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Civil War

The HL Hunley pressed its torpedo against the side of the USS Housatonic until it detonated.

The New Explosive Theory About What Doomed the Crew of the ‘Hunley’

A blast-injury expert takes aim at the mystery of what sank the most famous—and lethal—submarine of the Civil War

A bronze statue of abolitionist Harriet Tubman is seen during a private viewing ahead of its unveiling at the Maryland State House, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, in Annapolis.

Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass Honored With Statues in Maryland State House

Both historic figures were born into slavery in Maryland and went on to become key activists in the abolitionist movement

Witch bottles, or talismans designed to ward off evil spirits, were more commonly employed across the pond in the United Kingdom.

Cool Finds

Suspected ‘Witch Bottle’ Full of Nails Found in Virginia

Archaeologists unearthed the blue glass bottle near the hearth of a small fort used during the Civil War

The arrest and the subsequent landing of U.S. troops could happen in Tangier, yet it was completely unthinkable just 12 miles away in Gibraltar or 60 miles away in Cadiz.

The Diplomatic Intrigue That Gave Morocco a Cameo Appearance in the U.S. Civil War

Confederate agents seeking European support were imprisoned by the U.S. consul, which ignited international protest

Charles, the son and grandson of American presidents, carved out a second home in England, succeeding in his main diplomatic mission: securing British neutrality in the Civil War.

The American Scion Who Secured British Neutrality in the U.S. Civil War

The journal pages of Charles Francis Adams, the son of one president and the grandson of another, illuminate the life and politics of Victorian England

The top history movies of the decade include Spotlight, 12 Years a Slave and Hidden Figures.

Based on a True Story

What Were the Best History Movies of the Decade?

These ten films (plus one documentary) each took the past and translated it in a way worth remembering

An unknown photographer took this image of enslaved individuals on a cotton plantation around 1850.

This May Be the Earliest Known Image of Enslaved Individuals With Cotton

A remarkable daguerreotype was recently acquired by the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City

Some soldiers (although not necessarily the ones pictured here) dyed their lighter locks to avoid appearing washed out in photographs.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Find Hair Dye Bottles Used by Self-Conscious Civil War Soldiers Posing for Portraits

Hair-do it for the gram

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Smithsonian Voices

A Conversation With Katie Couric and 23 Other Smithsonian Associates Events in November

A Conversation with Katie Couric and 23 Other Things to Do at the Smithsonian in November

Though she looms large in the public imagination, Harriet Tubman has rarely received the attention afforded to similarly iconic Americans. A new biopic starring Cynthia Erivo focuses on the decade between Tubman's escape and the end of her Underground Railroad days.

Based on a True Story

The True Story Behind the Harriet Tubman Movie

“Harriet,” a new film starring Cynthia Erivo, is the first feature film dedicated solely to the American icon

The sculpture “Rumors of War” is unveiled in Times Square on September 27, 2019 in New York City.

A New Statue in Times Square Challenges the Symbolism of Confederate Monuments

The work by artist Kehinde Wiley will soon be moved to Richmond, Virginia, not far from a street lined with controversial Civil War memorials

In 2016, Hurricane Matthew revealed a trove of 16 Civil War cannonballs (seen here) at the same beach where the latest specimens were found

Cool Finds

Hurricane Dorian Unearths Civil War Cannonballs at South Carolina Beach

At first, the couple who discovered the pair of cannonballs thought they’d simply stumbled upon a rock

No image of Henrietta Wood survives today, but her story is recorded in court filings, including the verdict slip above.

Women Who Shaped History

In 1870, Henrietta Wood Sued for Reparations—and Won

The $2,500 verdict, the largest ever of its kind, offers evidence of the generational impact such awards can have

Actress Pauline Cushman (1833-1893) was a Union spy and became a major celebrity.

Women Who Shaped History

The Actress Who Left the Stage to Become a Civil War Spy

Pauline Cushman, now featured in a Smithsonian photography exhibition, unexpectedly found herself spying for the Union after accepting a dare

One witness to an 1859 Northern Lights display was the artist Frederic Edwin Church, who later painted Aurora Borealis (above, detail).

Re:Frame

The Crazy Superstitions and Real-Life Science of the Northern Lights

In the latest episode of ‘Re:Frame,’ Smithsonian curators take a deep dive into the dramatic painting ‘Aurora Borealis’ by Frederic Church

Markers will be added to the "Lion of Atlanta" monument, along with three others.

New Markers in Atlanta Aim to Put Confederate Monuments in Context

The city is installing the historical markers next to four of its most prominent Confederate memorials

Mary Ann Brown Patten, photographed by an unidentified artist, 1857

Women Who Shaped History

How the Camera Introduced Americans to Their Heroines

A new show at the National Portrait Gallery spotlights figures including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lucretia Mott and Margaret Fuller

L. Prang & Co. print of the painting Hancock at Gettysburg by Thure de Thulstrup, showing Pickett's Charge.

The Diaries Left Behind by Confederate Soldiers Reveal the True Role of Enslaved Labor at Gettysburg

Even as some enslaved men escaped North, the retreat by the Army of Northern Virginia would have been disastrous without the support of its camp servants

This hand-colored carte de visite depicts Virginia L. Molyneaux Hewlett Douglass, who married Frederick Douglass, Jr., the son of the famous African American leader. The mount is inscribed: “Mrs. Fredk Douglass.”

These Photo Albums Offer a Rare Glimpse of 19th-Century Boston’s Black Community

Thanks to the new acquisition, scholars at the Athenaeum library are connecting the dots of the city’s social network of abolitionists

Flower of tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera).

Civil War Plant Remedies Actually Fought Off Infections, Study Finds

Researchers tested the antimicrobial properties of three plants mentioned in an 1863 treatment book

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