Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Monument

Some of the Callanish stones, which sit atop the Isle of Lewis in Scotland

Massive Lightning Strike May Have Inspired This Scottish Stone Circle

New geophysical evidence points to ancient burn marks that could have coincided with the building of Scotland’s Callanish standing stones

A 1997 photograph submitted by Andrea Ekins

See 150 Years of Stonehenge Family Photos

The collection offers a glimpse into humans’ engagement with the monument

Patriots toppled the statue in July 1776, but British Loyalists rescued and hid some of the fragments

You Could Own an Amputated Arm From the George III Statue Toppled at Bowling Green

The 18th-century lead fragment was unearthed in a Connecticut resident’s garden in 1991

A double ambrotype portrait of Albro Lyons, Sr. and Mary Joseph Lyons

NYC Monument Will Honor African-American Family Displaced to Make Way for Central Park

But the project has drawn criticism, particularly because the monument will stand some 20 blocks north of Seneca Village’s historic location

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

A local culture association has urged the government to move the rocks to a permanently dry location

Drought Reveals Dolmen of Guadalperal, Popularly Dubbed ‘Spanish Stonehenge’

Construction of a dam and reservoir in 1963 flooded the archaeological site, submerging the megalith monument and hiding it from view

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

A young Emmett Till wearing a hat.

Due to Repeated Vandalism, Emmett Till Memorial to Be Replaced With Bulletproof Sign

Most recently, three University of Mississippi students were suspended from their fraternity after posing in front of the sign with guns

Thanks to Bly's efforts, conditions at the women's asylum greatly improved

Women Who Shaped History

A Nellie Bly Memorial Is Coming to Roosevelt Island

The journalist famously wrote a six-part exposé cataloging the 10 days she spent at an asylum on Blackwell’s Island

The Rebecca Salome Foster monument pictured before (left) and after (right) restoration

Long-Forgotten Monument to Prison Reformer Will Be Reinstalled in New York Courthouse

Rebecca Salome Foster was known as the “Tombs Angel” in recognition of her work with inmates housed at a Manhattan prison known as “The Tombs”

Sculptor Hannah Stewart has created a life-size bronze statue of Lily Parr

Lily Parr, a Pioneering English Footballer, Scores Bronze Monument

Parr rose to fame in the years after WWI, a time when women’s soccer blossomed in the U.K.

The statue of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson stands in Justice Park (formerly known as Jackson Park) on August 22, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Judge Rules Charlottesville’s Confederate Statues Are War Monuments

But the legal fight to remove the city’s statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson may not be over

Avebury stands some 25 miles north of Stonehenge and is large enough to fit two Stonehenge-sized circles.

Stone Circles at Avebury May Have Surrounded House for Neolithic ‘One Percent’

Researchers theorize that the monument, near Stonehenge, was erected to commemorate the site of later generations’ ancestral home

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony c. 1870

Women’s Rights Monument in N.Y.C. Approved Amid Accusations of Whitewashing

The original design, which has since been altered, was criticized for minimizing the contributions of black suffrage leaders

New Research

Stonehenge Pig Roasts Drew People From All Over Neolithic Britain

Isotopic analysis of pig bones in feasting sites near the monument show people were traveling as far as Scotland with their own pigs

Family photographs decorate the master bedroom in the home of Civil Rights leaders Medgar and Myrlie Evers.

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

Home of Civil Rights Hero Medgar Evers Is Now a National Monument

Before his assassination in 1963, Evers led civil rights demonstrations and investigated racial violence in Mississippi

Billie Holiday, performs on stage, 14 February 1954.

Four New Monuments to Historic Women Coming to N.Y.C.

The statues will honor Billie Holiday, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, Helen Rodríguez Trías and Katherine Walker

The bluestone quarry at Carn Goedog.

New Research

Secrets of Stonehenge Found in Quarries 180 Miles Away

Archaeologists believe the builders popped out “ready-made” bluestones at a quarry in Wales and dragged them overland to Salisbury

Zissou Tasseff-Elenkoff's "Power to the People" is dedicated to civil rights for every human regardless of race, color or religion.

What Should a Contemporary Monument Look Like?

A new multi-city art exhibition called “New Monuments for New Cities” tackles this question head on

The Dallas City Council voted on Wednesday to remove the Confederate Memorial in Pioneer Park Cemetery next to the downtown convention center.

Dallas City Council Votes to Remove Massive Confederate War Memorial

In a 11-4 vote, the City Council decided to remove the 65-foot-tall monument from its location in the heart of the city

Page 8 of 12