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At the Smithsonian

Pete Seeger sings the holiday classics on Smithsonian Folkways' "Traditional Christmas Carols."

The List: Smithsonian Folkways’ Holiday Music

This holiday season, gather the family to listen to some of your favorite classics from the Folkways collection

The Portrait Gallery's Model Hall is an "architectural boast of the first order."

Amy Henderson: American History On-Site in Washington, DC

The Portrait Gallery’s Cultural Historian Amy Henderson discusses the sites and scenes on a walking tour of Washington, D.C.

Heo Yoon Jeong performs on the janggu as part of the Tori Project.

Events Dec. 5-8: Through the Eye of the Needle, Basket Weaving, Holiday Tour, and the Tori Project

This week, see the premiere of a documentary, learn the art of basket weaving, take a holiday tour, and see a groundbreaking musical performance

Department of Anthropology Staff, 1931

A History of Anthropological Work at the Smithsonian

Early research by the Smithsonian revealed the origin of thousands of mysterious earthen mounds across the country

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The Hirshhorn Goes Red for World AIDS Day

The Hirshhorn Museum is illuminated red in honor of World AIDS Day

Hirshhorn Goes Red for World AIDS Day

The distinctive building is Washington, D.C.’s first structure to be illuminated red for the annual occasion

World War II veteran Chief Joseph Medicine Crow, a featured speaker of the "Native Americans in the Military" panel.

Weekend Events Dec. 2-4: Native Americans in the Military, Dress to Empress Soiree and All About Body Art

Join a panel of Natives who have served in the armed forces, spend the night at an exclusive Chinese-themed soiree, and explore the world of tattoos

As curator of the White House, William G. Allman is responsible for studying and preserving the 50,000 pieces of art and décor in the residence's permanent collection.

Q and A With William G. Allman

The curator of the White House talks about the history of the President’s mansion and how to protect the collections from tipsy visitors

In Robert Walter Weir’s c. 1838 canvas of St. Nicholas (detail), perhaps influenced by a Washington Irving story, the painter envisioned both an enigmatic trickster and a dispenser of holiday cheer.

A Mischievous St. Nick from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

The 19th-century artist Robert Walter Weir took inspiration from Washington Irving to create a prototype of Santa Claus

In 2004, relatives of Albert Penn found the bust made in his image. From left: family members Virginia Maker, Larry Taylor, Evelyn Taylor, Andrea Bone and anthropologist David Hunt.

An Osage Family Reunion

With the help of Smithsonian model makers, the tribal nation is obtaining busts of ancestors who lived at a pivotal moment in their history

Instruments developed at the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, such as this Solar Probe, will go to the Sun in 2018.

New Angles

The ʻIʻiwi, or Scarlet Hawaiian Honeycreeper, with an elongated bill adapted for extracting nectar from flowers.

The Hawaiian Honeycreeper Family Tree

A new study unravels the relationships among a group of spectacular songbirds that diversified as the Hawaiian Islands emerged from the Pacific

Within this sarcophagus and underlying wrappings is the mummified body of a man who died 2,000 years ago (150 B.C.-50 A.D.)

Egyptian Mummification Rituals Uncovered at Natural History

A collection of ancient Egyptian mummies—and new techniques for looking inside them—reveal new information about ancient Egpyt’s spiritual beliefs

Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-400 D

Airplanes, Suspended in Time, at the Air and Space Museum

In his photographs, now on display at the National Air and Space Museum, Jeffrey Milstein bares the bellies of airplanes

Esther Nisenthal Krinitz' fabric depiction of pasturing livestock next to a Nazi labor camp in Poland

Through the Eye of the Needle: Views of the Holocaust at Ripley Center

A Holocaust survivor’s story is told through a visually stunning new exhibition of fabric art at the S. Dillon Ripley Center

Enjoy an evening event at the groundbreaking exhibition "The Bright Beneath."

Events Nov. 28-Dec. 1: Postal Tours, Viva Verdi, Celebrating Roots and The Bright Beneath

Take a guided tour of the Postal Museum, celebrate an opera composer, attend a poetry performance and mingle at the Natural History Museum at night

"Superfudge" author Judy Blume

Author Judy Blume to Speak at the Smithsonian

Blume will receive a John P. McGovern Award from Smithsonian Associates Monday evening at the Ripley Center

Beth Lipman's sculpture "Bancketje," is on view at the Renwick.

The List: Five Feasts in American Art

In honor of Thanksgiving Day, we present a wide array of feasts found in the Smithsonian’s art collections

Come see BK Adam's "Exercise Your Mynd" exhibition and make your own walking figures.

Weekend Events Nov. 25-27: Zoo Lights, Make Them Walk and What’s in the Castle?

This week, come of the opening of the Zoo’s holiday light show, make your own art and get a guided tour of the Smithsonian Castle

Former Smithsonian Institution Secretary Michael Heyman

Ira Michael Heyman, Former Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dies at 81

Heyman, the tenth Secretary of the Institution, passed away on November 19

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