Special Report

Race in America

To mark the Smithsonian's multi-year initiative, Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past, which will confront the history and legacy of race and racism through live and virtual events, pop-up exhibitions, digital resources, and other offerings, Smithsonian magazine has compiled this collection of relevant coverage.

The Smithsonian's Race and Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past initiative centers on six pillars. Getty Images

Colorful beads, tassels and fabrics help a partygoer dress the part to celebrate New York City’s Hispanic Day Parade.

These 15 Photos Explore the Diversity and Rich Culture of Latino Americans

In its second installment, “AeroEspacial” tells the story of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which housed the world’s largest radio telescope for over 50 years.

An In-Depth Look at Latino History Among the Stars and Skies

Pepón Osorio, El Chandelier, 1988

Pepón Osorio Pushes the Bounds of Public Art

Latino American History

Members of the New York International Salsa Congress dance during People en Español's Hispanic Heritage Month festival in 2019. The congress has collaborated with the International Salsa Museum in the past, and the groups are partnering again this Labor Day for the museum's next pop-up event.

A Salsa Museum Is Dancing Its Way to the Bronx

Teresa Nowakowski

Gloria Estefan performing at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2021

Gloria Estefan Will Be the First Hispanic Woman in the Songwriters Hall of Fame

Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson at his desk in November 1957

When Lyndon B. Johnson Chose the Middle Ground on Civil Rights—and Disappointed Everyone

Black History

Visitors enter Historic Fort Snelling. A new exhibition at the site examines the fort's long, complex history.

New Exhibition Examines the Many Converging Histories of Minnesota's Fort Snelling

Teresa Nowakowski

Édouard Manet's Olympia will soon make its United States debut in a new exhibition.

Manet's 'Olympia' Comes to America for the Very First Time

On September 18, 1873, an investment bank owned by Jay Cooke, who financed the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway, went bankrupt, sparking a multiyear financial crisis.

How One Robber Baron's Gamble on Railroads Brought Down His Bank and Plunged the U.S. Into the First Great Depression

Asian American History

In 1860, Lieutenant John M. Brooke wrote, “I am satisfied that [Manjiro] has had more to do with the opening of Japan than any other man living.”

The Shipwrecked Teenager Who Helped End Japan's Isolationist Era

Francine Uenuma

A view of Philadelphia's historic Chinatown

These Are America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places

Christopher Parker

The spiraled crafted work On the Air by Jeong Ju Lee is made to flow with the contour of the model's shoulder.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

These Asian American Artists Merge Traditional Aesthetics With Contemporary Practices

Native American History

Visitors enter Historic Fort Snelling. A new exhibition at the site examines the fort's long, complex history.

New Exhibition Examines the Many Converging Histories of Minnesota's Fort Snelling

Teresa Nowakowski

The eagle eyes of Welcome as Warning stare down at visitors to "The World's UnFair" in Queens, New York.

'The World’s UnFair,' a New Exhibition Calling for the Return of Indigenous Land, Comes to Queens

Teresa Nowakowski

On September 18, 1873, an investment bank owned by Jay Cooke, who financed the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway, went bankrupt, sparking a multiyear financial crisis.

How One Robber Baron's Gamble on Railroads Brought Down His Bank and Plunged the U.S. Into the First Great Depression