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African American History

Jean Michel-Basquiat, Brook Bartlett and Bruno Bischofberger in St. Moritz on January 30, 1983

See How Basquiat’s Travels to the Swiss Alps Influenced His Artistic Development

A new exhibition in Switzerland examines the New York City artist’s lesser-known fascination with pine trees and snowy mountain peaks

A sketch of Solomon Northup from his memoir, Twelve Years a Slave

On This Day in History

Solomon Northup’s ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ Came to an End as He Regained His Long-Awaited Freedom on This Day in 1853

Northup’s memoir told the story of his kidnapping and years of enslavement in Louisiana. The book became a national best seller and inspired an Oscar-winning film

Harriet Bell Hayden 

The Remarkable Life of One of Boston’s Most Fervent and Daring Abolitionists

Harriet Bell Hayden is believed to have helped hundreds of people fleeing slavery from her Beacon Hill residence

An Olivetti Studio 46 typewriter that belonged to Octavia E. Butler. As the author recalled: "I wrote my first ten books on a manual typewriter."

In Her Inventive and Prescient Stories, Octavia Butler Wrote Herself Into the Science Fiction Canon

On her beloved typewriters, the literary legend mapped out a course for the future of the genre

Major Pierce Butler, a U.S. senator representing South Carolina and an original signer of the United States Constitution, left the 1,500-acre rice plantation—and its enslaved laborers—to his grandsons when he died. For locals whose ancestors were forced to work there, it’s considered a sacred place.

Inside the Struggle to Preserve Georgia’s Butler Island, Home to a Notorious Plantation

Descendants of people enslaved at the site are grappling with its complicated history while also honoring the region’s rich culture

The Hermitage in Nashville is the former plantation of Andrew Jackson.

Archaeologists Discover Lost Burial Site of Enslaved People on President Andrew Jackson’s Tennessee Plantation

An estimated 28 probable graves were identified at the seventh American president’s former property, called the Hermitage

An 1812 illustration of a private from the Fifth West India Regiment. In the 1790s, the remaining members of the Carolina Corps became part of the newly established First West India Regiment.

America's 250th Anniversary

These Black Soldiers Fought for the British During the American Revolution in Exchange for Freedom From Slavery

The Carolina Corps achieved emancipation through military service, paving the way for future fighters in the British Empire to do the same

Kerry Washington stars as Charity Adams in Tyler Perry's newest film, The Six Triple Eight.

Women Who Shaped History

How a Black, All-Female WWII Unit Saved Morale on the Battlefield

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion sorted through a massive backlog of undelivered mail, raising American soldiers’ spirits during World War II

This year's list includes Clouds in Space, The Manicurist's Daughter and The Ministry of Time.

The Best Books of 2024

The Best Books of 2024, as Chosen by Smithsonian Scholars

Staff at the Institution pick their favorite reads of the year, including riveting memoirs, fascinating true histories and fun fiction

Smithsonian's picks for the best history books of 2024 include The Barn, Eden Undone and The Wide Wide Sea.

The Ten Best History Books of 2024

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and examine how the United States ended up where it is today

Smithsonian's picks for the best books about food of 2024 include McAtlas, A Call to Farms, Slow Noodles and more.

The Ten Best Books About Food of 2024

Travel to the American South, Vietnam and beyond with this year’s best cookbooks, memoirs and historic deep dives

Alice Beatrice Rhinelander, née Jones (seated at center), looks at her father, George Jones, as they await the verdict in the Rhinelander v. Rhinelander case.

How an Interracial Marriage Sparked One of the Most Scandalous Trials of the Roaring Twenties

Under pressure from his wealthy family, real estate heir Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander claimed that his new wife, Alice Beatrice Jones, had tricked him into believing she was white

Steadfast Stride Toward Justice by artist Basil Watson is the first life-sized depiction of John Lewis in his home state.

New Statue Honoring Civil Rights Activist John Lewis Unveiled in His Home State of Alabama

The life-sized bronze sculpture of the congressman joins statues of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks in the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Plaza in Montgomery

The machine features a ceramic countertop and two parallel rollers—one that's covered with small nubs.

Cool Finds

Historians Say They’ve Solved the Mystery of a Curious 100-Year-Old Contraption Discovered in Storage

Staffers at the Dorchester County Historical Society in Maryland were baffled by the unusual machine, so they asked the public for help in determining its purpose

Harriet Tubman served in several roles in the Union Army, becoming the first American woman to oversee military action in a time of war.

Women Who Shaped History

Harriet Tubman Just Became a One-Star General, More Than 150 Years After Serving With the Union Army

The celebrated Underground Railroad conductor received posthumous recognition for her service as a spy, scout, nurse and cook during the Civil War

Reflecting on Romare Bearden's art, playwright August Wilson wrote, “What I saw was Black life presented on its own terms, on a grand and epic scale, with all its richness and fullness.”

Based on a True Story

The Surprising Artwork That Inspired Netflix’s ‘The Piano Lesson,’ a New Movie Based on August Wilson’s Award-Winning Play

A Romare Bearden print served as a starting point for the American playwright’s 1987 drama, which follows a Black family’s struggle to decide the fate of an ancestral heirloom

A white mob poses outside of the razed office of the Daily Record, a Black-owned newspaper in Wilmington, North Carolina, on November 10, 1898.

When White Supremacists Staged the Only Successful Coup in U.S. History

The 1898 Wilmington massacre left dozens of Black North Carolinians dead. Conspirators also forced the city’s multiracial government to resign at gunpoint

Quincy Jones at an awards ceremony in 2014

Quincy Jones Was a ‘Musician’s Musician’ Who Was Uniquely Beloved in the Cutthroat Music Industry

A Smithsonian curator reflects back on the artistic legend, a “Renaissance man” with 28 Grammys to his name, who died Sunday at 91 years old

Relatives of James Chaney, a Black man killed for his voting rights activism, at his funeral in 1964

These Black Americans Were Killed for Exercising Their Political Right to Vote

In the Jim Crow South, activists became martyrs at the hands of white racists, all for the just cause of using the vote to fight for equality and freedom

Crews are restoring the building to its 18th-century appearance.

The Nation’s Oldest Schoolhouse for Black Children Will Open to the Public Next Year

Work is underway to restore the Bray School, which will be dedicated in a ceremony on Friday. The historic building in Colonial Williamsburg will open its doors in the spring of 2025

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