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At the Smithsonian / From the Collections

Samba school Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel performs at the sambodromo during the carnival of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 03 March 2014.

World Cup 2014

Samba and Sway to These Brazilian Songs Compiled By Smithsonian Folkways

Take a virtual tour through the country’s diverse musical traditions

More than 1,200 newspapers serve ethnic communities across America. Current front pages from some of those publications are on display at the Newseum.

Washington, D.C.

News For All: How the Immigrant Experience Shaped American Media

From Benjamin Franklin to Noticiero Univision, the Newseum discusses the profound influence of immigrants on modern news

Itinerant African American musicians played to so many different audiences that they had to be as versatile as a jukebox.

Before There was the Blues Man, There Was the Songster

A new release from Smithsonian Folkways celebrates the diverse sounds of turn-of-the-century itinerant musicians

Harry Rossoll, who drew a popular "Smokey Says" newspaper cartoon in the mid-1940s, modeled his sketches after the campaign hat he wore as a member of the United States Forest Service.

Before Pharrell, Smokey Bear Donned This Now-Trendy Hat As a Symbol of Fire Safety

This is the story of Smokey Bear’s hat, and how it was lost—twice—before finally joining the collections at the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian announced the first presidential portraits created using 3-D technology. The prints and the 3-D data will become part of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

President Obama is Now the First President to be 3D Scanned and Printed

A Smithsonian-led team earlier this year scanned the president, creating a bust and life mask for the National Portrait Gallery

Ten Thousand Li Along the Yangzi River, traditionally attributed to Juran (active 960–986), China, Southern Song dynasty, mid-12th to early 13th century

Washington, D.C.

Relax Like You Are in 12th-Century China and Take in These Lush Landscape Paintings

When the Confucian elite got stressed, they’d stare at nature paintings to recharge and renew their souls

Lion cubs at the National Zoo.

Washington, D.C.

Zoo’s Four Lion Cubs Meet Their Adoring Fans

The 14-week-old cubs are set to tumble-bumble out in their yard to greet their adoring fans

Two red panda cubs were born at the the Smithsonian's Conservation Biology Institute last week.

Squeee! Red Panda Cubs Born at Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Last week, the facility welcomed two new balls of fur to their resident red panda community

The Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership is a 1,200-pound aluminum stage prop that once stole the show at funk singer George Clinton's concerts. Now, it's a part of the Smithsonian's permanent collections.

Breaking Ground

Watch George Clinton’s P-Funk Mothership Get Reassembled For Its Museum Debut

A timelapse video shows Smithsonian curators rebuilding one of music’s most iconic stage props—the Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership

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You Otter Believe These Zoo Animals Can Play the Piano, the Harmonica and the Xylophone

D.C.’s hottest summer concert is brought to us by an unlikely source: a bevy of animal musicians

Getting to Know Whistler’s Father

Whistler’s mother is a superstar. But the painter’s dad has languished in obscurity—until now

When Collectors Cut Off Pieces of the Star-Spangled Banner As Keepsakes

For years patriots clamored for swatches of the enormous flag that raised spirits at “dawn’s early light”

Window washer Jan Demczur used his squeegee to pry open the elevator doors where he and five others were trapped. Taking turns, they used the squeegee and its metal handle to hack through drywall so that they could squeeze through and escape down the stairs.

How a Squeegee Handle Became a Life-Saving Tool on September 11, 2001

Artifacts now on loan to New York City’s National September 11 Memorial and Museum tell the story in ways that words cannot

"How can you make someone look important in Candy Land?" wondered Will Cotton, the New York City-based artist whose sugary landscapes often lacked subjects.

Artist Will Cotton Reveals How He and Katy Perry Played an Elaborate Game of Candy Land

Artist Will Cotton’s painting Cupcake Katy goes on view at the National Portrait Galley to welcome the pop star to D.C.

Brown and Silver: Old Battersea Bridge, James McNeill Whistler, 1859—1863

Washington, D.C.

See 19th-Century London Through the Eyes of James McNeill Whistler, One of America’s Greatest Painters

The largest U.S. display in 20 years of Whistler artworks highlights the artist’s career in England

A c. 1945-1947 postcard from Florida's Gerbing Gardens depicts the sunken pool and fountain, framed in marigolds and azaleas.

Gardens May Change From Season To Season, But Their History Lives On At the Smithsonian

Smithsonian Gardens announces a new digital archive to collect the stories, photographs, legend and lore of America’s gardens and gardeners

New to the collections: Actor Reeve Carney's red and blue spandex bodysuit, which he wore while starring in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

‘Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark’ Suit Receives a Lifetime Encore at the American History Museum

After a two-year run on Broadway, the web-slinging stage show’s iconic superhero costume is heading to the Smithsonian.

Why Do We Love R2-D2 and Not C-3PO?

With its stubby cylindrical body and playful whistles and beeps, the lovable Star Wars’ robot R2-D2 is just the right mix of man and machine

View of Takanawa Ushimachi under a Shrouded Moon, Kobayashi Kiyochika,1879

Tokyo in Transition: Woodblock Prints Cast an Ambiguous Light on Japan’s Modernization

A collection of works by the great Eastern modernist Kobayashi Kiyochika are on view at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum

Track the Nation’s T-Rex as it Arrives at the Smithsonian

The Natural History Museum’s much-anticipated fossil completes the ultimate road trip: a 2,000 mile journey from Montana to our nation’s capital.

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