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History / U.S. History

After camping out for days, tourists look up into the sky as Apollo 11 rocketed into space.

Moonwalk Launch Party

The launch 40 years ago of Apollo 11, which put a man on the moon, brought Americans together during a time of nationwide unrest

The Soviet leader makes his entrance at 20th Century Fox on September 19, 1959. He would call Can-Can exploitive and pornographic.

Nikita Khrushchev Goes to Hollywood

Lunch with the Soviet leader was Tinseltown’s hottest ticket, with famous celebrities including Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin

Now serving grief: Irwin (right) gives Holcomb (left) a lesson on why no plebe should ever forget the menu.

Up in Arms Over a Co-Ed Plebe Summer

The first women to attend the Naval Academy became seniors in 1979. Photographer Lucian Perkins was there as the old order changed

Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev In Vienna

From the Editor: My Favorite Commie

Nikita Khrushchev Comes to America

Eleanor Roosevelt used Val-Kill, located in New York, as a retreat, office and “laboratory” for social change. This is the only national historic site dedicated to a first lady.

Revisiting the First Ladies’ Homes

The oft-overlooked lives of America’s first ladies are on display in house museums across the country

Volunteers prepare to place the Onrust into the Hudson River.

Setting Sail on the Hudson River 400 Years Later

Using 17th century techniques, volunteers built a replica of Henry Hudson’s vessel in honor of the anniversary of his exploration

Ramsey's trip across the United States took 59 days to complete and covered 3,800 miles.

Alice Ramsey’s Historic Cross-Country Drive

In 1909, 22-year-old Alice Ramsey made history as the first woman to drive across the United States

Weegee danced and screamed to get the beach crowd's attention. The masked man called himself the Spider.

Weegee’s Day at the Beach

For the noir photographer Weegee, bathers at Coney Island had another kind of gritty reality

Farmerettes of the Woman's Land Army of America took over farm work when the men were called to wartime service in WWI.

World War I: 100 Years Later

Before Rosie the Riveter, Farmerettes Went to Work

During WWI, the Woman’s Land Army of America mobilized women into sustaining American farms and building national pride

Architect rendition of the green addition to Frank Lloyd Wright's First Unitarian Society Meeting House.

A Green Addition to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Meeting House

Architects of the First Unitarian Society’s new eco-friendly addition find inspiration in the ideas of original architect Frank Lloyd Wright

Using this small compass, survivors of the SS Alcoa Guide were rescued after being attacked by a German submarine.

Finding One’s Way Through War-Torn Waters

A small compass that guided a lifeboat full of World War II seamen to safety goes on display at the Museum of American History

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From the Editor: Outliers

Big Sur and George Koval, atomic spy

James Winkfield was a two-time Kentucky Derby winner and raced across Europe after racism kept him from being the best athlete in America's most popular sport.

The Kentucky Derby’s Forgotten Jockeys

African American jockeys once dominated the track. But by 1921, they had disappeared from the Kentucky Derby

Antietam remains the bloodiest day in American history—23,000 men died or were wounded on that battlefield.

The Civil War

Civil War Geology

What underlies the Civil War’s 25 bloodiest battles? Two geologists investigate why certain terrain proved so hazardous

Congress wanted safe passage for white settlers on the Oregon Trail.

Carving Out the West at the Great Smoke Conference

In 1851, American Indian tribes gathered to seek protection of their western lands from frontiersman on the Oregon Trail

"That cigar bit [that] folks like to tell about is phony," said W.D. Jones, whose photograph of Bonnie was seized in a police raid.

The Irresistible Bonnie Parker

A pistol-wielding, cigar-chomping bank robber hams it up shortly before she and Clyde Barrow met their violent end

Lincoln's watch is a fine gold timepiece that the 16th president purchased in the 1850s from a Springfield, Illinois jeweler. It has been in the safe custody of the Smithsonian Institution since 1958—a gift from Lincoln's great-grandson Lincoln Isham.

The Civil War

Lincoln’s Pocket Watch Reveals Long-Hidden Message

The Smithsonian opens one of its prized artifacts and a story unfolds

After a mob attacked a bus with protesters in Alabama in 1961, hundreds more joined the cause.

The Freedom Riders, Then and Now

Fighting racial segregation in the South, these activists were beaten and arrested. Where are they now, nearly fifty years later?

The Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln’s Contested Legacy

Great Emancipator or unreconstructed racist? Each generation evokes a different Lincoln. But who was our sixteenth president?

Charles Darwin

Evolution and Equality

What do Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, and the Freedom Riders have in common with each other?

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