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Arts & Culture

Rhiannon Giddens is joined by Canadian-American musician-songwriter Allison Russell (Po’ Girl, Birds of Chicago), Leyla McCalla (Carolina Chocolate Drops) and Amythyst Kiah (Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest of Glass) for the new album Songs of Our Native Daughters.

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

Why These Four Banjo-Playing Women Resurrected the Songs of the Enslaved

The new Folkways album “Songs of Our Native Daughters” draws spiritually from slave narratives and other pre-19th-century sources

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Smithsonian Voices

Muralist Ouizi Brings Her Luminous Floral Wonderland to the Smithsonian

Adam Smith and William Shakespeare

How the Invisible Hand of William Shakespeare Influenced Adam Smith

Born more than 150 years apart, the two British luminaries each encountered rough receptions for their radical ideas

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Smithsonian Voices

Meet Native Fashion Designer Norma Baker-Flying Horse, Creator of Red Berry Woman

This year, Paris Fashion Week featured her work. “To be a Native American designer showing for the Fashion Week Studio was amazing.”

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Smithsonian Voices

How Time-Based Media Intersects With Perspectives From the LGBTQ Community

The curator of time-based media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum talks about upcoming initiatives emphasizing women artists and LGBTQ+ perspectives

Cherry blossoms in peak bloom on April 1, 2019 at Washington's Tidal Basin.

Take In the Scene of Washington’s Cherry Blossoms at Peak Bloom

The trees’ spring beauty should be on full display for about a week, the National Park Service reports

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Smithsonian Voices

Works of Pioneering Photographer Constance Stuart Larrabee to Be Digitized

The work of Constance Stuart Larrabee, a pioneering photographer, will soon be digitized

Rod Serling working at his Westport, Connecticut, home in 1956.

Pop History

An Early Run-In With Censors Led Rod Serling to ‘The Twilight Zone’

His failed attempts to bring the Emmett Till tragedy to television forced him to get creative

Mi Vida by Jesse Treviño, 1971-73

How American Artists Engaged with Morality and Conflict During the Vietnam War

The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s new show documents the turbulent decade and the provocative dialog happening in a diverse art community

"Tiffany Chung's exhibition opens our eyes to a history hidden in plain sight, illuminating the war and its aftermath from the perspective of those who lived through it," says curator Sarah Newman.

For Tiffany Chung, Finding Vietnam’s Forgotten Stories Began as a Personal Quest

To map the post-war exodus, the artist turned to interviews and deep research, starting with her own father’s past

Facebook staff would only later learn of the unintended consequences of the "Like" button

Understanding the Mind of the Coder and How It Shapes the World Around Us

Clive Thompson’s new book takes readers deep into the history and culture of computer programming

The 404th AFS Band pictured in Fort Des Moines

Seventy-Five Years Ago, the Military’s Only All-Black Female Band Battled the War Department and Won

The women of the 404th Armed Service Forces band raised morale and funds for the military, but they had to fight discrimination to do so

Queen Liliʻuokalani (above in Honolulu in 1917) “was one of the most successful composers . . . so much so that her repertoire remains at the forefront of those performed by Hawaiian musicians today,” says the Smithsonian's John Troutman

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

How the Music of Hawaiʻi’s Last Ruler Guided the Island’s People Through Crisis

A prolific composer, Queen Liliʻuokalani created some of the most popular Hawaiian tunes and compositions of all time

River basin map of the contiguous United States

Art Meets Science

These Beautiful Maps Capture the Rivers That Pulse Through Our World

Cartographer Robert Szucs creates colorful maps of the watersheds that creep across states, countries, continents and the globe

Dumbo prepares to fly.

The Original ‘Dumbo’ Story Would Have Had More Twists and Turns

Before soaring into theaters, Disney’s flying elephant was about to be published as a scrolling children’s book

A portrait (detail, above) of Mary Church Terrell, a prominent D.C. activist and suffragist. The image is just one of dozens of turn-of-the-century photographs featured in "Pictures with Purpose"

For Turn-of-the-Century African-Americans, the Camera Was a Tool for Empowerment

A new installment in the Smithsonian’s “Double Exposure” photo book series depicts black Americans championing their lives through photography

Judges Brandon Maxwell, Elaine Welteroth, Nina Garcia, and host Karlie Kloss deliberate

Pop History

What ‘Project Runway’ Can Teach Us About the Creative Process

Seventeen seasons in, the show continues to demystify what it takes to ‘make it work’

Smithsonian Voices

How the Vietnam War Changed American Art

Curator Melissa Ho reflects on her upcoming exhibition exploring how American artists responded to the turbulence of the Vietnam War

Smithsonian Voices

A Souvenir From the Holy Land: On Henry Ossawa Tanner’s ‘Abraham’s Oak’

‘Abraham’s Oak’ memorializes a pilgrimage site that the artist likely visited during his travels in the 1890’s

Daesha Devón Harris Combines Oral History and Antique Portraits to Tell a Story of Loss and Hope

These layered works testify to African-American history

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