September 2016
Smithsonian magazine delivers trusted and incisive reporting on history, science, nature, culture and travel.
Features
The Road to Freedom
It was the greatest migration in U.S. history. And when millions of African-Americans fled the South in search of a better life, they remade the nation in ways that are still being felt
Objects of Power
These artifacts each tell a part of the African-American story
Hell and High Water
Deep in the Great Dismal Swamp, a maverick archaeologist discovers traces of a mysterious refuge for runaway slaves
Black and Blues
Is the great African-American music of the rural South really dying? A rollicking visit to a Memphis blues festival strikes a surprising chord
Departments
Black Tweets Matter
“Black Twitter” has become a powerful force for political activism, lightning-fast cultural commentary—and a place to just hang out
Making a Way Out of No Way
From courting Chuck Berry in Missouri to diving for a lost slave ship off Africa, here’s the inside story of the nation’s new African-American museum