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History / U.S. History

Raising a block of buildings on Lake Street, Chicago, in 1857

How Chicago Transformed From a Midwestern Outpost Town to a Towering City

The Windy City spurred its miraculous growth by building canals, laying sewers and jacking up buildings

The bow of the ship, believed to be of the snake carving on the Lake Serpent.

Underwater Archaeologists May Have Discovered the Oldest Shipwreck in Lake Erie

After an ill-fated journey hauling boulders sank it, the Lake Serpent is at last ready to tell its story

Angelina Eberley fires off the cannon at the agents attempting to move the archives from her hometown of Austin.

The Fascinating Story of the Texas Archives War of 1842

Far from consequential, the battle over where the papers of the Republic of Texas should reside reminds us of the politics of historical memory

In the late 1800s, milk and dairy products could be teeming with dangerous bacteria, contaminated by worms, hair and even manure.

The 19th-Century Fight Against Bacteria-Ridden Milk Preserved With Embalming Fluid

In an unpublished excerpt from her new book The Poison Squad, Deborah Blum chronicles the public health campaign against tainted dairy products

The decision to remove the statue came September 12, 2018, when San Francisco’s Board of Appeals voted for it to be carted off to a storage facility.

San Francisco’s ‘Early Days’ Statue Is Gone. Now Comes the Work of Activating Real History

The racist sculpture’s end comes at a “tipping point for the politics of Native American memory,” says the director of the American Indian Museum

William Dudley Pelley, Silver Shirt leader, pictured as he appeared before Congress.

History of Now

The Screenwriting Mystic Who Wanted to Be the American Führer

William Dudley Pelley and his Silver Shirts were just one of many Nazi-sympathizers operating in the United States in the 1930s

General George Washington observes the evacuation of Boston, Massachusetts, by the British forces under Sir General William Howe. Engraving by Frederick T. Stuart, c1867.

Bermuda

The Raid on Bermuda That Saved the American Revolution

How colonial allies in the Caribbean pulled off a heist to equip George Washington’s Continental Army with gunpowder

Deep, lush colors in the Turkey Red Cabinet set of 1911 (above, Safe at Third) led many to tack these on their walls as works of art.

Would Baseball have Become America’s National Pastime Without Baseball Cards?

Tobacco companies spurred the mania, but artistry won the hearts of collectors

A cartoon from a U.S. newspaper from 1880 reads: 'Terrorism in the South. Citizens beaten and shot at."

The Deadliest Massacre in Reconstruction-Era Louisiana Happened 150 Years Ago

In September 1868, Southern white Democrats hunted down around 200 African-Americans in an effort to suppress voter turnout

Haile Gerima’s 1993 classic film Sankofa envisions an African-American model visiting present-day West Africa mystically thrust into the life of a slave.

Smithsonian Film Festival Examines African-American Life Through Dozens of Distinct Lenses

The first of its kind, the late-October event brings together perspectives both historical and contemporary

A 1903 photograph of family and relatives of Noah Benenhaley (1860-1939) and his wife, Rosa Benenhaley (1857-1937), both descendants of Joseph Benenhaley.

Tracing the Mysterious “Turks” of South Carolina Back to the Revolutionary War

For generations, this ethnic group was shunned, but new research sheds light on its origins

An aircraft hull travels the parade route in Philadelphia

World War I: 100 Years Later

Philadelphia Threw a WWI Parade That Gave Thousands of Onlookers the Flu

The city sought to sell bonds to pay for the war effort, while bringing its citizens together during the infamous pandemic

How the History of Merit Badges Is Also a Cultural History of the United States

Over the years, scouting has encouraged boys and girls to be prepared for the world around them

What Would Happen if the Earth Stopped Rotating? and More Questions From our Readers

You asked, we answered

German-Americans rally in New York in support of the Nazis in a news clipping from the Shamokin News-Dispatch

The Original Meanings of the “American Dream” and “America First” Were Starkly Different From How We Use Them Today

A new book from historian Sarah Churchwell examines the etymologies of two ubiquitous phrases

A Boeing 747 takes flight.

Traveling the World Was Never the Same Once the Boeing 747 Debuted

Wave goodbye to the beloved jet that took us to new heights

Anna Howard Shaw in Washington, D.C. in 1914.

History of Now

How Midwestern Suffragists Won the Vote by Attacking Immigrants

Women fighting for the ballot were vocal about believing that German men were less worthy of citizenship than themselves

Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman ever to serve in both the House of Representatives and the Senate—and the first senator to stand up against Joseph McCarthy's Red Scare.

Women Who Shaped History

The Senator Who Stood Up to Joseph McCarthy When No One Else Would

Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to serve both the House and the Senate and always defended her values, even when it meant opposing her party

Nervous about how southern television viewers would react, NBC executives closely monitored the filming of the kiss between Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner.

Fifty Years Ago, “Star Trek” Aired TV’s First Interracial Kiss

For actress Nichelle Nichols, the first black woman to have a continuing co-starring role on TV, it was the beginning of a lifelong career in activism

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