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History / U.S. History

The Civil War

Photo Interactive: The Civil War, Now in Living Color

How one author adds actual blues and grays to historic photographs

Justice Robert Jackson, Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1942.

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Soviet Sniper

Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper credited with 309 kills—and an advocate for women’s rights. On a U.S. tour in 1942, she found a friend in the first lady

A photo sometimes said to depict members of Chiloé’s murderous society of warlocks—founded, so they claimed, in 1786 and destroyed by the great trial of 1880-81.

Into the Cave of Chile’s Witches

Did members of a powerful society of warlocks actually murder their enemies and kidnap children?

The Civil War, Now in Living Color

How one author adds actual blues and grays to historic photographs

Jane Jetson gets a driving lesson in the 18th episode of “The Jetsons” (1963)

Jane Jetson and the Origins of the “Women Are Bad Drivers” Joke

What happens when a comedy staple of mid-century sitcoms reappears as a late-century Saturday morning tradition?

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Lost and Found Again: Photos of African-Americans on the Plains

What would otherwise be a local-interest story became a snapshot of history integral to the American experience

Lincoln sat at the back of the train in disguise to escape his assassins.

The Civil War

The Unsuccessful Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln

On the eve of his first inauguration, President Lincoln snuck into Washington at night, evading the would-be assassins who waited for him in Baltimore

Herald Square circa 1907, when Ida Wood first moved into the Herald Square Hotel.

Everything Was Fake but Her Wealth

Ida Wood, who lived for decades as a recluse in a New York City hotel, would have taken her secrets to the grave—if here sister hadn’t gotten there first

Roy Wilkins (left) with Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House on November 29, 1963

NAACP Leader Roy Wilkins Predicts: “We’ll Elect A Negro President”

In 1970, the civil rights activist shared his prescient optimism about the future of race relations in the United States

Not officially on the guest list for Richard Nixon’s 1973 inaugural ball, this chicken decided to check out the scene anyway. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Inauguration History

That Time a Chicken Crashed Nixon’s Inaugural Ball and Other Crazy Inaugural Tales

Ten quirky moments from inaugural history, including presidential lassoing

The six men line up before the parade begins.

Inauguration History

Who Were the Six Native American Chiefs in Teddy Roosevelt’s Inaugural Parade?

Another inauguration, another opportunity to learn more about the men whose presence shocked the country

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War and Peace of Mind for Ulysses S. Grant

With the help of his friend Mark Twain, Grant finished his memoirs—and saved his wife from an impoverished widowhood—just days before he died

“Nostalgia Man” by Amy Crehore 1996, oil painting (9 1/2″ x 10 1/2″)

Garrison Keillor’s 1996 Predictions for the Future of Media

A woebegone tribute to the ending of an era

Illustration from Illustrated London News, April 8, 1865.

The Civil War

Document Deep Dive: The Menu From President Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Ball

What delicacies and confectionaries were found on the 250-foot-long buffet table?

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What Django Unchained Got Wrong: A Review From National Museum of African American History and Culture Director Lonnie Bunch

The museum director and former film studies professor examines Quentin Tarantino’s take on slavery

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The Jetsons and the Future of the Middle Class

Living paycheck to paycheck in the techno-utopian future

The doctor shows George his “Peek-A-Boo Prober Capsule” (1962)

George Jetson Gets A Check-Up

Medical diagnostics in the paleofuture

The dancers in the Rouge chorus line brought crowds to their feet with the "Tropi Can Can."

The Vegas Hotspot That Broke All the Rules

America’s first interracial casino helped end segregation on the Strip and proved that the only color that mattered was green

Company H of the 48th New York Regiment, stiffly posed for this 1863 formal portrait at Fort Pulaski, in Savannah, GA, seems oblivious to the more informal baseball game in progress behind them. The photo is one of the ealiest known photographs of a baseball game.

The Civil War

That Time More Than 150 Years Ago When Thousands of People Watched Baseball on Christmas Day

During the Civil War, two regiments faced off as spectators, possibly as many as 40,000, sat and watched

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter.

The Civil War

Document Deep Dive: Emancipation Proclamation

When freeing the slaves 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln traded in his famous lyricism for a dry, legal tone. Harold Holzer explains why

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