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The Portal exhibition at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, offering a chance to have a conversation with refugees.

History of Now

What Is it Like to Be a Refugee? Here’s Your Chance to Ask One

At the U.S. Holocaust Museum, an immersive video chatting experience allows you to talk in real-time with refugees living in camps

President Clinton presents Fred Korematsu with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at the White House Thursday, Jan. 15, 1998. Korematsu's legal challenges to civilian exclusion orders during World War II helped spur the redress movement for Japanese-Americans.

Fred Korematsu Fought Against Japanese Internment in the Supreme Court… and Lost

Nearly 75 years later, the infamous decision has yet to be overturned

One of the churches in Mamshit.

Explore the Ruins of an Ancient Incense Route

Follow frankincense and myrrh on a historic journey through the desert

Margaret at Stafford House on Cumberland Island, holding her first copy of Fox Eyes, illustrated by Jean Charlot. This story was inspired by her time on Cumberland as a teenager.

The Surprising Ingenuity Behind “Goodnight Moon”

Author Margaret Wise Brown used new theories in childhood education to write the classic children’s book

Anti-immigrant cartoon showing two men labeled "Irish Wiskey" and "Lager Bier," carrying a ballot box.

History of Now

How the 19th-Century Know Nothing Party Reshaped American Politics

From xenophobia to conspiracy theories, the Know Nothing party launched a nativist movement whose effects are still felt today

A horse chestnut tree outside of Susan B. Anthony’s home in Rochester, New York is the last living witness to the suffragette’s life.

Eight Places to Celebrate the Accomplishments of Great American Women

Women are grossly under-represented when it comes to recognition in public places, but here are a few places that pay tribute to their contributions

From left to right, the astronauts of Apollo 1: Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee.

The Legacy of the Apollo 1 Disaster

Fifty years after a fire killed three astronauts and temporarily grounded U.S. space exploration, a new exhibit honors the fallen crew

Victorian mores influenced ideas not just about men and women but animals too.

How Victorian Gender Norms Shaped the Way We Think About Animal Sex

No, females aren’t always choosy and males don’t always get around

Woodrow Wilson

World War I: 100 Years Later

What Did President Wilson Mean When He Called for “Peace Without Victory” 100 Years Ago?

The iconic speech revealed the possibilities and the inherent problems with Wilsonian idealism

Dominico Cascino (left) and chef Salvatore Denaro prepare an olive and tomato salad at the Cascinos’ olive farm in southern Sicily.

Atlas of Eating

Much of the Cuisine We Now Know, and Think of as Ours, Came to Us by War

The long and winding road that brought “local” dishes to our plates

The head of the suffragist parade in Washington, 1913.

History of Now

The Original Women’s March on Washington and the Suffragists Who Paved the Way

They fought for the right to vote, but also advanced the causes for birth control, civil rights and economic equality

What Happens to President Obama’s Papers and Artifacts Once He Leaves Office?

From Cuban cigars to a 7,000-page torture report

An engraving from the Illustrated London News, recorded the "Ball in Honour of President Lincoln in the Great Hall of the Patent Office at Washington," which today is the home of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

When Was the First Inaugural Ball?

Nothing says there’s a new president in town more than the dance party they throw

Screenshot of interactive

Inauguration History

This Interactive Maps Out the Lives of Former Presidents

From Washington to Obama, how ex-commanders-in-chief bided their time after leaving office

Yellow Landscape, Isamu Noguchi, 1943, magnesite, wood, string, metal fishing weight

To Bear Witness to Japanese Internment, One Artist Self-Deported Himself to the WWII Camps

The inhumanity brought on by Executive Order 9066 spurred Isamu Noguchi to action

The rainbow at the top right in the window of the Lansdowne Portrait of George Washington (detail) was an 18th century symbol of God's blessings.

Inauguration History

Why America Has a “President” Instead of an “Exalted Highness”

The title just used to mean someone who presided over a meeting

The responsive-design website fits your phone, tablet and computer and can be used to make an itinerary for easy printout and planning.

Take a Smithsonian Tour of All Things Presidential

Here’s how to locate official presidential portraits, works of art, material culture and campaign memorabilia across the Smithsonian

Carl Laemmle in 1918

This Hollywood Titan Foresaw the Horrors of Nazi Germany

Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures, wrote hundreds of affidavits to help refugees escape Europe

Anti-war demonstrators raise their hands toward the White House as they protest the shootings at Kent State University and the U.S. incursion into Cambodia, on May 9, 1970.

History of Now

Eleven Times When Americans Have Marched in Protest on Washington

Revisiting some of the country’s most memorable uses of the right to assemble

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