Humanities

Ten Out-of-the-Ordinary Valentine’s Day Customs

From the festivals of ancient Rome to modern public awareness campaigns, the holiday hasn’t always been about roses and candy
February 08, 2010 | By Mark Strauss

The Changing Definition of African-American

How the great influx of people from Africa and the Caribbean since 1965 is challenging what it means to be African-American
February 2010 | By Ira Berlin

Behind the Scenes in Monument Valley

The vast Navajo tribal park on the border of Utah and New Mexico stars in Hollywood movies but remains largely hidden to visitors
February 2010 | By Tony Perrottet

Courage at the Greensboro Lunch Counter

Fifty years ago, four college students sat down to request lunch service at a North Carolina Woolworth's and ignited a struggle
February 2010 | By Owen Edwards

The Scurlock Studio: Picture of Prosperity

For more than half a century the Scurlock Studio chronicled the rise of Washington's black middle class
February 2010 | By David Zax

Radio Activity: The 100th Anniversary of Public Broadcasting

Since its inception, public radio has had a crucial role in broadcasting history - from FDR's "Fireside Chats" to the Internet Age
January 26, 2010 | By Marina Koestler Ruben

Henrietta Lacks’ ‘Immortal’ Cells

Journalist Rebecca Skloot’s new book investigates how a poor black tobacco farmer had a groundbreaking impact on modern medicine
January 22, 2010 | By Sarah Zielinski

Phineas Gage: Neuroscience's Most Famous Patient

An accident with a tamping iron made Phineas Gage history's most famous brain-injury survivor
January 2010 | By Steve Twomey

A Spectacular Collection of Native American Quilts

Tribes from the Great Plains used quilts as both a practical replacement of buffalo robes and a storytelling device
January 2010 | By Owen Edwards

Myths of the American Revolution

A noted historian debunks the conventional wisdom about America's War of Independence
January 2010 | By John Ferling

Remembering Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor continues to live through the artifacts on display throughout the Smithsonian Institution
December 07, 2009 | By Megan Gambino

Wildlife Trafficking

A reporter follows the lucrative, illicit and heartrending trade in stolen wild animals deep into Ecuador's rain forest
December 2009 | By Charles Bergman

Looting Mali's History

As demand for its antiquities soars, the West African country is losing its most prized artifacts to illegal sellers and smugglers
November 2009 | By Joshua Hammer

How Arlington National Cemetery Came to Be

The fight over Robert E. Lee's beloved home—seized by the U.S. government during the Civil War—went on for decades
November 2009 | By Robert M. Poole

The Rescue of Henry Clay

A long-lost painting of the Senate's Great Compromiser finds a fitting new home in the halls of the U.S. Capitol
November 2009 | By Fergus M. Bordewich

A Photo-journalist's Remembrance of Vietnam

The death of Hugh Van Es, whose photograph captured the Vietnam War's end, launched a "reunion" of those who covered the conflict
November 2009 | By David Lamb

From Brooklyn to Worthington, Minnesota

Novelist Tim O'Brien revisits his past to come to terms with his rural hometown
November 2009 | By Tim O'Brien

Emmett Till's Casket Goes to the Smithsonian

Simeon Wright recalls the events surrounding his cousin's murder and the importance of having the casket on public display
November 2009 | By Abby Callard

Flying With America's Most Famous Female Aviators

Dozens of talented women preceded Amelia Earhart, and thousands have followed, and each has her own groundbreaking story to tell
October 22, 2009 | By Patricia Trenner

Meriwether Lewis' Mysterious Death

Two hundred years later, debate continues over whether the famous explorer committed suicide or was murdered
October 09, 2009 | By Abigail Tucker

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