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American South

Dice from the now-closed Southern Club, established in 1893.

Before Vegas Became Vegas, Hot Springs Was America’s Sin City. Now the Arkansas Spa Town Embraces Its Colorful and Seedy History

A life-size statue of Al Capone greets downtown visitors, and you can stay in his hotel suite. The town where gangsters once vacationed with movie stars and athletes is still open for a getaway

The historic Edistone Hotel is located in downtown Selma, Alabama.

A Historic Alabama Hotel Linked to the Civil Rights Movement Is Falling Apart. Can the Conservationists Fighting to Save It Turn the Tide?

Selma’s Edistone Hotel has witnessed pivotal chapters in American history, from Reconstruction to “Bloody Sunday.” Now, after years of neglect and a recent wall collapse, the Conservation Fund is working to secure its future

Dolly Parton in 1978

Dolly Parton Was One of the Biggest Stars in the History of Country Music. She Wanted to Be Remembered as a Songwriter

After growing up in poverty, she became famous for her legendary songs, big heart and larger-than-life style. But the iconic musician insisted that “the songs lead to everything else”

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To Dismantle the Concept of Separate but Equal, Thurgood Marshall Methodically Devised a Winning Strategy: Divide and Conquer

While other activists aimed to take down Jim Crow in one fell swoop, the future Supreme Court justice compiled a series of wins that ultimately added up to an undeniable resolution

The Eutaw Springs witness tree is estimated to be 300 years old.

Inside the Fight to Save a 300-Year-Old Tree That Survived a Revolutionary War Battle

Arborists are working to preserve the 45-foot-tall live oak in South Carolina’s Eutaw Springs Battlefield Park. The historic tree suffered damage during a lightning strike 50 years ago

The new box set includes a book with photographs and historical documents from Ma Rainey’s life. 

Audio Engineers Restored Hidden Notes and Revealed Lost Instruments in This New Treasure Trove of Songs by the Pioneering ‘Mother of the Blues’

The 118-track collection is the most complete set ever compiled of recordings by American blues icon Ma Rainey

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site this week. 

This Alligator-Rich Swamp in the American South Just Joined the UNESCO World Heritage List, Along With the Home of the Greek Gods

The 25 new locations, determined to bear “outstanding universal value” for the world, also include the D-Day landing site in Normandy, France

David Drake’s 1857 ceramic jar is featured prominently in the museum’s redesigned 18th-century galleries ahead of its America at 250 celebration. 

America's 250th Anniversary

By Signing His Name to Massive Jars, This Enslaved Artist Defied Literacy Bans in the South. Now, His Masterpiece Is on View With a Famed Paul Revere Bowl

Born into slavery around 1800, David Drake was a skilled ceramicist. His work will be on display at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston as the institution marks America’s 250th birthday

Workers recovered this cannon from the Savannah River in 2022.

Cool Finds

Workers Dredging the Savannah River Stumbled Upon 19 Cannons That Had Been Underwater Since the Revolutionary War

The centuries-old artifacts emerged from the riverbed between 2021 and 2022. Experts spent several years carefully restoring 17 of them, which will make their public debut in a new exhibition

Lomax hit the road in search of as many folk traditions as he could discover. “Folk music,” he wrote, “blooms hard by the crossroads.”

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Alan Lomax Spent Years Traveling the Country to Record the Sounds of America. The Legacy of His Obsession Will Live Forever

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 camps

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

One of the Quietest Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement, Ella Baker Led by Encouraging Everyone to Get Involved

Baker’s work was instrumental in the success of the NAACP and other organizations, but she did it in a way that didn’t put herself in the spotlight. That was by design

Sweetgrass basket weaving is one of the most enduring cultural traditions of the Gullah Geechee people, descendants of Africans enslaved on the rice, indigo and cotton plantations of the southeastern United States.

From Basket Weaving to Oyster Reef Conservation, Gullah Geechee Women Are Preserving a Living Heritage

Along America’s southeastern coast, descendants of enslaved Africans pass down traditions and knowledge of crafts, ecology and food through generations

The Tougaloo Nine, from left: Joseph Jackson Jr., Geraldine Edwards, James Bradford, Evelyn Pierce, Albert Lassiter, Ethel Sawyer, Meredith Anding Jr., Janice Jackson and Alfred Cook

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Nine Black College Students Were Arrested in 1961 for Reading at a Segregated Public Library. Their Contributions to the Civil Rights Movement Have Long Been Overlooked

Known as the Tougaloo Nine, the demonstrators staged a sit-in that helped the NAACP push for the desegregation of public spaces in Mississippi’s capital

Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Take in some of the sites and landmarks across the American South that were pivotal to the Civil Rights Movement and the advancement of social justice

Jermain Wesley Loguen’s former enslaver offered to relinquish her claim on him in exchange for $1,000. But Loguen refused as a matter of principle, even turning down others’ offers to pay the fee.

Untold Stories of American History

After the ‘King of the Underground Railroad’ Escaped From Slavery, He Led 1,500 Others to Freedom

Jermain Wesley Loguen opened his home to fugitives fleeing the South. He publicized this work openly, risking arrest or even re-enslavement

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Here Are 250 Places to Visit to Celebrate America’s 250th Birthday. How Many Have You Been To?

Journey around the nation with this interactive map, divided by region or category, and discover American history in a way you’ve never seen before

Claudette Colvin, photographed here in 1998, helped end segregation on public transportation.

Women Who Shaped History

Months Before Rosa Parks Made Headlines, Claudette Colvin Refused to Give Up Her Seat for a White Woman on a Segregated Bus

Colvin, a lesser-known figure who took a stand against racial discrimination as a teenager in Montgomery, Alabama, has died at age 86

Detail of a 19th-century mural in the Library of Congress that depicts America as a successor to ancient Egypt

How White Southerners Distorted the History of Ancient Egypt to Justify Slavery in the U.S.

American writers misleadingly interpreted Egypt’s past to argue that slavery was a divinely sanctioned institution

The house is located in Tryon, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Nina Simone’s Childhood Home, Saved From Demolition Years Ago, Has Now Been Fully Restored

A group of contemporary artists purchased the house in 2017, and its long-awaited renovation began in June 2024

Pauline Baker, Daisy Whitner, John Williams and Priscilla Williams Carolina are all descendants of potter David Drake.

An Enslaved Man Made Thousands of Ceramic Pots. Now, a Boston Museum Has Returned Two of Them to His Descendants

Many of David Drake’s large vessels featured his signature and inscriptions, even though he created them during a time when literacy among enslaved laborers was illegal

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