/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/71/53/7153a05a-36ba-400b-ac09-2b30458e4729/burroughs.jpg)
America’s Oldest Museum of Black Culture Started in a Living Room
The DuSable Museum of African American History was founded by Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, born on this day in 1915
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/24/b9/24b9e8d6-8a7c-461b-9e35-506a5ae67da5/vita_sackville_west_lead.jpg)
Now You Can Read the Stamp-Sized Story That May Have Inspired Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando”
Vita Sackville-West’s hero predates and mirrors Woolf’s androgynous time-traveler
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/d3/7e/d37e81fb-11ce-4910-94c4-0c5eb3195864/strand_paget.jpg)
The Creator of Sherlock Holmes Was, Like Many Victorians, Fascinated by Mormons
The first story featuring iconic detective Sherlock Holmes, ‘A Study in Scarlet,’ was published on this day in 1887—and set in Mormon Utah
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/d3/0b/d30b2344-b971-4ad6-a899-611d54d6b3a3/mary_queen_of_scots.jpg)
Portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots Found Hidden Beneath Another Painting
The politically dangerous work was painted over by Adrian Vanson two year after the queen’s execution
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/08/7f/087fb39b-4ff9-4d4c-a0dd-e8f36ec6db7c/bpjbcd.jpg)
Dennis Banks, Native American Civil Rights Warrior, Has Died
He rose to national attention after spearheading a 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/3e/13/3e131a1a-bffb-4829-82f4-4c2339635fc2/pavimento.jpg)
Roman Mosaic, Long Used as a Coffee Table, Returned To Italy
The mosaic hails from a “pleasure ship” built by the notorious emperor Caligula
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/bb/83/bb83959f-d62e-476e-9bae-2f38f3e959d3/jeff_kings_dog_team_-_2010_iditarod.jpg)
Understanding the Doping Controversy That’s Hit Sled Dog Racing
Four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey’s dogs tested positive for banned substances, but Seavey claims it was sabotage
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/31/c8/31c8fcf9-a96a-4cb4-9566-cd322c2636bb/d7hftxdivxxvmcloudfront.jpg)
Linda Nochlin, Pioneering Feminist Art Historian, Has Died
Nochlin is best known for a 1971 essay theorizing that social institutions—and not a lack of talent—held women back in the art world
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/2d/21/2d213e5f-753c-4dea-9b12-a2ec300f668f/harper_lee_medal.jpg)
Unpublished Harper Lee Letters Purchased at Auction Share Intimate Reflections
The letters from the To Kill a Mockingbird scribe include remembrances of Hollywood celebrities, a bit of history and some sass
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/78/b8/78b8f64e-f6fa-4428-bdec-bac86dc144b3/zombie.jpg)
Zombie Movies Are Never Really About Zombies
Zombies have offered a way to work out cultural fears about everything from race to climate change
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/db/16/db163d2b-c496-4990-bb81-8e5217226989/wellcome.jpg)
How New Printing Technology Gave Witches Their Familiar Silhouette
Popular media helped give witches their image
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/43/b9/43b95ebe-91c7-4244-87f9-b755918d585b/plant.jpg)
Getting to the Roots of “Plant Horror”
From the serious—pod people—to the farcical—”feed me, feed me!”—this genre has produced some strange stuff
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/77/3d/773d7fa1-8ed1-4a95-9571-3c57e68fba36/f504a6.jpg)
The Comic Artists Who Inspired Roy Lichtenstein Aren’t Too Thrilled About It
Lichtenstein’s use of comic art and styles made him one of America’s most famous pop artists, but some have comic artists have a bad taste in their mouths
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/1b/61/1b61a5df-1da1-4a4f-907d-9229f2d3297d/the_imp_log_the_very_first_message_sent_on_the_internet_6293913865.jpg)
These Two Small Letters Heralded the Beginning of Online Communication
Their message is far more profound in retrospect than it was at the time
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/a1/03/a103a2a6-c5bf-4e0b-82b5-19a1109262bc/soundarchives.jpg)
The Boston Public Library Is Digitizing 200,000 Vintage Recordings
With the help of the Internet Archive, the recordings from the Sound Archives Collection will one day be available for free streaming and download
:focal(1047x1142:1048x1143)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/3e/ee/3eee1e00-eb51-4f73-9f51-79149d60b3d4/albert_einstein_head.jpg)
Einstein’s Maxims on Life Fetch $1.8 Million at Auction
The notes were given as a tip to a Tokyo bellboy in 1922
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/28/61/2861d9b3-61ff-4256-8f58-9aa59e4ba806/2474950934_11b5be341d_o.jpg)
This Artist Is Crowdsourcing “Singing” Sand From Around the World
Amsterdam-based artist Lotte Geeven is making sand symphonies for a public artwork debuting next spring
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/7a/b4/7ab453a6-9f9f-4846-87c1-8efdc2dcac1f/monstro.jpg)
A Look Inside an Iconically Quirky St. Louis Museum
A veritable playhouse of salvaged materials and crafted objects, the City Museum has entertained the young and young at heart for two decades
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/42/f0/42f08de8-f607-4be5-977d-a7b232f3b12d/take_five.jpg)
This Gallery Is Dedicated to Coal Miners’ Art
The Mining Art Gallery showcases works created by the thousands of miners who’ve lived and worked in the Great Northern Coalfield
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/2d/ac/2dac3e78-ef60-4b4f-b82b-0ff3da7f7f8d/3675459887_da5ba37bcd_o.jpg)
How Boris Pasternak Won and Lost the Nobel Prize
Today in 1958, the “Doctor Zhivago” author won the Nobel Prize, but the Soviets made sure he never got it
Page 176 of 286