History

The Institution's treasures were under 24-hour guard until World War II's end. The superintendent of the Shenandoah National Park selected five residents of Luray and the vicinity to serve as guards. "All fine men thoroughly conscientious in their duty," these guards were led by Lynn Black (far left, front row), and protected the collections against sabotage, theft and fire.

In the Event of War

How the Smithsonian protected its "strange animals, curious creatures" and more

This Honus Wagner baseball card sold for $2.35 million in March.

A Brief History of the Honus Wagner Baseball Card

From cigarette pack insert to multi-million-dollar treasure

The unlikely researcher, George Smith, made one of archaeology's most sensational finds when he uncovered the cuneiform-inscribed clay tablet containing fragments of a lost Babylonian epic.

Epic Hero

How a self-taught British genius rediscovered the Mesopotamian saga of Gilgamesh —after 2,500 years

None

The Epic of Gilgamesh Translation

Translated by Stephen Langdon, University of Pennsylvania

A carving of the tale of Gilgamesh

Lost Treasure

In Gilgamesh, scholars unearthed literary gold

None

Talking to the Feds

The chief of the FBI's organized crime unit on the history of La Cosa Nostra

The Egyptian queen frequently surrounded herself with splendor, but luxury was less an indulgence than a political tool.

Who Was Cleopatra?

Mythology, propaganda, Liz Taylor and the real Queen of the Nile

Adhering to tradition is a way of life among the Zuni Indians of northwestern New Mexico, whether it's dryland farming or wedding ceremonies. "The Zuni's complex social web seems to hold people," says Dennis Tedlock. "Their religion and language provide...ethnic identity."

The Zuni Way

Though they embrace computers and TV, the secret of the tribe's unity lies in fealty to their past

The Old Bailey (in 1809) was the venue for more than 100,000 criminal trials between 1674 and 1834, including all death penalty cases.

Digitizing the Hanging Court

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey is an epic chronicle of crime and vice in early London. Now anyone can search all 52 million words

A player wearing an old-fashioned catcher's mask

April Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

Zuni or not, every woman is obliged to pitch in for the Sha'lako corn-grinding ceremony. During the religious festival, says Morell (far right), "people are expected to set aside all feelings of ill-will and hostility."

Mystery and Drama

Virginia Morell, author of "The Zuni Way," on the mystical ceremonies of the Zuni pueblo

None

What's Up

Duke Ellington, animated movies and the old ballgame

Capt. John Smith and Chief Powhatan had historic encounters in Werowocomoco.

Lost City of Powhatan

The Algonquian settlement crucial to the survival of Jamestown 400 years ago has been found. Finally

Congress finally passed the suffrage amendment in January 1918, but the Senate and the states took more than two years to approve it. In August 1920, a young Tennessee representative cast the deciding vote—at the urging of his mother—and ratified the amendment, thereby enfranchising half of the U.S. population. After a 72-year struggle, women had finally won the right to vote.

Equal Say

A photographic essay of how women won the vote

None

Celebrating St. Patrick

On March 17, everyone's green-even the Chicago River. Yet St. Patrick remains colored in myth

A conservator works on the Star-Spangled Banner in 1914.

The Story Behind the Star Spangled Banner

How the flag that flew proudly over Fort McHenry inspired an anthem and made its way to the Smithsonian

None

General Resent

In this interview, Ernest "Pat" Furgurson, author of "Catching Up with 'Old Slow Trot,'" says some people are still fighting the Civil War

None

The Stranger and the Statesman

An excerpt from Nina Burleigh's book, The Stranger and the Statesman: James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the Making of America's Greatest Museum

James Smithson by Hattie Elizabeth Burdette, 1872

Why This Wealthy British Scientist Saw So Much Potential in the United States of America

James Smithson's biographer offers insight into ideals born of the Age of Enlightenment that gave rise to the founding of the Smithsonian

None

The Forgotten General

Historians' perspectives on George H. Thomas

Page 246 of 278