American History

Rhea L. Combs (left) and Ava DuVernay (right) share a laugh in front of DuVernay’s portrait during the National Portrait Gallery's 2022 Portrait of a Nation Gala on Saturday, November 12, 2022.

See Stunning Portraits of Ava DuVernay, José Andrés and the Williams Sisters

The National Portrait Gallery's 2022 Portrait of a Nation Award honors seven changemakers, from Anthony Fauci to Clive Davis

Actor Charlotte Cushman defied gender norms, often dressing in a masculine style represented in this 1853 portrait from the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. She managed her own career and demanded equal pay with male actors.

The Rise and Fall, and Rise Again, of America’s First Celebrity—a Woman Who Loved Other Women

The world-famous actor Charlotte Cushman returns to the limelight, with her costumes going on view in a new Smithsonian exhibition

The entrance to the CIA Museum in Langley, Virginia

See Inside the Rarely Seen and Newly Reimagined CIA Museum

Off-limits to all but a few in-person visitors, the museum is starting to welcome the public, online at least

The final facial reconstruction depicting John Barber, 55

Scientists Reconstruct Face of 19th-Century Man Accused of Being a Vampire

He was a victim of tuberculosis—and a target of the vampire panic that swept through New England

In the more than 100 years since his death, William Still has been marginalized, sometimes even forgotten, by histories of the movements to which he contributed so much.

The Forgotten Father of the Underground Railroad

The author of a book about William Still unearths new details about the leading Black abolitionist—and reflects on his lost legacy

American ambassador Joseph C. Grew (left) meets with Japanese Foreign Minister Teijiro Toyoda (right) in October 1941, two months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The American Ambassador Who Tried to Prevent Pearl Harbor

A new book explores the diplomatic efforts of Joseph C. Grew, who was assigned to Tokyo between 1932 and 1942

Joan Didion sitting in her wicker chair in 2003. The chair is one of the writer's many belongings being auctioned on November 16.

You Could Own Joan Didion's Sunglasses, Sofas and Shawls

The revered writer's furniture, household items, books and artworks will be auctioned at Stair Galleries on November 16

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The Father-Daughter Team Who Reformed America

Meet the duo who helped achieve the most important labor and civil rights victories of their age

Ontario International Airport in southern California

You Can Now Meet Friends and Family at the Gate at This California Airport

Ontario International Airport's new program allows non-ticketed individuals to venture beyond security

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues explores the legendary singer and trumpet player's life and legacy.

This Rap Documentarian's Latest Subject? Louis Armstrong

Sacha Jenkins tells the jazz musician's story through rarely-seen archival footage and letters

Pro-choice protesters in 1972

The Underground Abortion Network That Inspired 'Call Jane'

A new film offers a fictionalized look at the Janes, activists who provided illegal abortions in Chicago before Roe v. Wade

Barge 129 loading coal

Unusual 120-Year-Old Whaleback Shipwreck Discovered in Lake Superior

"Barge 129" was the last undiscovered whaleback wreck in the Great Lakes

The nine finalists are Samantha Raimis, CHUCK E., Carrie Torrence, Pamela Crumb, Frida Hitchcock, Blair Hanscom, Sally Strode, Rosie Romero and Wendy Craven.

Which of These Historical Dolls Is the Creepiest?

Vote for one of the nine finalists from a Minnesota museum's collection

Frances F. Denny (b. 1984). Shine, (New York, New York), 2017, from Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America series. Archival pigment print.

What Does It Mean to Be a Witch Today?

A new exhibition on the Salem witch trials explores how the meaning of the word "witch" has evolved through the centuries

Blue jeans gained popularity in the late 19th-century American West due to their durability.

Cache of 19th-Century Blue Jeans Discovered in Abandoned Arizona Mineshaft

The seven pairs of pants open a portal into life in the Castle Dome mining district

T.H. Matteson, Examination of a Witch, 1853

A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials

One town's strange journey from paranoia to pardon

Actress Anna May Wong is the latest woman to appear on the quarter under the U.S. Mint's American Women Quarters program.

Meet Anna May Wong, the First Asian American on U.S. Currency

The trailblazing actress overcame discrimination to become a global star

Environmental investigators found radioactive waste in samples taken from the playground of Jana Elementary School.

Radioactive Waste Found on Missouri Elementary School Grounds

The contaminants can be traced back to World War II's Manhattan Project

Photos of Beverly Williams from her teenage years

Texas School Renovations Reveal a Teenager’s 1950s Purse Frozen in Time

Filled with photos, notes about crushes and a handkerchief, the late Beverly Williams' pink clutch is like a time capsule

Divers examine an iron anchor believed to come from the British antislavery patrol ship H.M.S. Nimble, which ran afoul of the Florida Keys' sharp reefs in 1827 while chasing the illegal Spanish slaver the Guerrero.

What a Spanish Shipwreck Reveals About the Final Years of the Slave Trade

Forty-one of the 561 enslaved Africans on board the "Guerrero" died when the illegal slave ship sank off the Florida Keys in 1827

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