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Secretary Lonnie Bunch Says the Smithsonian Keeps 'The Nation’s Memory' in an Exclusive Essay for America’s 250th Birthday

The acclaimed historian and head of the Institution argues that the semiquincentennial presents the perfect opportunity for Americans to consider their nation’s past and future

An artist’s rendering of the upcoming “At Home in Space” exhibition

What to Expect at the Newly Renovated National Air and Space Museum When It Opens This Month

The Smithsonian museum's new galleries explore the challenges and delights of life in space

Welcome to Territory, by the Lenape Center with Joe Baker, features turkey-feather capes suspended from the ceiling

At the Smithsonian's National Design Museum, a Home Is What You Make of It

In a new exhibition at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, artists explore just what makes a space feel like home

people holding hands while standing in ocean water

The Global Story of Slavery in the Americas Comes to the Smithsonian

"In Slavery's Wake," an international exhibition set to debut next month, illuminates the unfinished work of securing freedom

an absentee ballot used during the Civil War

How the Civil War Spawned the Mail-In Ballot

At the National Postal Museum, a new exhibition traces the long history of a newly popular way of voting

Smithsonian exhibition in Japan

Thirty Years Ago, a Smithsonian Exhibition in Japan Told the Whole American Story

The choices we made then still resonate today

Secretary Bunch and Melissa Chiu

Tracing a Century of History Through Art

The Hirshhorn and the Anacostia Community Museum both opened stunning and distinct exhibitions with unexpected parallels this March.

two black and white portraits of actors

Relive the Glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age With These Photos

The work of a pioneering celebrity photographer shines a spotlight on the iconic era

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Robert S. Duncanson and James P. Ball Were the Height of Black Artistry in 19th-Century America

A new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum reunites the work of two titans of their fields

a person stands in a decorated dress and vail on a beach with the sea behind them

Imagining an African Atlantis

A new exhibition envisions a world in which the Middle Passage created lives instead of claiming them

an oil painting of a woman in black dress with an orange sky behind her

Who Claims the American West?

A new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum challenges the old mythology of the frontier

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