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History / U.S. History

Camel statues mark the Desert of Maine, which is actually not a true desert.

The Science of a Tourist Trap: What’s This Desert Doing in Maine?

Maine’s “most famous natural phenomenon” is also a reminder about responsible land use

Lodgers in a crowded Bayard Street tenement, 1889.

Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed “How The Other Half Lives” in America

How innovations in photography helped this 19th century journalist improve life for many of his fellow immigrants

When Collectors Cut Off Pieces of the Star-Spangled Banner As Keepsakes

For years patriots clamored for swatches of the enormous flag that raised spirits at “dawn’s early light”

World War I: 100 Years Later

Europe’s Landscape Is Still Scarred by World War I

Photographs of the abandoned battlefields reveal the trenches’ scars still run deep

Window washer Jan Demczur used his squeegee to pry open the elevator doors where he and five others were trapped. Taking turns, they used the squeegee and its metal handle to hack through drywall so that they could squeeze through and escape down the stairs.

How a Squeegee Handle Became a Life-Saving Tool on September 11, 2001

Artifacts now on loan to New York City’s National September 11 Memorial and Museum tell the story in ways that words cannot

In March 2012, shipwrights at the Mystic Seaport Museum replace planks in the hull of the Charles W. Morgan. The restoration of the ship required more than 50,000 board feet of live oak and other woods for framing, planking and other structural elements.

For the First Time in 93 Years, a 19th-Century Whaling Ship Sets Sail

Built in 1841, the Charles W. Morgan is plying the waters off New England this summer

The U.S. Coast Survey map calculated the number of slaves in each county in the United States in 1860.

These Maps Reveal How Slavery Expanded Across the United States

As the hunger for more farmland stretched west, so too did the demand for enslaved labor

Tuberculosis Pavilion Lobby

Exploring New York City’s Abandoned Island, Where Nature Has Taken Over

Nestled in between the Bronx and Manhattan, North Brother Island once housed Typhoid Mary, but now is an astonishing look at a world without humans

Man posing with construction workers at the top of the Washington Monument. The first restoration of the Monument began in 1934 as a Depression-era public works project.

Washington, D.C.

Historic Photos of Washington’s Great Monuments, Memorials and Buildings Under Construction

Take a step back in time to see the building of some of D.C.’s most famous icons

The mash floor of George Washington's Distillery. The 210 gallon boiler, left, heats water to 212 degrees so it can be used to make mash in the barrels on the right.

Washington, D.C.

Long Before Jack Daniels, George Washington Was a Whiskey Tycoon

The Founding Father spent his post-presidency years presiding over a booming alcohol business

Letters written by Abraham Lincoln

Letters from Mothers to President Lincoln

A sampling of motherly missives to the president

Old Medical College at 598 Telfair Street in March 1934.

Meet Grandison Harris, the Grave Robber Enslaved (and then Employed) By the Georgia Medical College

For 50 years, doctors-in-training learned anatomy from cadavers dug up by a former slave

Members of Coxey's Army, 1894

Washington, D.C.

How a Ragtag Band of Reformers Organized the First Protest March on Washington, D.C.

The first March on Washington was a madcap affair, but in May of 1894, some 10,000 citizens descended on D.C., asking for a jobs bill

An overhead view of the 1964 World's Fair, showing the unisphere and surrounding pavilions.

The Story Behind the Failed Minstrel Show at the 1964 World’s Fair

The integrated theatrical showcase had progressive ambitions but lasted only two performances

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‘The Hatpin Peril’ Terrorized Men Who Couldn’t Handle the 20th-Century Woman

To protect themselves from unwanted advances, city women wielded some sharp accessories

James Rouse talks about the future of the American city at one of his many speaking engagements

James W. Rouse’s Legacy of Better Living Through Design

There are still lessons to be learned from the visionary businessman who built a city

Marian Anderson performing at the DAR Constitution Hall.

Four Years After Marian Anderson Sang at the Lincoln Memorial, D.A.R. Finally Invited Her to Perform at Constitution Hall

A benefit concert presaged the opera singer’s eventual rapprochement with the Daughters of the American Revolution

Beneath Anderson's coat is a bright orange velour jacket, a form-fitting number trimmed in gold with turquoise buttons, now among the collections at the Smithsonian.

When Marian Anderson Sang at the Lincoln Memorial, Her Voice Stunned the Crowd, and Her Gold-Trimmed Jacket Dazzled

With no color photos of her famous performance in existence, the brilliance of Marian Anderson’s bright orange outfit has been lost, until now

On December 10, 1941, Joy Cummings poses with one of the four cherry trees vandalized at Washington, DC's Tidal Basic.

Vintage Headlines

After Pearl Harbor, Vandals Cut Down Four of DC’s Japanese Cherry Trees

In response to calls to destroy all the trees, officials rebranded them as “Oriental” rather than “Japanese”

Michael Peña portrays farmworker turned activist Cesar Chavez in a new biopic.

What the New Cesar Chavez Film Gets Wrong About the Labor Activist

Despite the good intentions, the biopic misleads and distorts his role in the farm workers movement

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