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History / U.S. History

A man passes by graffiti on the side of the slave quarters of Decatur House in Washington, D.C.

History of Now

What the Protesters Tagging Historic Sites Get Right About the Past

Places of memory up and down the East Coast also witnessed acts of resistance and oppression

It wasn’t until the 1964 elections that city residents could participate in presidential elections. “It’s only then that Washingtonians got two electoral seats,” says historian Marjorie Lightman.

The History of D.C.’s Epic and Unfinished Struggle for Statehood and Self-Governance

Control of the federal city was long dictated by Congress until residents took a stand beginning in the 1960s

Love is the Message, The Message is Death,by Arthur Jafa
, film still, 2016

Now for the First Time, Arthur Jafa’s ‘Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death’ Streams Online

The seminal work, a contemporary Guernica, is the first joint acquisition for the Hirshhorn and the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book and the first American woman to earn a living from her writing. This frontispiece engraving is held in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Women Who Shaped History

The Multiple Truths in the Works of the Enslaved Poet Phillis Wheatley

In this endearing homage, poet-scholar drea brown finds ancestral and personal healing

Cegape or Strike the Kettle (Lakota, ca. 1841–?). Untitled painting, collected in 1893. North or South Dakota. 20/5176. Most large paintings of this kind focus on a single event, often a battle. This painting, made by a follower of Sitting Bull, shows warriors—figures on horseback carrying lances and shields—within the Lakota way of life.

Smithsonian Voices

How Lakota Values Endure 144 Years After the Battle of Little Bighorn

Following Custer’s defeat, tribal leaders made difficult decisions to ensure the safety of their people that continue today in the time of COVID-19

A sign asks Navajo residents to stay safe and warns of a curfew near the Navajo Nation town of Casamero Lake in New Mexico on May 20, 2020.

Covid-19

COVID-19 Adds a New Snag to the 2020 Census Count of Native Americans

The nation’s indigenous population has long been undercounted, but the pandemic presents extra hurdles

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The Bloody Hell of Okinawa

More than seventy-five years ago, the final great battle of WWII convinced Allied leaders to drop the atomic bomb on Japan

The Washington Family, painted by Edward Savage in New York City while Washington was the nation's president. The children in the portrait are Martha Custis Washington's grandchildren, to whom George was a father figure.

The Father of the Nation, George Washington Was Also a Doting Dad to His Family

Though he had no biological children, the first president acted as a father figure to Martha’s descendants

Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Hosea Williams and other members of the SCLC Poor People's Campaign march through the lunar lander exhibit at Kennedy Space Center before the launch of Apollo 11.

Smithsonian Voices

How Space Exploration and the Fight For Equal Rights Clashed Then and Now

Smithsonian curator Margaret Weitekamp reflects on the historic parallel between 2020 and 1969

Cookbook author Lena Richard (above with her daughter and sous chef Marie Rhodes) was the star of a 1949 popular 30-minute cooking show, airing on New Orleans' WDSU-TV.

Meet Lena Richard, the Celebrity Chef Who Broke Barriers in the Jim Crow South

Lena Richard was a successful New Orleans-based chef, educator, writer and entrepreneur

Juneteenth celebration in 1900 at Eastwoods Park

Juneteenth: Our Other Independence Day

Two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, American slavery came to an end and a celebration of freedom was born

Recommendations include Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America and The Making of Black Revolutionaries: A Personal Account.

Race in America

Smithsonian Scholars and Researchers Share Works That Shed Light on the History of U.S. Racism

In this dynamic time, a list of film, podcasts and books is offered for a nation grappling with its fraught history

Tom Hanks portrays fictional Navy commander Ernest Krause.

Based on a True Story

The True Story Behind the ‘Greyhound’ Movie

Tom Hanks’ new World War II film offers a dramatized account of the Battle of the Atlantic

From L to R: Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie

One Hundred Years Ago, a Lynch Mob Killed Three Men in Minnesota

The murders in Duluth offered yet another example that the North was no exception when it came to anti-black violence

Marta Martínez interviews a local resident for her oral history project.

Covid-19

How Oral History Projects Are Being Stymied by COVID-19

As the current pandemic ravages minority communities, historians are scrambling to continue work that preserves cultural heritage

When the Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, first saw the new image of Harriet Tubman (above, detail), she said: "She's young!"

Why Harriet Tubman’s Heroic Military Career Is Now Easier to Envision

The strong, youthful visage of the famed underground railroad conductor is the subject of the Portrait Gallery’s podcast “Portraits”

To help people enter into conversations "in ways that are fruitful," says Spencer Crew, the interim director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, a new online portal "Talking About Race" is now available.

How to Have That Tough Conversation About Race, Racism and Racial Identity

The Smithsonian’s African American History Museum debuts the online teaching tool “Talking About Race”

Protestors march through the streets of D.C. during demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody.

Race in America

158 Resources for Understanding Systemic Racism in America

These articles, videos, podcasts and websites from the Smithsonian chronicle the history of anti-black violence and inequality in the United States

Art historian Renee Gondek will discuss the disasters of Ancient Thebes in live, virtual Smithsonian Associates event on June 4.

Smithsonian Voices

Ten Smithsonian Associates Programs Streaming in June

Smithsonian Associates Streaming continues with live, expert-led lectures and studio arts classes offered free of charge through June 11

A wooden paddle with a nail-studded leather face was used in Alabama in 1899 to perforate mail in preparation for fumigation as a precaution against yellow fever.

Mail Handlers Used to Poke Holes in Envelopes to Battle Germs and Viruses

The postal service and scientists say there’s no need to sanitize the mail today

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