Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Stories from this author

United States World War I soldiers reading in the War Library Service section of the Red Cross building at Walter Reed Hospital.

Five Books on World War I

Military history, memoir, and even a novelized series make this list of can’t-miss books about the Great War

Five must-read books on Thomas Jefferson from author Marc Leepson.

The Essentials: Five Books on Thomas Jefferson

A Jefferson expert provides a list of indispensable reads about the founding father

To prevent young birds from imprinting on humans, flock manager Jane Chandler dons a white gown and a mask. She uses a puppet to teach them survival skills.

A Call to Save the Whooping Crane

Smithsonian researchers join an international effort to bring the five-foot-tall bird back from the brink of extinction

What if we could make masks to look like these models in the Natural History Museum's Hall of Human Origins?

The List: Smithsonian-Inspired Halloween Costumes

For all you last-minute costume shoppers, here’s this year’s list of Smithsonian DIY ideas

Alice Waters, by Dave Woody; 2010

Last Call: Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

National Portrait Gallery curator Brandon Fortune provides some insight to what she and other contest jurors are looking for

The crustacean Cymothoa exigua is the first known parasite to functionally replace an entire organ of an animal.

Top 10 Real-Life Body Snatchers

Parasites and zombies are not science fiction; they infest rats, crickets, ants, moths and other creatures, sucking the life out of them

Kathleen Nowak Tucci crafts wearable art from bicycle and motorcycle inner tubes.

Eco-Artist Kathleen Nowak Tucci on Creating Art From Trash

The craft artist has found a clever way to recycle rubber; see her work at this weekend’s Craft2Wear show and Smithsonian benefit sale

Bentley poses for the camera, sporting medals like those Owney accumulated from different cities as he rode the rails in the 1880s and '90s.

Meet Bentley, the Winner of the Owney Look-alike Contest

Bentley, a terrier from California, nabs the title—with a little help from his owner

Jo Ann Gillula interviews Susan Ford Bales, left, daughter of President Gerald Ford, about what it was like to live in the White House.

Susan Ford Bales: A Peek Inside the White House

A former White House resident dishes on what it was like to live in the White House as a teenager

Gertrude Stein, by Felix Edouart Vallotton, 1907. Copyright Fondation Félix Vallotton, Lausanne

A Visual Biography of Gertrude Stein at the Portrait Gallery

Frank Kameny donated picket signs to Brent Glass, former director of NMAH, and curator Harry Rubenstein in 2006.

Remembering Gay Rights Activist Frank Kameny (1925-2011)

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has artifacts from Kameny’s early days in the gay rights movement in its collection

Writer Gertrude Stein crisscrossed America for 191 days in 1934-'35. She gave 74 lectures in 37 cities in 23 states.

When Gertrude Stein Toured America

A 1934 barnstorming visit to her native country transformed Stein from a noteworthy but rarely glimpsed author into a national celebrity

A piece of black marble from a quarry in Vermont as seen under a scanning electron microscope

An Artist Gets a Backstage, Behind-the Scenes Ticket to Tour the Smithsonian

Acclaimed sculptor Elizabeth Turk is studying the properties of marble—her medium—at the Smithsonian Institution

Apple founder Steve Jobs in 1977 introduces the new Apple II computer

The Many Contributions of Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

The extraordinary career of the entrepreneur is chronicled in the Smithsonian collections

Historian Alfred W. Crosby coined the term "Columbian Exchange" in reference to the impact of living organisms traded between the New World and Old World.

Alfred W. Crosby on the Columbian Exchange

The historian discusses the ecological impact of Columbus’ landing in 1492 on both the Old World and the New World

The 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Washington, D.C. on August 23 caused damage to the Washington Monument.

Scaling the Washington Monument

Mountaineering park ranger Brandon Latham talks about how engineers investigated the monument from hundreds of feet above the ground

This year's People's Design Award nominees

Vote Now for the People’s Design Award

Polls are open. The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum wants you to weigh in

Andy Warhol, "Shadows," 1978-79. Dia Art Foundation. Copyright 2011 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

A Fresh Look at Andy Warhol

Hirshhorn curator Evelyn Hankins discusses the new Warhol show, on view through January 15, 2012

Empress Dowager Cixi strikes a pose

The Extreme Makeover of Empress Dowager Cixi

China’s Empress Dowager commissioned portraits—now on display at the Sackler Gallery—in an attempt to polish her public image

Lawrence Weiner's "A RUBBER BALL THROWN ON THE SEA, Cat. No. 146" is displayed at the Hirshhorn Museum in blue, sans-serif lettering. Weiner was open to the seven words being produced in any color, size or font.

Ask an Expert: What is the Difference Between Modern and Postmodern Art?

A curator from the Hirshhorn Museum explains how art historians define the two classifications

Page 14 of 32