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Historian Peter Mancall says New English Canaan is “not very long” and “not very well written,” but holds immense value in what it says about the nation’s founding.

How America's First Banned Book Survived and Became an Anti-Authoritarian Icon

The Puritans outlawed Thomas Morton's "New English Canaan" because it was critical of the society they were building in colonial New England

Ihor Poshyvailo, director of the Maidan Museum in Kyiv and co-founder of Ukraine’s Heritage Emergency Response Initiative, along with his crew, salvages the remains of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary built in 1862 and shelled by the Russians in March 2022.

How Ukrainians Are Defending Their Cultural Heritage From Russian Destruction

The Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and its partners are aiding in the fight to protect the country's history and to document attempts to erase it

Herr, Thomas & Co., Pittsburg, PA. Catalogue No. 101 (1907), page 74, Dresser Trunk, Suit Case, Leather Suit Case, Cabinet Bag, Trunk, Steamer Trunk, Hand Bag or Satchel.

Pack Your Bags Like It's 1907

Early 20th century trade catalogs highlight a range of sturdy, vintage satchels and trunks

The document, which had been stored in a folded shape for more than 200 years, is composed of parchment pages that offer new insight into the Smithsonian founder's family history.

New Analysis Reveals More Details About Smithsonian Founder's Illegitimate Family Tree

The newly recovered 1787 Hungerford Deed, detailing a contentious squabble over property and prestige, can now be viewed in a new virtual exhibition

The first page of the Hungerford Deed, 1787, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Acc. 19-150.

This Property Contract Sheds New Light on James Smithson's Gift to the Smithsonian

The 1787 Hungerford Deed, donated to the Smithsonian in 2019, offers a glimpse into the family dynamics that shaped the founder's decision

James Eike’s field book entry for April 6, 1971; his 31st Anniversary.

A Bird-Watcher's Field Books Became a Journal of Life's Passions and Travails

Bird lover and citizen scientist James W. Eike documented birds near his home in northern Virginia along with the joys of his family life

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The Surprising Story of the Smithsonian Sunburst

Crimilda Pontes was the Institution’s first official graphic designer and the designer of the iconic sunburst symbol

Portrait of Graceanna Lewis, The Underground Rail Road (1872)

Meet Naturalist Graceanna Lewis, Who Played a Key Role in the Underground Railroad

One of the first three woman to be accepted into the Academy of Natural Sciences, Lewis left behind a legacy of science and soclal progress

John Wanamaker, New York, NY. Spring & Summer Catalog (1915), front cover.

Looking at Leisure Through Early 20th-Century Trade Catalogs

How did people a 100 years ago spend their free time outside? The Trade Literature Collection offers a few clues to some very recognizable pastimes

Author-illustrator duo Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg debut How to Make a Collagasaurus, a how-to booklet inviting kids to transform the Smithsonian collections into zany new art forms.

Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain

The launch of a new open access platform ushers in a new era of accessibility for the Institution

A rare book depicting the sea monk by Guillaume Rondelet (1507-1566) in the Smithsonian Libraries dates to 1554.

Renaissance Europe Was Horrified by Reports of a Sea Monster That Looked Like a Monk Wearing Fish Scales

Something fishy this way comes

Illustration found in Die Totentänze (Stammler,1922)

This Halloween, Spend a Ghoulish Night (or Day) at the Smithsonian

Whether actual or virtual, D.C. or NYC, there's plenty of scary stuff to go around at the Institution

Artist Todd McGrain's sculptures of five extinct North American birds are now on display in Smithsonian gardens.

Bronze Sculptures of Five Extinct Birds Land in Smithsonian Gardens

Artist Todd McGrain memorializes species long-vanished, due to human impact on their habitats, in his "Lost Bird Project"

Artwork Culled From the Collections Proves That No One Will Ever Be As Fashionable As the French

This collection of early 20th-century fashion plates reveal how women used their wardrobe for empowerment

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