Civil War
The Telegram That Broke News of the Civil War
After Confederate forces seized Fort Sumter, a U.S. Army officer dashed off this message to Washington
Arsenic and Old Graves: Civil War-Era Cemeteries May Be Leaking Toxins
The poisonous element, once used in embalming fluids, could be contaminating drinking water as corpses rot
That Time When Custer Stole a Horse
The theft of a prize-winning stallion gave the famous general a glimpse of a future that could have been
Alexander Gardner Saw Himself as an Artist, Crafting the Image of War in All Its Brutality
The National Portrait Gallery’s new show on the Civil War photographer rediscovers the full significance of Gardner's career
What Artist Martha McDonald Might Teach Us About a Nation Divided
This fall, a one-woman show staged in one of Washington, D.C.’s most historic buildings will recall the sorrow of the Civil War
A Proposal to Change the Words We Use When Talking About the Civil War
Historian Michael Landis writes that vocabulary like “compromise” or “Union” shape how we view our past
Why Can’t We Turn Our Eyes Away From the Grotesque and Macabre?
Alexander Gardner’s photographs of Civil War corpses were among the first to play to the uncomfortable attraction humans have for shocking images
Past and Presence: The Power of Photographs
The shattering nature of violence. The resilience of the human spirit. The power of photographs. A Smithsonian special project
A Photographic Requiem for America's Civil War Battlefields
Walking far-flung battlefields to picture the nation's defining tragedy in a modern light
Juneteenth Didn’t Stop the Enslavement of Black People in Houston
The delayed enforcement of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation still didn’t bring freedom to many black Texans
Six Ways the Civil War Changed American Medicine
150 years ago, the historic conflict forced doctors to get creative and to reframe the way they thought about medicine
The Civil War’s Division of North and South is Reflected in Cookbooks
Naval blockades kept the South starving for salt and other foods, a fact reflected in the recipes of the time
Step Inside a Famous Submarine
Where to visit historic subs this summer—or ride in a modern one
What the Final, Major 150th Anniversary Civil War Reenactment Looked Like
What war—and surrender—looked like on the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War
A Host of Relics from Lincoln's Last Days All Came to Reside at the Smithsonian
The Lincoln collection at the American History Museum marks the horrific tragedy and the poignancies of a nation in mourning
The Final Hours of John Wilkes Booth
"I have too great a soul to die like a criminal," Booth once wrote
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
A look back at the fateful night 150 years ago that changed American history forever
The Gentleman's Agreement That Ended the Civil War
When Generals Grant and Lee sat down at Appomattox Court House, they brought an end to the struggle that had consumed the nation for five long years
This is the Carriage That Took Lincoln on his Fateful Trip to Ford's Theatre
As the April anniversary of Lincoln's last ride approaches, an historian recounts the president's other horse and buggie moments
The Underappreciated and Forgotten Sites of the Civil War
To commemorate the end of the war 150 years ago, here are fascinating locales that remind us of the conflict's sprawling impact
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