African American History

American Girl by Emma Amos, from the portfolio "Impressions: Our World, Volume I," 1974

Why Making a Portrait of a Black Woman Was a Form of Protest

For Emma Amos, an African-American artist working in the 1970s, the personal was often political

An artist's rendering of "the great rebel prison-pen at Andersonville, Georgia" that was included in a newspaper during Wirz's trial.

How the Trial and Death of Henry Wirz Shaped Post-Civil War America

A monument to Wirz still stands not far from the Confederate prison camp he commanded

The exhibition "Sports: Leveling the Playing Field" highlights the achievements of African American athletes on both national and international stages.

Lonnie Bunch Looks Back on the Making of the Smithsonian's Newest Museum

The director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture reflects on what it took to make a dream reality

Benjamin Banneker as portrayed on a stamp released in 1980 as part of a Black Heritage series.

Three Things to Know About Benjamin Banneker's Pioneering Career

Banneker was a successful almanac-maker and self-taught student of mathematics and astronomy

Ships involved in the American slave trade before the Civil War.

When Enslaved People Commandeered a Ship and Hightailed it to Freedom in the Bahamas

It's been called the most successful slave rebellion in U.S. history

The DuSable Museum was originally located in the main floor parlor of this house.

America's Oldest Museum of Black Culture Started in a Living Room

The DuSable Museum of African American History was founded by Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, born on this day in 1915

Eeek!

Zombie Movies Are Never Really About Zombies

Zombies have offered a way to work out cultural fears about everything from race to climate change

The creative output of Fats Domino, who died October 25, 2017 at the age of 89, was consistently compelling, and fans were delighted to eat it all up.

Fats Domino's Infectious Rhythms Set a Nation in Motion

This Rock ’n’ Roll maverick was a true New Orleans original

In July 1955, black children wait to register for school in Lawrence County, Arkansas, as schools desegregate in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education.

How a Psychologist’s Work on Race Identity Helped Overturn School Segregation in 1950s America

Mamie Phipps Clark came up with the oft-cited "doll test" and provided expert testimony in Brown v. Board of Education

Confederate Prisoners Being Conducted from Jonesborough to Atlanta by Kara Walker, 2005, from the portfolio Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)

How Kara Walker Boldly Rewrote Civil War History

The artist gives 150-year-old illustrations a provocative update at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in 1967.

The Ties That Bind Muhammad Ali to the NFL Protests

A new biography reveals new details about the history of the boxer—“a heavyweight of contradictions”

Jemison aboard the space shuttle 'Endeavour' in the Spacelab Japan science module.

This Groundbreaking Astronaut and Star Trek Fan Is Now Working on Interstellar Travel

Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, wants us to look beyond Earth

The box set will include a 300-page companion volume featuring never-before-seen photographs, scholarly commentary and rigorous liner notes.

This Ambitious Landmark Hip-Hop and Rap Anthology Was Successfully Funded

Smithsonian's nonprofit record label launched a Kickstarter for help and got it

Civil Rights activist Grady O'Cummings talking with a group of boys. O'Cummings later faked his own death to avoid threats made by members of the Black Panthers against him and his family.

These Never-Before-Seen Photos From "The New York Times" Offer a New Glimpse Into African-American History

The editors of the new book, “Unseen” talk about recognizing the paper of record’s biases

In "Marshall," a new movie starring Chadwick Boseman and Josh Gad, the future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall argues a case for a black man accused of rape.

The True Story Behind “Marshall”

What really happened in the trial featured in the new biopic of future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall

The Contemplative Court at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture

In This Quiet Space for Contemplation, a Fountain Rains Down Calming Waters

One year after the Nation’s first black president rang in the opening of the African American History Museum, visitors reflect on its impact

An engraving from later in the 1880s shows rioters burning an orphanage for black children.

The Civil War Draft Riots Brought Terror to New York’s Streets

This dark event remains the largest civil insurrection—the Civil War itself aside—in American history

Garfield Elementary's award-winning drumline performs with the cheerleading squad in celebration of the Anacostia Community Museum's 50th anniversary.

How This Washington, D.C. Museum Redefined What Museums Could Be

Fifty years after its founding, the Smithsonian's beloved Anacostia Community Museum continues to tell stories heard nowhere else

Cypress Swamp. Middle Mississippi, 2014

Photographer Reconstructs 1,400-Mile Route Along the Underground Railroad

'Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad' traces a plausible path a freedom seeker could have taken North

Joan Baez during the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. in 1963.

'We Shall Overcome' Verse Now in the Public Domain

A judge recently struck down the copyright for the first verse of the iconic Civil Rights song

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