Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Articles

The Archaeology of Wealth Inequality

Researchers trace the income gap back more than 11,000 years

Wood took aim at the Daughters of the American Revolution, whose members, he claimed, “are trying to set up an aristocracy of birth in a Republic.”

A Preview of Grant Wood’s New Retrospective at the Whitney

The artist who posed as a farmer gets the star treatment at the New York museum in his biggest show ever

In Search of the Real Grant Wood

The denim-clad artist who painted American Gothic wasn’t the hayseed he’d have you believe

When news of Tennessee’s ratification reached Alice Paul on August 18, she sewed the thirty-sixth star onto her ratification banner and unfurled it from the balcony of Woman’s Party headquarters in Washington.

How Tennessee Became the Final Battleground in the Fight for Suffrage

One hundred years later, the campaign for the women’s vote has many potent similarities to the politics of today

A British Columbia rainforest, where Douglas firs soar more than 160 feet, supports 23 native tree species.

Ask Smithsonian

Do Trees Talk to Each Other?

A controversial German forester says yes, and his ideas are shaking up the scientific world

A team of researchers in northern Australia have documented kites and falcons, “firehawks,” intentionally carrying burning sticks to spread fire: It is just one example of western science catching up to Indigenous Traditional Knowledge.

When Scientists “Discover” What Indigenous People Have Known For Centuries

When it supports their claims, Western scientists value what Traditional Knowledge has to offer. If not, they dismiss it

The rose buds are the universal symbol for love and courage.

In Obama’s Official Portrait the Flowers Are Cultivated From the Past

Kehinde Wiley’s painting is full of historical art references says Kim Sajet, the director of the National Portrait Gallery

How One Amateur Historian Brought Us the Stories of African-Americans Who Knew Abraham Lincoln

Once John E. Washington started to dig, he found an incredible wealth of untapped knowledge about the 16th president

The film is equal parts 21st-century technology and late 19th-century art

How the Creators of Loving Vincent Brought the First Fully Painted Animated Film to Life

Vincent van Gogh’s swirling coats of paint really move in the Oscar-nominated film thanks to 62,450 original oil paintings

Costume designer Ruth Carter says she found inspiration in the tradition and costume of African peoples. She thrilled over Ndebele neck rings, Suri face paint, and Zulu headgear and blankets and asked her crew to stay true to these traditions.

The New Director of the Smithsonian’s African Art Museum Reflects on the Look and Fashion of Black Panther

The blockbuster movie borrowed from multiple African peoples to create a unique Wakandan style

Future of Energy

The Countries Poised To Become “Renewable Superpowers”

The fossil fuel era won’t last forever. And a new set of nations will find their reserves of lithium, copper and rare earth metals in high demand

Eisenhower National Historic Site

Take a Look Inside These Six Presidential Homes

The White House isn’t the only address worth visiting this Presidents’ Day

Parson Weems’ Fable by Grant Wood, depicting Parson Weems and his famous story of George Washington and the cherry tree.

Some Stories About George Washington Are Just Too Good to Be True

But there’s a kernel of truth to many of them because Washington was a legend in his own time

Johnson pressed his ear to this humble cup to hear the tap code messages of his friend Bob Shumaker in the next cell over.

The Indomitable Spirit of American POWs Lives On in These Vietnam Prison Keepsakes

For seven years an internee at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton,” Congressman Sam Johnson entrusts his story to the Smithsonian

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s New York Times Bestseller introduces young readers to impactful black inventors and innovators.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Travels from Court to Classroom to Highlight History of African-American Inventors

The NBA all-star says he hopes young students realize the power and influence they can achieve in STEM-related fields

Rising global temperatures may make many cities too warm to host the Winter Games in the future.

The Beijing Winter Olympics

In a World Striving To Cut Carbon Emissions, Do the Olympics Make Sense?

Perhaps there is still a case for the greenhouse-gas gushing games if host cities amplify their efforts to showcase green tech and innovations

Greek Orthodox priests taking part in a procession inside the Katholikon, or Catholicon Chapel, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

A Crusader-Era High Altar Resurfaces in Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulcher

This reminder of centuries-old history was sitting in plain sight all along

Page 341 of 1327