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National Museum of American History

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Bringing the Forgotten History of Black Firefighting to Life

Volunteer firefighters represented a potent swirl of masculinity, self-sacrifice, and republican virtue. But Philadelphia had no Black companies.

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The Workers' Turkey

Like many homes across America, in my home Thanksgiving meant turkey. Lots of turkeys. And employers gave out these big birds as work incentives, to ensure that their working-class employees wouldn't go without this crown jewel on their table.

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Reviving Indigenous Food Cultures

Hyperlocal, ultraseasonal, uber-healthy, and utterly delicious

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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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The Washington Senators Couldn't Win—but Excelled at Scouting Latino Talent

The Senators’ spectacular losing record obscures one of the most important stories in baseball history: the club's role in integrating Latino players into the major leagues

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Carlos Martinez, Patriot and Philanthropist

The Defense Department discriminated against Latino veterans — Carlos Martinez decided to do something about it

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Baseball Uniforms Honor Latino Heritage on the Field

Puerto Rican baseball legend Roberto Clemente once declared, “When I put on my uniform, I feel I am the proudest man on earth.”

The Story Behind the Iconic Photo of Gay Dads Kissing

Life Magazine published a 12 page article, but without the most meaningful image

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

Transgender flag designed by Monica Helms (right), and friends. The flag's stripes represent the traditional pink and blue associated with girls and boys and white for intersex, transitioning, or of undefined gender. Helms served in the United States Navy and became an activist for transgender rights in the late 1990s in Arizona where she grew up. She designed the flag in 1999. (NMAH)

Can an Object Be Gay? LGBTQ Collecting

Curator Katherine Ott reflects on collecting and interpreting LBGTQ material culture.

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.

Miscellaneous objects from the museum’s collection that feature rainbows, including “That’s So Gay!” trivia game, coasters, and flags promoting marriage equality and immigration equality (NMAH)

Where Did the Rainbow Flag Come From, Anyway?

Where did the so-called "pride" flag come from?

In a scene from the HBO series, Tulsa’s masked police force prepares for a raid. Detective Wade Tillman (known as “Looking Glass”) is played by Tim Blake Nelson. Detective Angela Abar (known as “Sister Night”) is played by Regina King (Mark Hill for HBO).

When Watchmen Were Klansmen

While Watchmen is a work of fiction, only a century ago, at the time of the Tulsa Massacre, America faced law enforcement organizations that were aligned with, and even controlled by, the Klan

Alice Tetsuko Kono in her Women's Army Corps uniform, around 1943 (NMAH)

Why Japanese American Alice Tetsuko Kono Joined the WAC During World War II

Japanese-American Alice Tetsuko Kono served a country that considered her an "enemy alien" and enlisted with the Women's Army Corps during WWII

This black metal suitcase belonged to Iku Tsuchiya. It went with her to Tanforan Assembly Center, then to the Topaz camp, and back home to San Leandro, California. (NMAH)

What Happened to Japanese American Houses During Incarceration?

As the federal government evicted and incarcerated Japanese American citizens living in the western United States, their homes were neglected, ransacked, and looted

While held at the Poston camp in Arizona, Yasu Takei made this one-thousand-stitch sash to bestow good luck and protection to her son Jim Kuichi Takei, who was fighting with the 442nd in Europe. (NMAH)

Memories of Japanese Incarceration Camps Remind Us That Our Freedoms Are Fragile

Seventy-nine years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. For years afterward, people like my grandmother were forced to live behind barbed wire, under the gaze of armed guards.

The all-star team from Gila River (Arizona) that played at Heart Mountain (Wyoming). Tetsuo Furukawa is in the top row, fourth from the right. (NMAH)

Baseball Behind Barbed Wire

Prisoners in WWII Japanese incarceration camps were still American, and took part in baseball, the great American pastime

Norman Granz and Ella Fitzgerald at a microphone, 1950. (Ella Fitzerald Papers, NMAH Archives Center)

How Norman Granz Revolutionized Jazz for Social Justice

Granz fought Jim Crow America, identifying the potential of jazz music to combat racial inequality.

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