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Ellen Wexler

Writer and Special Projects Editor

Ellen Wexler

Ellen Wexler is a staff writer and special projects editor, digital, for Smithsonian magazine. She covers history, archaeology, arts and culture, literature, and film.

Highlights

  • Published in Smithsonian magazine, Moment magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, EdSurge, WETA and more
  • Mirror Awards finalist, Simon Rockower Awards winner, SPJ Dateline Awards finalist, Religion News Association Awards finalist
  • Reporting featured in episodes of “There’s More to That” podcast

Education

Bachelor’s degree in English from the College of William & Mary

Stories from Ellen Wexler

Rome, From Mount Aventine, J.M.W. Turner, 1836

J.M.W. Turner Painted This Breathtaking Roman Landscape Nearly 200 Years Ago. If You Look Closely, You Can Still See His Fingerprints

The Romantic painter completed “Rome, From Mount Aventine” in the 1830s. It became his most expensive artwork in 2014, and it’s expected to sell for another record-breaking sum in December

Officials unveiled the memorial for the Revolutionary War soldiers at the Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery on September 23.

These Soldiers Were Buried in an Unmarked Grave During the Revolutionary War. Now, Historians Finally Know Their Names

At a recent memorial ceremony, officials honored 28 Continental soldiers and at least 38 British soldiers who were buried in Wilmington, Delaware, nearly 250 years ago

A few of the ancient Roman artifacts found beneath the Bath Assembly Rooms

When Jane Austen Took a Turn About the Ballroom in Bath, Ancient Roman Artifacts Were Hiding Beneath Her Feet. Now, Archaeologists Have Finally Found Them

Recent excavations at the Bath Assembly Rooms in England revealed Roman-era coins, roof tiles, pottery, glassware, a network of ditches and a fragment of a military helmet

The tomb of King Tutankhamun in Egypt

Mysterious ‘Anomalies’ Have Been Detected Beyond King Tut’s Tomb. Could They Be Secret Passageways Leading to the Long-Lost Remains of Queen Nefertiti?

Geophysical surveys provide new evidence for a theory that the Egyptian pharaoh was interred in the outer rooms of an existing burial complex. Researchers are trying to get approval to investigate for themselves

Monet painted Rouen Cathedral more than 30 times in the 1890s.

Why Did Claude Monet Paint the Same Scenes Over and Over Again? The Impressionist Artist Was Obsessed With Capturing the Fleeting Nature of Time

An upcoming exhibition at Tate Modern will feature more than 60 artworks created by Monet between the 1870s and 1920s. These pieces reveal how he documented changing light and weather conditions

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

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

St. Clare’s Convent closed in the 16th century, and researchers assumed all traces of it had been lost. But a new ground-penetrating radar survey revealed surprisingly intact remains of pillars, rooms, cloisters, a courtyard and a church

The maxilla and molars of an individual who lived between 16,000 and 25,000 years ago

Archaeologists Discover the World’s Oldest Evidence of Habitual Drug Use in the Teeth of a Hunter-Gatherer Who Lived Up to 25,000 Years Ago

This individual may have regularly sucked on betel nuts, known for their mind-altering properties, leading to worsening dental disease. Researchers say the discovery sheds light on addiction in prehistoric environments

The statue of a human riding a leopard was found during excavations over the summer.

Archaeologists Uncover a Neolithic Sculpture of a Human Riding a Leopard That’s ‘Unlike Anything We Have Encountered Before’

The artifact was found during excavations at Karahan Tepe, an 11,000-year-old site in southeastern Turkey. Created long before the invention of writing, the 2.3-foot-tall sculpture’s purpose is a mystery

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

Pablo Picasso created Torero in 1949.

A Landlord Found a Peculiar Print Hanging in a Vacant Apartment. It Turned Out to Be an Original Picasso That Had Been Missing for Eight Years

When “Torero” vanished from a Milwaukee art gallery in 2018, the owners didn’t know whether they’d ever see it again. The man who found the etching turned it over to the police earlier this month

Dolly Parton in 1978

Dolly Parton Was One of the Biggest Stars in the History of Country Music. She Wanted to Be Remembered as a Songwriter

After growing up in poverty, she became famous for her legendary songs, big heart and larger-than-life style. But the iconic musician insisted that “the songs lead to everything else”

A Whitehead torpedo tube located on the bow of the HMS Tiger

Shipwreck Hunters Discover the Ruins of a British Destroyer That Split in Half During a Tragic Peacetime Accident 118 Years Ago

Minutes after it collided with a 10,000-ton cruiser, the HMS “Tiger” sank to the bottom of the English Channel. Divers and historians have spent the past four years searching for the Royal Navy vessel

Italian officials pose with the three recovered artworks: Paul Cézanne’s Still Life With Cherries, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Les Poissons and Henri Matisse’s Odalisque on the Terrace.

Stolen Masterpieces Worth $10 Million Discovered in a Cardboard Box, Months After Thieves Snuck Into a Museum and Whisked Them Away Into the Night

The artworks by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse disappeared in a three-minute heist earlier this year. Now, police have arrested five suspects in connection with the burglary in northern Italy

"Kiama Library" is stamped on the book's title page.

This Library Book Was 150 Years Overdue. Fortunately for the Man Who Just Returned It, Librarians Won’t Be Enforcing a $20,000 Late Fee

“The Antiquities of Athens” had likely been missing from an Australian library since the 1870s. Staffers say its recovery is “an unlikely story of survival (of the book) and redemption (of the borrower)”

The sealed Guinness bottle was found at the shipwreck of the Mindoro.

Shipwreck Divers Discovered a 162-Year-Old Bottle of Guinness Brewed During the Reign of Queen Victoria—and They Want to Take a Swig

The beer was preserved in a sealed glass bottle and may be safe to sample. The team is also hoping to sequence the DNA of the yeast to recreate what the stout would have tasted like in the 19th century

Speedy called his wife, Frances, by many affectionate pet names, including "Meatball."

This Box of 300 Love Letters Showed Up Out of the Blue. Who Was the Whimsical World War II Soldier Who Wrote Them?

Nobody knows who dropped Speedy Weber’s correspondence at a USO office in 2022. Researchers have finally tracked down two living relatives who remember him

A Texas man displayed the Civil War-era artifact as a conversation piece for years.

A Man Used This Civil War Artifact as a Paperweight on His Desk. The Bomb Squad Told Him It Was Actually a Live Explosive

The device turned out to be an artillery shell designed for a Parrott rifle in the mid-1800s. Experts safely detonated it at a firing range near San Antonio

Each bird figurine measures less than an inch long.

Archaeologists Discover Two Thumbnail-Size Bird Sculptures Carved From Mammoth Ivory 40,000 Years Ago

Measuring less than an inch long, the figurines were buried beneath Germany’s Hohle Fels Cave, where some of the world’s oldest known figurative artworks have been found

The bronze sword measures nearly two feet long.

A Man Unearthed a Mysterious Metal Object Sticking Straight Up From the Ground. It Turned Out to Be a 2,700-Year-Old Sword

Marcin Wiśniewski found the weapon while metal detecting in a forest near the Polish city of Gdańsk. Experts told him that it likely dates to between 900 and 700 B.C.E.

Students and volunteers have been excavating the Roman mosaic from a field near near Halberton, Devon.

A Metal Detectorist Discovered Tiny Tiles in a Farmer’s Field. A Spectacular Ancient Roman Mosaic Was Buried Beneath the Surface

The polychrome mosaic once decorated a small room in a lavish villa complex. Researchers, students and volunteers have been working together to excavate the rare site in southwestern England

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