U.S. History

The Axeman preyed on Italian-American families such as these who ran grocery stores in the New Orleans region.

The Axeman of New Orleans Preyed on Italian Immigrants

A mysterious serial killer prowled in a city rife with xenophobia and racism

The author Brett McNish and Fred Hay perch in a live oak on Sapelo island.

A Smithsonian Horticulturist Goes on a Quest for an Historic Seedling

A live oak tree from a South Georgia island community will one day enhance the grounds of the African American History Museum

The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), Sunday, Apr 28, 1935

How the “Heart Balm Racket” Convinced America That Women Were Up to No Good

Being engaged carried some legal consequences until the news media got a hold of a sensational story

Both Kehinde Wiley and Obama said they were struck by parallels in their life stories. “Both of us had American mothers who raised us, with extraordinary love and support,” Obama said.

Artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald Capture the Unflinching Gaze of the President and First Lady

The nation's first African-American presidency is marked by two prominent African-American portraitists

How Americans Found a Clever Loophole in the Prohibition Act

Just because the country had voted to outlaw alcohol, didn't mean that people would comply. The legal case wasn't much helped by a quirky loophole

Coal miners walk through a tunnel at the Consol Energy Bailey Mine in Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania in 2013.

Why Black Lung Disease Is Deadlier Than Ever Before

As President Trump prepares to send miners back to work, a near-obsolete illness is once again ravaging coal country

This copy of David Walker’s “Appeal”, held in the collections of Emory University's Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, was owned and signed by W.E.B. Du Bois.

The Book That Spooked the South

David Walker’s “Appeal” laid bare the ethical bankruptcy of slavery moreso than any other book of its time

How Edith Roosevelt Completely Transformed the White House

Edith Roosevelt was a reluctant First Lady. Despite this, she had the presence and determination to bring about a major innovation to the White House

Frederick Douglass, ca. 1875

Frederick Douglass’ 200th Birthday Invites Remembrance and Reflection

This Douglass Day, celebrate an icon’s bicentennial while helping to transcribe the nation’s black history

Cleveland Sellers, center, stands with officers after his arrest in Orangeburg, S.C., where three were killed and 28 others wounded on Feb. 8, 1968.

In 1968, Three Students Were Killed by Police. Today, Few Remember the Orangeburg Massacre

The shootings occurred two years before the deaths of students at Kent State University, but remain a little-known incident in the Civil Rights Movement

Rare Home Movies of the Secret Manhattan Project Grounds

When physicist Hugh Bradner was brought to work on the Manhattan Project in 1943, the level of secrecy was unparalleled

These Men Risked Their Lives to Build 1920s New York Skyscrapers

The skyscrapers of Manhattan needed a new, bolder type of construction worker

Dodge City in 1878

Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West

Contrary to the popular imagination, bearing arms on the frontier was a heavily regulated business

This Man Filmed Life Inside an Internment Camp

Dave Tatsuno was one of the 120,000 Japanese-Americans rounded up in the U.S. in 1942 and placed in an internment camp

Eighmey's colonial-style corn cakes (top), forcemeat balls (lower right) and pickled French beans (lower left).

The Ben Franklin-Inspired Super Bowl Recipes You Never Knew You Needed

We don't know who Ben Franklin would root for, but we do know what he'd eat on Super Bowl Sunday

A photo of David Koresh rests beside a wooden cross as part of a monument erected in Waco, Texas, by supporters of the Branch Davidian leader and founder, Friday, April 30, 1993.

The True Story of ‘Waco’ Is Still One of Contention

A new mini-series hopes to humanize those in and outside the doomed compound

Thomas Jefferson's two-volume personal copy of George Sale's 1734 translation of the Qur'an is now in the collections of the Library of Congress.

Why Thomas Jefferson Owned a Qur’an

Islam in America dates to the founding fathers, says Smithsonian’s religion curator Peter Manseau

30 Workers Fell While Building the Golden Gate Bridge

During the construction of the Golden Gate bridge, the construction companies had a grim rule of thumb: one worker fatality for every million dollars spent

Civil War Submarine Battles Were Often Suicide Missions

During the Civil War, the North imposed a suffocating blockade of a number of key Confederate port

How Eleanor Roosevelt Redefined the Role of First Lady

Eleanor dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of the oppressed, including pushing FDR to set up the National Youth Administration

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