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National Museum of American History

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Advertising for Love

For centuries, people have turned to personal ads to find love. Why were they so popular, and how did they develop their own quirky culture of communication?

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Museum Happenings in June at the National Museum of American History

Featuring Civic Season, Flag Day and Pride Month Events

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Celebrating Pride Month, Flag Day and More, Check Out these June Happenings

June Happenings include an exhibit that takes a look inside a legendary blues archive and a performance that celebrates the centennial of The Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Three cards where visitors left handwritten messages invoking girl power. One card reads: “you think we're not good enough but we're just to [sic] good for you, girl power.”

What Does 'Girl Power' Really Mean?

We asked our visitors to talk back about what it means to be a girl

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

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?

Speaker’s card advertising Walker’s services as a lecturer. Walker described herself as

Mary Walker, the Original "New Woman"

Walker described herself as "the original new woman," referring to an emerging term for an independent woman who stood up for herself, regardless of social roles.

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