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History

Men and women lining up during the 1902 Coal Strike for their allotment of coal.

The Coal Strike That Defined Theodore Roosevelt’s Presidency

To put an end to the standoff, the future progressive champion sought the help of a titan of business: J.P. Morgan

Trixie Friganza, noted feminist, suffragist and inspiration for "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

Women Who Shaped History

The Feminist History of ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’

Trixie Friganza, an actress and suffragist, inspired the popular song of the seventh inning stretch

A US flag flies over the captured U-858 as it receives a K-ship escort to Lewes, Delaware.

Smithsonian Voices

How Navy Blimps Beat Back German U-Boats During the Battle of the Atlantic

The destruction to convoys caused by marauding U-boats diminished dramatically once K-ships started keeping a constant vigil

The Anacostia Community Museum wants to know not just how you’re surviving this moment, but how you’re being resilient.

In This Historical Moment, Here’s How to Collect Your Thoughts

The Anacostia Community Museum wants your story for its new archive #Moments of Resilience

This month's selections include Clean, Memory Drive and Uncrowned Queen.

Books of the Month

An Uncrowned Tudor Queen, the Science of Skin and Other New Books to Read

These five July releases may have been lost in the news cycle

People protest against the name of the Washington, D.C., NFL team before a game between Washington and the Minnesota Vikings. Minneapolis, November 2, 2014.

Smithsonian Voices

Ending the Use of Racist Mascots and Images

The appropriation of Native language and imagery perpetuates racism and legitimizes racist acts, says the director of the American Indian Museum

As protesters citing Louis IX’s history as a crusader call for the statue’s removal, counter-protesters ardently protect it.

History of Now

In St. Louis, History and Nostalgia Battle It Out

The city’s Catholic community faces off against protesters over a statue honoring the city’s namesake

In Africa, ivory has been a status symbol because it comes from elephants, a highly respected animal, and because it is fairly easy to carve into works of art.

Why Is Ivory So Precious? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Poles like these at a Boston fire station are no longer used universally, but they remain emblematic of the profession.

How an Ingenious Fireman Brought a Pole Into the Firehouse

More than a century ago, David Kenyon of Chicago discovered the fastest way to the ground floor

The third president evidently had a love of vanilla ice cream.

Make Thomas Jefferson’s Recipe for Ice Cream

The co-author of the Declaration of Independence also drafted a radical recipe

As innovations go, the ice cream truck might seem merely nutty. But summer would never be the same.

How the Ice Cream Truck Made Summer Cool

As innovations go, the Good Humor vehicle is as sweet as it gets

The Chaco Canyon chocolate-drinking jars have a distinct shape, with connections to similarly shaped Mayan vessels. After testing distinguishable jar fragments from an excavated trash pile in in the canyon, archaeologists determined all of the drinking jars were used to consume cacao.

Smithsonian Voices

What Today’s Indigenous Potters Are Learning from Ancient Chocolate-Drinking Jars

Cacao harvested from Mesoamerican forests was traded through a massive network to reach people in the Southwest

As the South rewrote of the history of the war and reaffirmed a dormant white supremacist ideology, the North’s printmakers, publishers and image makers operated right beside them.

How Northern Publishers Cashed In on Fundraising for Confederate Monuments

In the years after the Civil War, printmakers in New York and elsewhere abetted the Lost Cause movement by selling images of false idols

Mary McLeod Bethune, pictured in the 1920s, when her school became a co-ed institution and she became the president of the National Association of Colored Women.

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

Mary McLeod Bethune Was at the Vanguard of More Than 50 Years of Black Progress

Winning the vote for women was a mighty struggle. Securing full liberation for women of color was no less daunting

Spanning 92 feet across the Daiya River, the nearly 400-year-old Shinkyo Bridge serves as the sacred gateway to Nikko and the Toshogu Shrine complex.

The Way of the Shogun

Looking for the soul of modern Japan on an ancient road once traveled by poets and samurai

Lucretia Mott’s signature Quaker bonnet—hand-sewn green silk with a stiff cotton brim—from the collection of the National Museum of American History.

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

What Made Lucretia Mott One of the Fiercest Opponents of Slavery and Sexism

Her humble Quaker upbringing taught her how to stand up for her beliefs

Before Senator Joe McCarthy became infamous for his grandstanding against alleged Communists, he came to the defense of former German soldiers convicted during the Malmedy war crimes trial.

When Senator Joe McCarthy Defended Nazis

In a nearly forgotten episode, the Wisconsin firebrand sided with the Germany military in a war crimes trial, raising questions about his anti-Semitism

It won’t be surprising if 2020’s “quarantine summer” sees even higher than usual sales for the toy.

The Accidental Invention of the Slip ‘N Slide

A young boy’s summer antics 60 years ago inspired his father to create the timeless backyard water toy

The valiant Inez Milholland, standard-bearer in the nation’s struggle for female enfranchisement, is portrayed here by Isabella Serrano.

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

Recreating a Suffragist’s Barnstorming Tour Through the American West

Inez Milholland Boissevain’s campaign to win the vote for women inspires a dramatic homage a century later

The so-called "Letter From Heaven" was marketed as a message from Jesus himself, conveying instructions and conferring protection on those who sent them to others.

Before Chain Letters Swept the Internet, They Raised Funds for Orphans and Sent Messages From God

Recipe exchanges, poetry chains, photo challenges and other ostensibly comforting prompts are enjoying a resurgence amid the COVID-19 pandemic

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