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History

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book and the first American woman to earn a living from her writing. This frontispiece engraving is held in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Women Who Shaped History

The Multiple Truths in the Works of the Enslaved Poet Phillis Wheatley

In this endearing homage, poet-scholar drea brown finds ancestral and personal healing

Cegape or Strike the Kettle (Lakota, ca. 1841–?). Untitled painting, collected in 1893. North or South Dakota. 20/5176. Most large paintings of this kind focus on a single event, often a battle. This painting, made by a follower of Sitting Bull, shows warriors—figures on horseback carrying lances and shields—within the Lakota way of life.

Smithsonian Voices

How Lakota Values Endure 144 Years After the Battle of Little Bighorn

Following Custer’s defeat, tribal leaders made difficult decisions to ensure the safety of their people that continue today in the time of COVID-19

Demonstration on May Day with antifascist banners, on May 1, 1929 in New York.

A Brief History of Anti-Fascism

As long as the ideology has threatened marginalized communities, groups on the left have pushed back with force

A sign asks Navajo residents to stay safe and warns of a curfew near the Navajo Nation town of Casamero Lake in New Mexico on May 20, 2020.

Covid-19

COVID-19 Adds a New Snag to the 2020 Census Count of Native Americans

The nation’s indigenous population has long been undercounted, but the pandemic presents extra hurdles

Henry VIII likely commissioned this painting of the Field of Cloth of Gold toward the end of his reign.

When Henry VIII and Francis I Spent $19 Million on an 18-Day Party

Five hundred years ago, the English and French kings proclaimed their friendship—and military might—at the Field of Cloth of Gold

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The Bloody Hell of Okinawa

More than seventy-five years ago, the final great battle of WWII convinced Allied leaders to drop the atomic bomb on Japan

The Washington Family, painted by Edward Savage in New York City while Washington was the nation's president. The children in the portrait are Martha Custis Washington's grandchildren, to whom George was a father figure.

The Father of the Nation, George Washington Was Also a Doting Dad to His Family

Though he had no biological children, the first president acted as a father figure to Martha’s descendants

The Pyramid of the Magician stands over 100 feet tall and contains five different temples built in succession.

The Maya Ruins at Uxmal Still Have More Stories to Tell

The remains of a provincial capital on the Yucatan Peninsula attest to a people trying to fortify their place in the world

Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Hosea Williams and other members of the SCLC Poor People's Campaign march through the lunar lander exhibit at Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Apollo 11.

Smithsonian Voices

How Space Exploration and the Fight For Equal Rights Clashed Then and Now

Smithsonian curator Margaret Weitekamp reflects on the historic parallel between 2020 and 1969

Stewart Adams had originally set out to find a cure for rheumatoid arthritis.

The Inventor of Ibuprofen Tested the Drug on His Own Hangover

Stewart Adams’ headache subsided—and his over-the-counter pain reliever became one of the world’s most popular medications

Cookbook author Lena Richard (above with her daughter and sous chef Marie Rhodes) was the star of a 1949 popular 30-minute cooking show, airing on New Orleans' WDSU-TV.

Meet Lena Richard, the Celebrity Chef Who Broke Barriers in the Jim Crow South

Lena Richard was a successful New Orleans-based chef, educator, writer and entrepreneur

Boxed Day-Glo orange mac and cheese like this is an invention of the past century.

How Boxed Mac and Cheese Became a Pantry Staple

Processed cheese solved the problem of the dairy product going bad, and it was incredibly convenient

Juneteenth celebration in 1900 at Eastwoods Park

Juneteenth: Our Other Independence Day

Two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, American slavery came to an end and a celebration of freedom was born

Recommendations include Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America and The Making of Black Revolutionaries: A Personal Account.

Race in America

Smithsonian Scholars and Researchers Share Works That Shed Light on the History of U.S. Racism

In this dynamic time, a list of film, podcasts and books is offered for a nation grappling with its fraught history

Tom Hanks portrays fictional Navy commander Ernest Krause.

Based on a True Story

The True Story Behind the ‘Greyhound’ Movie

Tom Hanks’ new World War II film offers a dramatized account of the Battle of the Atlantic

From L to R: Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie

One Hundred Years Ago, a Lynch Mob Killed Three Men in Minnesota

The murders in Duluth offered yet another example that the North was no exception when it came to anti-black violence

Marta Martínez interviews a local resident for her oral history project.

Covid-19

How Oral History Projects Are Being Stymied by COVID-19

As the current pandemic ravages minority communities, historians are scrambling to continue work that preserves cultural heritage

This month's selections include The Beauty and the Terror, Feasting Wild and Splash.

Books of the Month

The Dangers of Space, Military Rivals and Other New Books to Read

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

When the Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, first saw the new image of Harriet Tubman (above, detail), she said: "She's young!"

Why Harriet Tubman’s Heroic Military Career Is Now Easier to Envision

The strong, youthful visage of the famed underground railroad conductor is the subject of the Portrait Gallery’s podcast “Portraits”

To help people enter into conversations "in ways that are fruitful," says Spencer Crew, the interim director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, a new online portal "Talking About Race" is now available.

How to Have That Tough Conversation About Race, Racism and Racial Identity

The Smithsonian’s African American History Museum debuts the online teaching tool “Talking About Race”

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