Senator Joseph McCarthy “comes along really chronologically halfway through the story [in the early 1950s], and there’s a lot that happened before he was even on the scene,” says author Clay Risen.

Newly Declassified Documents Reveal the Untold Stories of the Red Scare, a Hunt for Communists in Postwar America

In his latest book, journalist and historian Clay Risen explores how the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy upended the nation

Historian Martha S. Jones (bottom left) turned to ledgers, deeds, census records and government documents to unravel her family's story.

How a Leading Black Historian Uncovered Her Own Family’s Painful Past—and Why Her Ancestors’ Stories Give Her Hope

Martha S. Jones’ new memoir draws on genealogical research and memories shared by relatives

A 1937 photograph of Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet secretary in American history

How the Nation’s First ‘Madam Secretary’ Fought to Save Jewish Refugees Fleeing From Nazi Germany

A new book spotlights Frances Perkins’ efforts to challenge the United States’ restrictive immigration policies as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s secretary of labor

“In postwar America, fast food was seen as a ladder to the middle class,” says journalist and author Adam Chandler. “If you were part of a familiar chain, banks were willing to lend you money, and people would come to your establishment right away because you were a proven entity.”

The Roots of U.S. Work Culture—and Why the American Dream Is So Difficult to Achieve Today

A new book examines the evolution of the American workplace, interrogating the idea that hard work is enough to ensure success

Gambel oak branchlet

This Massive New Guidebook Will Forever Change the Way You Look at Trees

Written by Smithsonian botanist W. John Kress, the book details more than 300 North American tree species in words, maps and photographs—and why we shouldn’t take them for granted

William E. Leuchtenburg's new book spotlights (from left to right) George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams.

What the American Revolution Taught the United States’ First Presidents

A new book by historian William E. Leuchtenburg examines how the first six commanders in chief embodied the revolutionary spirit and set precedents that shaped their successors’ tenures

A 1942 Memorial Day service at Manzanar, a Japanese American incarceration camp in California

How a 1924 Immigration Act Laid the Groundwork for Japanese American Incarceration

A Smithsonian curator and a historian discuss the links between the Johnson-Reed Act and Executive Order 9066, which rounded up 120,000 Japanese Americans in camps across the Western U.S.

Indigenous people brought to Spain by Hernán Cortés play the game patolli.

The Indigenous Americans Who Visited Europe

A new book reverses the narrative of the Age of Discovery, which has long evoked the ambitions of Europeans looking to the Americas rather than vice versa

A 19th-century illustration of two yellow fever victims in New Orleans

Race in America

How Yellow Fever Intensified Racial Inequality in 19th-Century New Orleans

A new book explores how immunity to the disease created opportunities for white, but not Black, people

Last Call at the Hotel Imperial centers on journalists Dorothy Thompson, John Gunther, H.R. Knickerbocker and Jimmy Vincent Sheean.

A Century Ago, American Reporters Foresaw the Rise of Authoritarianism in Europe

A new book tells the stories of four interwar writers who laid the groundwork for modern journalism

In this late 17th-century comb, created by a craftsperson from either the Seneca or Susquehannock peoples, two animated figures wearing frock coats—likely a Native American and a Euro-American—face one another.

A 1722 Murder Spurred Native Americans’ Pleas for Justice in Early America

In a new book, historian Nicole Eustace reveals Indigenous calls for meaningful restitution and reconciliation rather than retribution.