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National Museum of American History

Ruth Bader Ginsburg at a Smithsonian event.

Join the Smithsonian to Honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Celebrate Women's History Month with Oprah Winfrey, John Roberts, Gloria Steinem, and more in this incredible virtual program

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Celebrate Black History Month With These Virtual Events

The National Museum of American History offers plenty of ways to celebrate Black history from the comfort of your home

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Does Thanksgiving Have Room for Both Thankfulness and Mourning?

Through acts of protest and education, Wampanoag and other Native Americans have long urged other Americans to reconsider the Thanksgiving myth

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Ten Objects That Will Help You Understand Latinx History

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ve put together a top 10 list of the museum’s most exciting Latinx history objects.

World Trade Center, September 2001, by Christophe Agou

For Some, September 11 Turned the American Dream Into a Nightmare

Instead of obtaining the American dream of middle-class success, Sodhi experienced the American nightmare of hate and violence.

The stock certificate pieced back together and encased in mylar (NMAH)

How the Smithsonian Preserved a Stock Certificate Destroyed on September 11

The intent of conservation is not to make an object appear new again but to care for the object while upholding its history.

The Salvation Army jacket collected by the Smithsonian (NMAH)

A Salvation Army Jacket Comes to the Smithsonian Bearing Stories of 9/11

Dee Smith's first thought watching live footage of September 11? "I need to get to work."

Photograph by Jane Rogers. (NMAH)

The Day I Decided Not to Collect: A Curator's View of Ground Zero

It was not my place to ask the workers for anything, but to thank them for their tireless service.

Excerpt from a handwritten note from Daria Gaillard to her husband, Frank, on September 11, 2001 (NMAH)

Why Did the Smithsonian Collect a Handwritten Note from 9/11?

In moments of crisis, our first thoughts are usually to get in contact with the people we love.

Sign marking an evacuation route, tilted by the storm. Photograph by Hugh Talman.

How the Smithsonian Collected Artifacts That Told the Story of Hurricane Katrina

In the wake of disasters, the museum needs to collect quickly

R2-D2 droid costume featured in the movie

Why Isn't My Favorite Artifact on Display?

We know how it feels when you come to the museum and the thing that you love isn't on display

Girlhood (It’s complicated) opened to the public on October 9, 2020. Artwork by Krystal Quiles for NMAH.

Why Did the Smithsonian Create an Exhibit About Girlhood?

The museum had a bold new idea—it was going to create an exhibition about girlhood

Team USA stamps

The Science Behind a Faster, Higher, Stronger Team USA

The unsung heroes behind the Summer Olympics are the scientists and engineers whose inventions and innovations help athletes become “Faster, Higher, Stronger”

Museum visitors participate in a flag folding while singing (or humming) the anthem (NMAH)

Why is the National Anthem So Hard to Sing?

If people whose livelihood is singing can't do it, what are the untrained to do?

The first stanza of the national anthem is projected prominently on the wall above the Star-Spangled Banner in the museum. (NMAH)

Why is There a Question Mark at the End of the National Anthem?

When we sing the anthem, we don't end it questioningly, but with a firm, declarative (sometimes over-warbled) note

The Star Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired our national anthem (NMAH)

8 Things You Didn't Know About the Star Spangled Banner

There is more to the story of this flag than meets the eye

Title page to Garrard Conley's workbook from the gay-conversion camp Love in Action (NMAH)

The History of Getting the Gay Out

Conversion therapy made being different dangerous

Matt Shepard in high school, taken in Lugano, Switzerland (NMAH)

Matt Shepard's Objects at the Smithsonian Show Us the Familiarity of an Icon

Beyond the tragedy of how he died at 21, Matt Shepard is interesting because of so many familiar things about how he lived

Leo Baker's personalized skateboards (NMAH)

How LGBTQ Skateboarders Have Carved Out a Place at the Park

The Smithsonian has collected from members of the diverse and fiercely dedicated LGBTQ skate community

Picket signs carried by protestors at the White House and Independence Hall in Philadelphia, 1960s (Frank Kameny Collection, NMAH)

The Most Radical Thing About Stonewall Wasn't the Uprising

Much of the staying power of Stonewall’s reputation rests upon the Pride marches that began on the first anniversary of the uprising.

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