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At the Smithsonian / From the Collections

Inventive and egalitarian, the Arts and Industries Building is due to open in November after being closed for nearly two decades.

Smithsonian 175

The Storied Past and Inspiring Future of the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building

It was once the Institution’s most forward-looking museum. Soon it will be again

Matt Shepard in high school, taken in Lugano, Switzerland

Smithsonian Voices

The Story of Matthew Shepard’s Life Is Told in Artifacts Held at the National Museum of American History

Being LGBTQ can dangerous and a personal burden, but theses objects show that it can also be joyful and fabulous

Lacey Baker's personalized skateboards

Smithsonian Voices

How LGBTQ Skateboarders Have Carved Out a Place at the Park

The Smithsonian has collected from members of the diverse and fiercely dedicated LGBTQ skate community

Transgender flag designed by Monica Helms (right), and friends. The flag's stripes represent the traditional pink and blue associated with girls and boys and white for intersex, transitioning, or of undefined gender. Helms served in the United States Navy and became an activist for transgender rights in the late 1990s in Arizona where she grew up. She designed the flag in 1999.

Smithsonian Voices

Can an Object Be Gay?

Curator Katherine Ott reflects on collecting and interpreting LBGTQ material culture

James Eike’s field book entry for April 6, 1971; his 31st Anniversary.

Smithsonian Voices

A Bird-Watcher’s Field Books Became a Journal of Life’s Passions and Travails

Bird lover and citizen scientist James W. Eike documented birds near his home in northern Virginia along with the joys of his family life

One of the Smithsonian Institution's most visited artifacts is the 209-year-old Star-Spangled Banner, the inspiration for the National Anthem.

A New Summer Tradition, a Three-Week ‘Civic Season,’ Asks Americans to Reflect on the Past and Future

Museums are inviting Americans to embrace the national story from its sins to its successes as a stepping stone towards a better future

This jellyfish, Scolionema suvaense, was raised in the National Museum of Natural History’s Invertebrate Zoology “AquaRoom.” Here, the species is sinking through food with its tentacles spread wide.

Smithsonian Voices

Live Jellyfish Make a Splash in Marine Education

Smithsonian’s AquaRoom helps scientists learn more about these animals’ lives and educate future generations about their marine neighbors

Picket signs carried by protestors at the White House and Independence Hall in Philadelphia,1960s

Smithsonian Voices

The Most Radical Thing About Stonewall Wasn’t the Uprising

Much of the staying power of Stonewall’s reputation rests upon the Pride marches that began on the first anniversary a year later

Miscellaneous objects from the museum’s collection that feature rainbows, including “That’s So Gay!” trivia game, coasters, and flags promoting marriage equality and immigration equality

LGBTQ+ Pride

Where Did the Rainbow Flag Come From, Anyway?

The mid-20th century was a time of vibrant social change and activism, with rainbows providing potent political symbolism for unity and diversity

Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.557, Wall-Mounted Tied Wire, Closed Center Twelve-Petaled Form Based on Nature), bronze wire, 38 x 38 x 12 in.

Smithsonian Voices

Documenting the Turning Point in the Fascinating Career of Sculptor Ruth Asawa

Smithsonian’s Liza Kirwin explores an early and important exhibition held at LA’s Ankrum Gallery in 1962

“The shape of the Spitfire's wing and all of the compound curves on the airplane made it beautiful,” says the Smithsonian's Alex Spencer, curator of British and European military aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum.

Remembering the Supermarine Spitfire, Iconic Fighter Plane of World War II

‘Spit’ pilots flew their first combat missions over Dunkirk during the Battle of France

Southern cassowary brothers Irwin (left) and Dundee (right).

Smithsonian Voices

Meet Cassowary Brothers Irwin and Dundee, Descendants of Dinosaurs

This giant bird is considered to be the dinosaurs’ closest living relative

Althea Gibson (shown in 1959) also broke the color line at the French Open.

Women Who Shaped History

Sixty-Five Years Ago, Althea Gibson Broke the Color Line at the French Open

She was the first Black athlete—man or woman—to win any major national tennis championship

From May 31 through June 1, 1921, white mobs murdered scores of African Americans and ransacked, razed and burned homes, businesses and churches in Tulsa's Black community of Greenwood.

Remembering Tulsa

Reflections on the Artifacts Left Behind From the Tulsa Race Massacre

Objects and documents, says the Smithsonian historian Paul Gardullo, offer a profound opportunity for reckoning with a past that still lingers

The Smithsonian's 1980 portrait of Yuri Kochiyama by Corky Lee (above, detail) is the "perfect combination of subject and artist," says the National Portrait Gallery's Ann Shumard.

Women Who Shaped History

Behind This Photo Is the Story of Two Asian American Folk Heroes

Corky Lee’s photograph of Yuri Kochiyama captures the familiar struggle of those living at the margins of society

Incan qeros from the National Museum of the American Indian. The white pigment “often appears yellowish over time,” says Emily Kaplan.

How the Inca Discovered a Prized Pigment

The centuries-old history of titanium white

This black metal suitcase belonged to Iku Tsuchiya. It went with her to Tanforan Assembly Center, then to the Topaz camp, and back home to San Leandro, California.

Smithsonian Voices

What Happened to the Homes and Businesses Owned by Japanese Americans After Their Incarceration

75,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry and 45,000 Japanese nationals were relocated to prison camps during WWII, leaving their properties behind

The all-star team from Gila River (Arizona) that played at Heart Mountain (Wyoming). Tetsuo Furukawa is in the top row, fourth from the right.

Smithsonian Voices

Baseball Behind Barbed Wire

Prisoners in WWII Japanese incarceration camps were still American, and took part in the great American pastime

Through research on living and preserved plants, botanists are learning more about how flora has responded to climate change over the past centuries.

Smithsonian Voices

Why Plants Are Seeding Climate Studies

The National Museum of Natural History’s herbarium is helping botanists research climate-driven changes in plants, their biology and their abundance

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Smithsonian Voices

Hear the Voices of America’s Artistic Community Recounting Despair, Resilience, Loss and Creation

During the summer of 2020, the Archives of American Art conducted 85 interviews with artists, teachers, curators and administrators

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