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History / U.S. History

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on His Love of History, Youth Sports and Which Books Everyone Should Read

The basketball legend has always had a writer’s touch

The Brain-Freezing Science of the Slurpee

More than 60 years ago, a broken soda fountain led to this cool invention

Cupid Fountain

The Heiress to a Gun Empire Built a Mansion Forever Haunted by the Blood Money That Built It

Sarah Winchester inherited a fortune and used it to construct a mysterious mansion in northern California

Russian Orthodox crosses in the time-and-weather-worn cemetery of Ninilchik’s Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Chapel are a testament to the heritage of the village.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

Tracing Alaska’s Russian Heritage

From onion domes to tsarist-era Russian dialects, evidence of the Russian colonialism remains

Signing of the Highway Beautification Bill

Lady Bird Johnson Wielded Power With a Delicate Touch

The First Lady was a trailblazer who flew under the radar as a quiet champion of Civil Rights and protecting the environment

NOW co-founder Muriel Fox says: “There’s still a need for a women’s movement. We can’t do it as individuals, each of us working for our own interests. We get much further if we work together."

The NOW Button Takes Us Back When Women’s Equality Was a Novelty

At the half-century mark, for the National Organization for Women it is still personal—and political

Would-be assassin Frank Holt, also known as Erich Muenter

The Harvard Professor Who Shot a Financial Titan and Fomented Anti-German Sentiment in a Pre-WWI America

Readers on July 4, 1915 learned the story of a would-be assassin who said he was trying to keep the U.S. out of the European conflict

By the “dawn’s early light,” Key saw the huge garrison flag, now on view at the National Museum of American History, waving above Fort McHenry and he realized that the Americans had survived the battle and stopped the enemy advance.

Commentary

Where’s the Debate on Francis Scott Key’s Slave-Holding Legacy?

During his lifetime, abolitionists ridiculed Key’s words, sneering that America was more like the “Land of the Free and Home of the Oppressed”

A Coney Island hot dog

The Origin of the Coney Island Hot Dog Is a Uniquely American Story

They also have very little to do with the New York City amusement park

Ask Smithsonian

What’s the Difference Between Invasive and Nonnative Species? Plus, More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

The Masonic Lodge in Monrovia, Liberia. Before the civil war, the descents of American slaves who mainly controlled the government often made official decisions at the lodge, which did not allow native members.

These Abandoned Buildings Are the Last Remnants of Liberia’s Founding History

The world created by former slaves in Liberia was a cruel paradox for more than 150 years

Some Native children were sent thousands of miles away. Others, like Oreos Eriacho, were housed closer to home, in now-decaying dorms like this one, in Ramah, N.M.

For More Than 100 Years, the U.S. Forced Navajo Students Into Western Schools. The Damage Is Still Felt Today

Photographer Daniella Zalcman explores how native populations had a new nation foisted upon them

American Exiles: Leaving Home

A series of three photo essays explores how America has treated its own people in times of crisis

Ray Halliburton, 92, at his ranch in Luling, Texas

A Portrait of an American Hero and a Generation That Is Slowly Fading Away

Photographer Dan Winters shows us the modern-day life of an unheralded World War II veteran

A map shows the distribution of the slave population in the Southern states of the United States, based on the 1860 census.

History of Now

The Surprising History of the Infographic

Early iterations saved soldiers’ lives, debunked myths about slavery and helped Americans settle the frontier

Hal Rumel, Red Canyon, near Entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, ca. 1940

How Photography Shaped America’s National Parks

Jamie M. Allen explores how conservation and consumerism have impacted America’s natural heritage

Likely made from a cow’s horn, this Revolutionary War era gunpowder holder belonged to patriot fighter Prince Simbo.

Breaking Ground

The Revolutionary War Patriot Who Carried This Gunpowder Horn Was Fighting for Freedom—Just Not His Own

Simbo, an African-American patriot, fought for his country’s liberty and freedom even as a large population remained enslaved

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