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This marks the first time the fossil has been back in America since 1847, when it made its way through Europe and ultimately ended up at The Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt in Germany.

Alexander von Humboldt

This Mastodon Is a Centerpiece of an Art Exhibition. Why?

Meet the hugely influential Alexander von Humboldt, who foretold of climate change and inspired artists, writers and presidents

Poultney Bigelow. Sketch by Poultney Bigelow for Edith Weir (detail), 1884 April 18. Weir family papers.

Smithsonian Voices

Important Hudson River School Archive Is Now Fully Digitized

Prominent artists like Edwin Austin Abbey, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Eastman Johnson are featured in the Weir Family Papers

In Boston's Mattapan on August 15, 2020, protesters march from Jubilee Christian Church to protest police brutality, systemic racism and other oppressive systems unfavorable to Black and Brown people.

Why Black, Indigenous and Other People of Color Experience Greater Harm During the Pandemic

Scholars take a deep dive into how structural racism intersects with public health

Spindly legs and thick, red fur have earned maned wolves the nickname “foxes on stilts,” but the animal is neither fox nor wolf.

Smithsonian Voices

What the Rhythm of a Maned Wolf’s Heart Reveals

Smithsonian researchers are monitoring stress rates of this keystone species for better ways to manage them

The National Zoo shares favorite moments as curators and keepers train their expert eyes on the Giant Panda Cam, monitoring the young cub's first weeks.

Pandamonium

Top 10 Giant Panda Cub Cam Moments

Two National Zoo curators and the panda keeper journal their favorite moments of the new cub’s first days

Thomas Jefferson, who had suffered great criticism for his religious beliefs, once said that the care he had taken to reduce the Gospels to their core message should prove that he was in fact, a “real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.”

Why Thomas Jefferson Created His Own Bible

In a new book, Smithsonian curator of religion Peter Manseau tells of how The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth first sparked hot controversy

Photograph of Chiura Obata teaching a children's art class at Tanforan Art School, 1942 / unidentified photographer.

Smithsonian Voices

The Papers of Artist Chiura Obata Chronicle Life Inside World War II Incarceration Camps

At the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, the artist’s story is one of resilience amidst the upheaval

Smoke billows over Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921.

Lawsuit Seeks Reparations for Victims of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Led by a 105-year-old survivor of the attack, the plaintiffs detail almost 100 years of lasting harm

Smithsonian anthropologists hold up the world’s longest beard after it was donated to the National Museum of Natural History in 1967.

Smithsonian Voices

Celebrate Five of Nature’s Best Beards on World Beard Day

In the sea, the sky and the land between, organisms sport bristles, fuzz and fur of all styles

Mural of George Floyd on Israel’s illegal separation wall, seen in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem.

How the Death of George Floyd Sparked a Street Art Movement

A group of Minnesota faculty and students is documenting and archiving the phenomenon

Southern elephant seals normally live in the South Atlantic, often as far south as Antarctica. These are young male Southern elephant seals from the South Shetland and Anvers islands, Antarctica.

Smithsonian Voices

What a 1,000-Year-Old Seal Skull Can Tell Us About Climate Change

In a new study, scientists explain how a seal native to the South Atlantic, but found in Indiana, likely swam to the middle of North America

In an interview, the L.A. artist Sterling Ruby says his new sculpture addresses the duality of love loss and "celebrate light while motioning towards an expiration."

In Washington, D.C., Towering Candles Shine as a Beacon of Hope in Dark Times

Artist Sterling Ruby reflects on the recent installation of his sculpture Double Candle at the Hirshhorn

The experiences of enslaved people at Fort Snelling (above: Fort Snelling by J.C. Wild) intersected with both the growing Euro-American population and the Native peoples who found themselves on the edges of their own lands.

How 19th-Century Anti-Black and Anti-Indigenous Racism Reverberates Today

A case study for the nation, Minnesota has witnessed racial violence from its inception as a U.S. territory

In a live-streamed Smithsonian Associates program on September 23, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Alan Alda discuss the intricacies of the virus that has held the public in sway since March.

Smithsonian Voices

Anthony Fauci and Alan Alda Talk Science and 26 Other Smithsonian Programs Streaming in September

This month drop in on events about global climate justice, Picasso’s ‘Guernica,’ bird brains, the Supreme Court, William Faulkner, orchids and more

On December 17, 1979, motorcyclist Arthur McDuffie was murdered by police, who were later acquitted. Nearly 5,000 people convene in downtown Miami to protest.

The Long, Painful History of Racial Unrest

A lethal incident of police brutality in Miami in 1979 offers just one of countless examples of the reality generations of African Americans have faced

The Bucks refused to take the floor in protest of ongoing police brutality and racial injustice across America. All three NBA playoff games scheduled for Wednesday were subsequently postponed and the strike quickly spread to the to other sports leagues.

Athletes Shut Down Sports to Protest Police Brutality

A sports curator at the Smithsonian provides his thoughts on the past and future implications of the events of the week

Knowing that the birds do some extracurricular exploration when they reach their breeding grounds means scientists may need to expand the range of future studies.

High-Tech Tracking Reveals ‘Whole New Secret World of Birds’

A study of Kirtland’s warblers found that some continue exploring long distances even after they reach their breeding grounds

Destruction by fire of Pennsylvania Hall, the new building of the Abolition Society, on the night of the May 17, 1838

How the Myth of a Liberal North Erases a Long History of White Violence

Anti-black racism has terrorized African Americans throughout the nation’s history, regardless of where in the country they lived

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