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Did Thomas Jefferson Father Sally Hemings’ Children? After More Than a Decade of Research, the Answer Is Finally Firmly in Hand

A lock of hair, advances in genetic science and a community of descendants all contributed to solving an American mystery

Dr. Richard Kurin
Photographs by Joshua Rashaad McFadden

The survey uncovered surviving remnants of structures from the 13th-century convent.

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The Ruins of a Long-Lost Medieval Convent Have Been Discovered Just a Few Feet Beneath a Soccer Field

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Smithsonian magazine September/October 2026 issue cover
Anahuacalli Museum-Opener
Travel The Marvelous Museums of Mexico City
The ancient capital has plenty of artwork and fossils, if that’s what you like. Or tour the writing rooms of a Nobel winner, the fortified home of an exiled Russian revolutionary and towers of skulls
OPENER - A giant Atlantic cockle lies open on the beach in Fort Myers, Florida, while a beachcomber searches for shells in the background.
Science Who Dwells in a Shell?
Before they become sandy souvenirs, the baubles in the bubbles of the shoreline serve as a veritable fortress for creatures like clams, mussels and conchs
A sample of cerebrospinal fluid
Innovation Solving the Long Covid Puzzle
Long Covid saps the strength and vitality of patients, who have little recourse to fight it. A team of specialists—including an afflicted researcher working mostly from her bed—is looking for answers
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Researchers Have Analyzed the Roman Empire’s 190,000-Mile Network of Roads. Turns Out, Not All of Them Led to Rome

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Tyrannosaurus Rex Was a Warm-Blooded Dinosaur, With a Body Temperature Similar to That of Humans, Study Suggests

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New Zealand Welcomes a Record 90 Kakapo Chicks, Helping the World’s Chunkiest Parrot Species Rebound From the Brink of Extinction

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History

How Lizzie Borden Got Away With Murder

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A Herd of 40 Life-Size Bison Puppets Will Stampede Through New York This Weekend to Honor Indigenous History and Resilience

Photo of the Day

Bears in Lake Clark National Park spend every waking minute searching out food to fatten up in preparation for winter. This bear barged head first into the cold water in hopes of succeeding in its goal.

Charge!

By Annie Barsky

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Preview thumbnail for video 'The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

Preview thumbnail for video 'A Photographer's Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

A Photographer’s Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

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The Real Story Behind Abigail Adams’ ‘Remember the Ladies’ Letter

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Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can — through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. In There’s More to That, meet the magazine’s journalists and hear how they discover the forces behind the biggest issues of our time.

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The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

April 23, 2026 | 34 minutes

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A Photographer’s Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

April 9, 2026 | 32 minutes

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The Real Story Behind Abigail Adams’ ‘Remember the Ladies’ Letter

March 26, 2026 | 31 minutes

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Venomous Snakes Represent a Serious Public Health Problem. Scientists Are Biting Back With a Groundbreaking Antidote

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History

Pages from a manuscript of Nicholas Love's Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ

Henry VIII Relied on This Courtier to Enforce His Orders During the English Reformation. Behind the Scenes, the Tudor Politician Defied His King by Secretly Saving a Catholic Text

A newly discovered fragment suggests that John Gage preserved a 15th-century religious manuscript, keeping it “safe when he was meant to destroy books precisely like this one”

The Founders of the ‘New York Times’ Pledged to Cover ‘Every Subject of Public Importance.’ 175 Years Later, the Paper Continues to Publish ‘All the News That’s Fit to Print’

Unsealed for the First Time in 600 Years, This Tomb in Peru Was Just Declared the ‘Discovery of the Decade’

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Science

In the lab, archaeologists showed how they could rapidly produce thick rope by threading cattail fibers through a replica of a Stone Age tool.

Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the ‘Invisible’ Technologies of the Stone Age, From Rope to Thread and Twine

Largely missing from the archaeological record, fiber innovations played a huge role in the lives of early humans. Researchers are weaving together new insights from the traces they left behind

Active Supermassive Black Holes May Be Engines of Star Formation, Not Just Destruction, Study Suggests

Five Ways the World of the Dinosaurs Looked Different From Ours, Beyond the Presence of the ‘Terrible Lizards’

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Innovation

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Why Gen Z Is Learning to Paint Like 19th-Century Artists

Paint groups are popping up in parks. Art schools are seeing a surge in applications. The rise of A.I. has people turning to more traditional art forms

The Global Web of Subsea Cables That Connects the World Can Now Detect Whales—Even When They’re Silent

Australia’s Social Media Ban for Teens May Not Be the Best Solution, But It’s Certainly Getting People Talking

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Travel

The structure is a nod to clouds and tree canopies, not the starship that many imagine when they first see the building, according to its architect Ma Yansong.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a New Endeavor From the Creator of ‘Star Wars,’ Is a Story in Itself

Almost two decades in the making, the institution centers on art that shapes our everyday lives and reveals the craft behind it

A Tiny Town in the Italian Riviera Has Its Own Version of Focaccia, and Let This Be a Warning—It’s Addictive

Before Vegas Became Vegas, Hot Springs Was America’s Sin City. Now the Arkansas Spa Town Embraces Its Colorful and Seedy History

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Arts & Culture

Kermit the Frog and Miss Mousey in "The Muppets Valentine Show"

Kermit the Frog Was Just Trying to Put on a Variety Show. Fifty Years Later, the Muppets Are Some of the Biggest Stars in Television History

The first episode of Jim Henson’s “The Muppet Show” premiered in the United Kingdom on September 5, 1976. Enthusiasm for the eclectic ensemble has endured ever since

In the Aftermath of 9/11, Milton Glaser, Creator of the ‘I Love NY’ Logo, Declared That He Loved New York City ‘More Than Ever’

A Rare Nazi-Looted Painting, Lost for Some 80 Years, Turned Up in a Real Estate Listing. Now, a Judge Has Ordered It Returned to Its Rightful Heirs

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At the Smithsonian

The exterior of the National Museum of African American History and Culture during its opening ceremony in 2016

For Years, the Smithsonian Strove to Bring the African American History and Culture Museum to the National Mall. Now, It Celebrates a Decade as a Beacon of Understanding, Community and Resilience

The museum lovingly called the “Blacksonian” chronicles the past and present and envisions the future to tell the stories of Black life in America

Active Supermassive Black Holes May Be Engines of Star Formation, Not Just Destruction, Study Suggests

Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III Announces Retirement as Head of the Smithsonian After 38 Years of Service to the Institution

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