American History
Style and Song Maven Nancy Wilson Donates Gowns to the American History Museum
Wilson's dresses now join the museum's collection of famed ensembles, including gowns from: the First Ladies, Ella Fitzgerald, Beverly Sills and the Supremes
May 19, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
Events for the Week of 5/16-5/21: Zoo Feedings, ILL-Abilities Crew, Celebrate Hawai’i
Events for the week of 5/16/11 - 5/21/11
May 16, 2011 |
By Michelle Strange
What Does it Mean to be "Museum-Worthy?" How a Political History Curator Defines the Term
The ATM blog team regularly reports on new donations to the various museums around the Smithsonian, most recently detailing the acquisitions of WWII Italian Air Force artifacts by the Air and Space Museum and the portrait of Andrew Young, now hanging in the National Portrait Gallery. These items, o...
May 12, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
Events for May 9-May 13: Harry Potter, Cultural Dialogue, "Cosmic Collisions"
Monday, May 9 -- Beautiful butterfliesWith new summer hours in place, you can stroll through this special butterfly exhibit with exotic plants and live butterflies from around the world until the last entry at 6 PM. Tickets are required, however and rates are as follows: $6 for adults; $5.50 for ...
May 09, 2011 |
By Michelle Strange
Weekend Events: Asian Pacific American Heritage, Garden Fest, Mother's Day
Friday, May 6 Garden Fest!Family-friendly celebration of plants, gardens and gardening. Add to a garden mural, build a puppet, make a miniature Japanese garden and take home seeds for your garden. Saturday will include live music and a stilt walker. Location: Enid A. Haupt Garden, south of the C...
May 06, 2011 |
By Michelle Strange
Documenting the Death of an Assassin
In 1865, a single photograph was taken during the autopsy of John Wilkes
Booth. Where is it now?
May 06, 2011 |
By Ashley Luthern
On This Day in History: Remembering the Freedom Rides
There is much to celebrate in the month of May—Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Mother's Day, as well as a number of anniversaries marking special events in our nation's history. On today, we turn our focus, slightly, from remembering the Civil War to acknowledging the civil rights movement i...
May 04, 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
The Diary of Civil War Nurse Opens at the American History Museum
Coming of age in America means studying the Civil War, all through our school years we revisit the battles, the leaders, the soldiers, reexamining the strife that tore this nation apart for four long years beginning in 1861. We hear the stories of soldiers in battle and former slaves fighting for ...
May 03, 2011 |
By Madeline Andre
Events: Youth Culture, My Dog Tulip, Poetry and More
Monday, April 25 Born to be Wild 3D features the conservation efforts of primatologist Birute Galdikas with orangutans in Borneo, along with that of Dame Daphne Sheldrick‘s work with elephants in Kenya. Both women live near the animals, rescuing them and returning them to live in the wild. Film ...
April 25, 2011 |
By Michelle Strange
Lincoln is Dead: A Collection of Artifacts at American History Mark the Tragedy
On April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln died from a gunshot wound he'd suffered the night at before at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. The assassin John Wilkes Booth fled the scene.The events following the assassination have been studied endlessly by historians and is the subject of today's...
April 15, 2011 |
By Madeline Andre
150 Years Ago: The Civil War Begins
“At 4:30 AM, the heavy thud of a mortar broke the stillness. A single shell from Fort Johnson on James Island rose high into the still-starry sky, curved downward and burst directly over Fort Sumter,” writes Smithsonian writer Fergus Bordewich in his April issue feature story “Fort Sumter: The Civi...
April 12, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
The Smithsonian Museums and The National Zoo Are Open
All Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are open.Don't miss out on all the events and happenings, all scheduled as planned. Tarantula feedings at the Natural History Museum. A special tour of the Kinsey Collections at American History. An Earth Day celebration at the American Art Museum.And he...
April 08, 2011 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Happy Birthday, Billie!
It’s fitting that legendary jazz songstress-extraordinaire Billie Holiday’s (1915-1959) birthday today falls during Smithsonian’s Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). “Lady Day,” as she was known, made songs her own, lazily wrapping her emotive voice like wisps of smoke around passages with distinctive h...
April 07, 2011 |
By Jeff Campagna
Weekend Events: Robots on Parade, Kennedy Portraits, Creativity Award
At this time, all Smithsonian Institution museums and the National Zoo are open and the weekend's events and exhibitions are ongoing. However, in the event of a government shutdown, please note that all Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo will be closed. Friday April 8: CreativityDr. ...
April 07, 2011 |
By Michelle Strange
Those Sweethearts Got Rhythm
Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) has rolled around again, and that’s cool, baby, cool. The National Museum of American History kicked things off by having several original members of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm as guests at the JAM Launch festivities at the beginning of April. But whoever ...
April 06, 2011 |
By Jeff Campagna
Robots Get Some Curatorial Respect at the American History Museum
In celebration of National Robotics Week (April 9-16), a public education initiative of the Congressional Robotics Caucus, the National Museum of American History accepted donations today from Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Velodyne, an innovative Silicon Valley compan...
April 05, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Weekend Events: Home School Open House, Nanotechnology and Play PHEON on Your Phone
Friday, April 1: Home-School Open House The Portrait Gallery Education Department hosts this home-school open house with mini-tours of special exhibitions, story time for children, hands-on arts activities and resources, including a Smithsonian Field Trip Kit. Free, but registration is required...
March 31, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
Jazz: The Smithsonian Collection: 111 Tracks of Music History
For the past three decades, when historians, critics and educators asked, “What is Jazz?” they turned to the 1973 Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz, the landmark album by the late critic and Smithsonian historian Martin Williams. That six vinyl LP—an unprecedented collage of the "genre that re...
March 29, 2011 |
By Erica R. Hendry
Events: Lena Horne, Jazz History, Nanotechnology and More
Monday, March 28: March Film Screening: My Name Is KahentiiostaKahentiiosta, a young Kahnawake Mohawk woman, took part in a 78-day armed standoff in 1990 as a part of a land dispute between the Mohawks and the Canadian federal government. Arrested and imprisoned, she was detained longer than her pe...
March 28, 2011 |
By Jesse Rhodes
The List: March Madness at the Smithsonian
College athletics feature some of the most unusual mascots in all of American sports. Take the teams in this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament for example. Mascots included the Peacocks (St. Peter's), Sycamores (Indiana State), Zips (Akron) and Gauchos (University of California, Santa Barbara...
March 23, 2011 |
By Ryan Reed
