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Articles

Paul Lester Wiener and an unidentified advisor for the U.S. Pavilion murals, Private archive of Eduard “Buk” Ulreich, St. Louis, MO.

Smithsonian Voices

Help This Scholar Reverse the Erasure of Native Contributions in the Creation of These 20th-Century Murals

Native artists working on monumental, public works of art remain unidentified and unrecognized; it’s time to change that

This month's picks include Mantel Pieces, The Dead Are Arising and A Series of Fortunate Events.

Books of the Month

How the Alphabet Got Its Order, Malcolm X and Other New Books to Read

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

Let your off-grid home take shape in whatever form best fits your new, adventurous lifestyle.

How to Set Up an Off-the-Grid Getaway

Need a change of scenery? A quiet spot away from crowds? Here are some tips for rigging a remote escape with the bare necessities

President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes hands with Martin Luther King Jr. at the signing of the Civil Rights Act.

Race in America

The Outsized Role of the President in Race Relations

A new podcast series explores how the presidency has shaped the nation’s approach to pursuing racial justice

Ken Jennings, known to millions as a game show champion, is also is a fan of Alexander von Humboldt, a Prussian naturalist with an endless curiosity.

Smithsonian Voices

‘Jeopardy!’ Champion Ken Jennings on Lessons Learned From Alexander von Humboldt

“I’ll take Alexander von Humboldt for $500, Alex”

A Galápagos tortoise specimen from the California Academy of Sciences

How an Expedition to the Galápagos Islands Saved One of the World’s Largest Natural History Museums

A soon-to-be digitized and publicly accessible collection of specimens helped resurrect the California Academy of Sciences

Hip-hop artist Frank Waln contributes a musical performance. From left to right: Musician Frank Waln; panelists Brook Thompson, Dylan Baca, Lina Krueck, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Michaela Pavlat, and Alberto Correa III.

Smithsonian Voices

Five Ideas for Celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2020

Honor Native American ideas, make your garden a native ecosystem, read these books, or take in one of these online programs with Native guests

As countries in the Northern Hemisphere enter flu season, experts are looking to patterns from Southern Hemisphere nations as a source of cautious optimism.

Covid-19

What to Expect When Covid-19 and the Flu Season Collide

Experts weigh in on the necessary steps to ensure a mild flu season during the pandemic

An aerial view of the northwestern corner of St. Matthew Island. The small grouping of uninhabited islands is over 300 kilometers across the Bering Sea from the mainland, making it the most remote location in Alaska.

The Alaskan Island That Humans Can’t Conquer

Faraway St. Matthew Island has had its share of visitors, but none can remain for long on its shores

Guitarist Eddie Van Halen performs at a September 2015 concert in Chula Vista, California.

Eddie Van Halen on How Necessity Drives Innovation

The rock star, who died on October 6 at age 65, said that perfection is boring and mistakes are the “most exciting element of music”

Portraits from finalists of the 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.

Smithsonian Voices

Calling All Portrait Artists

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is seeking submissions now through Jan. 29, 2021, to its triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

In an explosion of green and gold, Elaine de Kooning's portrayal of President John F. Kennedy holds pride of place at the National Portrait Gallery in its exhibition "America's Presidents."

Why Elaine de Kooning’s Portrait of JFK Broke All the Rules

After the assassination, the grief-stricken artist painted the president’s image obsessively; finally saying she caught only “a glimpse” of him

Sea turtle eggs, rumored to have aphrodisiac properties, are frequently poached from Costa Rican beaches

3-D Printed Sea Turtle Eggs Reveal Poaching Routes

Scientists put GPS locators inside plastic eggs to find trafficking destinations in Costa Rica

Singer Jenny Lind was widely known as the "Swedish Nightingale."

When Opera Star Jenny Lind Came to America, She Witnessed a Nation Torn Apart Over Slavery

Born 200 years ago, the Swedish soprano embarked on headline-grabbing tour that shared the spotlight with a political maelstrom

A Virginia woman votes early in the 2020 general election.

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

How Women Vote: Separating Myth From Reality

Suffragists said women voting would transform politics. Here’s how women have wielded the ballot in the past century, according to a political scientist

Ethan Hawke plays abolitionist John Brown in Showtime's "The Good Lord Bird."

‘The Good Lord Bird’ Paints a Different Portrait of Abolitionist John Brown

In a year of anti-racism protests, the new Showtime series focuses on the polarizing abolitionist who led a raid on Harper’s Ferry

It's a boy! DNA taken from a cheek swab of the 3.6-pound giant panda cub confirms the animal's sex.

Pandamonium

Why It Takes a DNA Test to Determine a Panda Cub’s Sex

The National Zoo announces the 6-week-old giant panda is a boy

With the support of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a new archive is being established to collect the history of the Lumbee community (above from left are members of the intertribal Baltimore American Indian Center: Louis Campbell, Lumbee; Celest Swann, Powhatan; E. Keith Colston, Lumbee / Tuscarora).

A Native American Community in Baltimore Reclaims Its History

Thousands of Lumbee Indians, members of the largest tribe east of the Mississippi, once lived in the neighborhoods of Upper Fells Point and Washington Hill

Eleanor Roosevelt talks to a child at the ceremonies inaugurating the slum clearance in Detroit, Michigan.

Women Who Shaped History

Why Eleanor Roosevelt’s Example Matters More Than Ever

A new biography shows how decency, determination and generosity of heart can change the world

A female megalodon model, based on a set of teeth discovered in the Bone Valley Formation in Florida, hangs in The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

How Cannibalism in the Womb May Have Made Megalodon a Titanic Terror

A new analysis of shark body size offers clues as to why the 50-foot-long prehistoric shark grew so large

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