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Mary Mildred Williams again takes center stage in Jessie Morgan-Owens’ new book Girl in Black and White.

The Enslaved Girl Who Became America’s First Poster Child

In 1855, Mary Mildred Williams energized the abolitionist movement

Three years after the first oral contraceptive was approved by the FDA, Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation created the first "memory aid" packaging, which featured a circular calendar in the middle.

Women Who Shaped History

These Objects Begin to Tell the Story of Women’s History in America

Thirteen artifacts from the National Museum of American History chronicle profound changes in the life of the nation

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, at her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Women Who Shaped History

Behind the Scenes of Sandra Day O’Connor’s First Days on the Supreme Court

As the first female justice retires from public life, read about her debut on the highest court in the nation

George Washington takes command of the Continental army.

The Plot to Kill George Washington

In The First Conspiracy, thriller writer Brad Meltzer uncovers a real-life story too good to turn into fiction

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Readers Discuss Our December 2018 Issue

Your thoughts on “Costs of the Confederacy” and much more

A polarized-light microscopy image (in background) of a section from the Allende meteorite is one-thousandth of a millimeter thin.

The Oldest Material in the Smithsonian Institution Came From Outer Space

Decades after the Allende Meteorite plunged to Earth, scientists still mine its fragments for clues to the cosmos

Damage to the Philippine Legislative Building as a result of World War II. At the time, the Philippines was a U.S. colony.

Telling the History of the U.S. Through Its Territories

In “How to Hide an Empire,” Daniel Immerwahr explores America far beyond the borders of the Lower 48

Marina Amaral can often find clues to inform her colorization in the shades of gray in the original image

No Color Photos of Jazz Singer Mildred Bailey Existed… Until Now

An artist shows us that the past was not black-and-white

The ‘Pole of Inaccessibility’ Has Eluded Adventurers for More Than a Century

This winter, explorers will once again set out for the most remote part of the Arctic Ocean

Tom Hanks (center) won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a gay man suffering from AIDS.

Looking Back at ‘Philadelphia,’ 25 Years Later

What would the breakthrough movie about the AIDS crisis look like if it were made today?

One of this issue's questions is about the starfish's namesake shape.

Why Are Starfish Shaped Like Stars and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Poe coined the phrase “the imp of the perverse” in an 1845 story of that title about an almost perfect murder.

How Edgar Allan Poe Became Our Era’s Premier Storyteller

Fans of the mystery writer have no shortage of ways to pay homage to the scribe behind “The Raven” and so much more

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Introducing Our Special Issue on America at War

The nation’s epic, expanding fight against terrorism overseas

Previously deployed service members raise their hands at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

America at War

New Poll of U.S. Troops and Veterans Reveals Their Thoughts on Current Military Policies

In a new Smithsonian poll, conducted with the help of Stars and Stripes, current and former members of the armed forces take aim at conventional wisdom

Aaron Wixson, a Marine field artillery radar operator in Oceanside, California, transitioned from female to male in 2016. His biggest challenge was getting everybody to change the pronouns they used for him. “Some of them said, ‘We’ve been calling you “her” for so long.’”

America at War

The Faces Behind Transgender Troops’ Struggle for Acceptance

Meet some of the servicemembers at the center of one of the most controversial matters facing the U.S. military

Kristi Casteel holds her son Joshua Casteel's dog tags.

America at War

The Priest of Abu Ghraib

Inside Iraq’s most notorious prison, an Army interrogator came face to face with a shocking truth about the war—and himself

A patrol returns to Forward Operating Base Tillman, in eastern Afghanistan. It was closed in 2012, the year after this double exposure was made.

America at War

The New Archaeology of Iraq and Afghanistan

The once-fortified outposts that protected U.S. troops are relics of our ambitions abroad

A dog-tag memorial at Old North Church in Boston, which has honored service members killed in the Iraq and Afghan wars since 2006, making it the oldest such memorial in the country

America at War

How Should We Memorialize Those Lost in the War on Terror?

Americans have erected countless monuments to wars gone by. But how do we pay tribute to the fallen in a conflict that might never end?

Drawing of a helicopter on a wall of a house located at the first American helicopter crash site in Mogadishu. The Somali word on the helicopter's side, kulva, is an attempt to spell the word "Cobra," which was one kind of helicopter used to attack the village.

America at War

The Legacy of Black Hawk Down

Twenty-five years after the battle chronicled in the best-selling book, the author argues that we’ve learned the wrong lessons about fighting terrorism

Army Reservist Xiao Meng Sun, who left China six years ago, believes that military training teaches one to meet challenges.

Fighting to Be American

For centuries immigrants who served in the military could become American citizens. But are the women and men pictured here among the last?

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