National Archives | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/national-archives/RSS feed for National ArchivesenWed, 10 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000Alan Lomax Spent Years Traveling the Country to Record the Sounds of America. The Legacy of His Obsession Will Live Foreverhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/alan-lomax-spent-years-traveling-country-record-sounds-america-legacy-obsession-live-forever-180988858/By letting Muddy Waters hear himself for the first time, he unlocked a new confidence that set the sharecropper on the path to superstardom. And that’s just the start of what he found in churches, prisons and even lumberjack campsWed, 10 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/alan-lomax-spent-years-traveling-country-record-sounds-america-legacy-obsession-live-forever-180988858/In 1776, the Declaration of Independence Was Breaking News. Here's How the Founding Document Reached the American Publichttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-1776-the-declaration-of-independence-was-breaking-news-heres-how-the-founding-document-reached-the-american-public-180988494/A new book by historian Emily Sneff records the journeys of the Declaration's first printed copies, tracking their reception in the Thirteen Colonies and overseasMon, 13 Apr 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-1776-the-declaration-of-independence-was-breaking-news-heres-how-the-founding-document-reached-the-american-public-180988494/Read Love Letters From Royals and Romantics Across 500 Years of British Historyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/read-love-letters-from-royals-and-romantics-across-500-years-of-british-history-180988119/A new exhibition at Britain's National Archives features a letter to Elizabeth I, Jane Austen's will and a plea to free Oscar Wilde from prisonMon, 02 Feb 2026 21:38:13 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/read-love-letters-from-royals-and-romantics-across-500-years-of-british-history-180988119/Ten of the Most Exciting Ways to Commemorate America's 250th This Yearhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/ten-of-the-most-exciting-ways-to-commemorate-americas-250th-this-year-180988106/Our country’s birthday bash includes exhibitions, historical reenactments, a massive potluck and moreFri, 30 Jan 2026 15:59:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/ten-of-the-most-exciting-ways-to-commemorate-americas-250th-this-year-180988106/She Found a Tattered Logbook in the Trash. It Turned Out to Be a Rare Record From the 1941 Pearl Harbor Attackhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/she-found-a-tattered-logbook-in-the-trash-it-turned-out-to-be-a-rare-record-from-the-1941-pearl-harbor-attack-180987259/The National Archives has recovered the volume, which includes more than 500 pages of data from March 1941 to June 1942. It had been tucked away in storage for half a centuryTue, 02 Sep 2025 16:22:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/she-found-a-tattered-logbook-in-the-trash-it-turned-out-to-be-a-rare-record-from-the-1941-pearl-harbor-attack-180987259/The National Archives Museum Is Using A.I. to Take Visitors on an Immersive Journey Through American Historyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-national-archives-museum-is-using-ai-to-take-visitors-on-an-immersive-journey-through-american-history-180986784/Called "The American Story," the new permanent exhibition will guide museumgoers through two million historic documents and artifactsMon, 16 Jun 2025 20:07:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-national-archives-museum-is-using-ai-to-take-visitors-on-an-immersive-journey-through-american-history-180986784/Can You Read This Cursive Handwriting? The National Archives Wants Your Helphttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-you-read-this-cursive-handwriting-the-national-archives-wants-your-help-180985833/Anyone with an internet connection can volunteer to transcribe historical documents and help make the archives' digital catalog more accessibleFri, 17 Jan 2025 17:06:53 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-you-read-this-cursive-handwriting-the-national-archives-wants-your-help-180985833/The National Film Registry Adds 25 New Movies, Including ‘Dirty Dancing,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ and ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-national-film-registry-adds-25-new-movies-including-dirty-dancing-beverly-hills-cop-and-star-trek-ii-the-wrath-of-khan-180985693/This year’s list includes a diverse set of American films celebrating various genres and storytellersWed, 18 Dec 2024 22:01:33 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-national-film-registry-adds-25-new-movies-including-dirty-dancing-beverly-hills-cop-and-star-trek-ii-the-wrath-of-khan-180985693/The First Self-Proclaimed Drag Queen Was a Formerly Enslaved Manhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-first-self-proclaimed-drag-queen-was-a-formerly-enslaved-man-180982311/In the late 19th century, William Dorsey Swann's private parties attracted unwelcome attention from authorities and the pressFri, 09 Jun 2023 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-first-self-proclaimed-drag-queen-was-a-formerly-enslaved-man-180982311/Newly Digitized Freedmen's Bureau Records Help Black Americans Trace Their Ancestryhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-database-helps-descendants-enslaved-research-their-ancestors-180978522/Genealogists, historians and researchers can now peruse more than 3.5 million documents from the Reconstruction-era agencyThu, 26 Aug 2021 14:04:37 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-database-helps-descendants-enslaved-research-their-ancestors-180978522/