned Coll took a stand against the bigotry of “armchair liberals”

Royal swan uppers now wear scarlet jackets, but they still pilot traditional rowing skiffs. The 2018 swan upping will begin July 16.

An Artistic Reimagining of London's Past in 'Old River Thames'

Tally ho! Photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten English looks at when swan lovers come to their census

McNamara (in 2013 in Nazaré) still surfs its monster waves, despite the risks. Last year, a fall broke champion British surfer Andrew Cotton’s back.

What It Took to Set the World Record for Surfing

Brazilian surfer Rodrigo Koxa had to conquer PTSD before he was ready to break Garrett McNamara’s world record

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