Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Slavery

Karin Wulf's new book, Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America, explores the many ways in which people of the past reflected on their family histories.

Why 18th-Century Americans Were Just as Obsessed With Their Genealogy as We Are Today

People living in British America and later the nascent United States recorded their family histories in needlework samplers, notebooks and newspapers

"Mysteries From the Deep: Exploring Underwater Archaeology" features interactive experiences, 3D models and excavated artifacts.

How Underwater Archaeology Brings Secrets to the Surface, From Lost Shipwrecks to Submerged Cities

An immersive new exhibition at the Intrepid Museum in New York City spotlights the science and technology behind the discipline

An engraving by Edward Savage, after Robert Edge Pine's 1784-1788 painting Congress Voting Independence

America's 250th Anniversary

These Daring Revolutionary-Era Artists Promoted the Patriot Cause From the Heart of Enemy Territory

A new book explores how painters, sculptors and writers, especially women and people of color, used their craft to advocate for American independence while living in George III’s capital city

Wade in the Water, Stephen Towns, 2020

Women Who Shaped History

See the Artworks That Explore the Forgotten History of Harriet Tubman’s Civil War Triumphs

Tubman’s 1863 raid, which destroyed seven plantations along the Combahee River in South Carolina and freed 756 enslaved laborers, is now the subject of an exhibition in Charleston

Researchers are exploring the site while construction crews renovate and expand Brown Hall, which has been renamed Robert M. Gates Hall.

Archaeologists Unearth Artifacts From One of the Nation’s Oldest Schools for Black Children

News of the discoveries comes amid the opening of the Williamsburg Bray School building, which educated hundreds of free and enslaved Black children between 1760 and 1774

The fading pages of the manuscript were sitting in a screened-in porch at a home in Barrington, Rhode Island, for years.

Untold Stories of American History

Tattered Pages Discovered in Storage Reveal an Enslaved Man’s Daring Bid for Freedom—and His Second Life at Sea

Historians are investigating the haunting handwritten manuscript, which chronicles Thomas White’s escape from slavery in Maryland and adventures around the world nearly 200 years ago

An 18th-Century Family, Joy Labinjo, 2022

New Exhibition Features Contemporary Portraits Honoring Forgotten Black Abolitionists

Cambridge University’s Fitzwilliam Museum is spotlighting the men and women who fought to end slavery but received little attention from artists during their lifetimes

Vanilla producer Bertrand Côme displays bound and dried vanilla beans for sale at his Réunion farm. The beans generally grow as long as 6 to 11 inches.

The Bittersweet Beginnings of Vanilla Cultivation Can Be Traced Back to the Far-Flung Isle of Réunion

A journey to the remote Indian Ocean island reveals the story behind the fragrant, delicious, ubiquitous spice—and the enslaved youth who made it a commercial success

Marine archeologist Andreas Kallmeyer Bloch documents the shipwreck.

Cool Finds

Locals Thought These Shipwrecks Had Belonged to Pirates. They Turned Out to Be 300-Year-Old Danish Slave Ships

The two vessels had been trafficking hundreds of enslaved Africans when a navigational error led them astray. They sank off the coast of Costa Rica in the 18th century

None

There's More to That

Dive Into the Deeper Story of the American Revolution on How New England and Virginia United Against the British

Inside the steeple of Old North Church and among the Southern Colonies, less familiar stories of the events from 250 years ago emerge

A batteau is a flat-bottomed vessel, a wooden relic of the 18th century that once carried tobacco, iron and flour through Virginia.

Two Centuries Ago, Batteaumen on Virginia’s James River Ended Long Work Days With a Taste of Freedom

The James River Batteau Company, an outdoor recreation-meets-historical tour business, has designed a dinner cruise that honors the resilience and culinary ingenuity of enslaved boatmen

A 19th-century lithograph of Patrick Henry's "give me liberty or give me death" speech

America's 250th Anniversary

Discover Patrick Henry’s Legacy, Beyond His Revolutionary ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’ Speech

Delivered 250 years ago, the famous oration marked the height of Henry’s influence. But the politician also served in key roles in Virginia’s state government after the American Revolution

Illustration by Meilan Solly / Photos via the Maryland Department of Transportation

These Everyday Artifacts Tell the Story of Harriet Tubman’s Father’s Home as Climate Change Threatens the Historic Site

The Maryland Department of Transportation launched an interactive virtual museum, showcasing finds from where Ben Ross lived after emancipation

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 group of women sewing a quilt on the porch of a property in Georgia, May 1939

From the Antebellum South to the Civil Rights Movement, Black American Women Have Long Told Their Stories Through Quilts

In a new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, over 30 works showcase the significance of this quilting tradition

William Henry Ellis traveled the world, made and lost millions, tried his hand at Texas politics, consulted with emperors, and met with the presidents of multiple countries.

Untold Stories of American History

Born Enslaved, This Black Millionaire Attempted to Colonize Mexico and Aspired to Be the Emperor of Ethiopia

William Henry Ellis masqueraded as a Mexican businessman, but he never shied away from his Black roots

A Harper's Weekly illustration of Confederate soldiers driving Black Americans south in 1862

Untold Stories of American History

After Confederate Forces Captured Their Children, These Black Mothers Fought to Reunite Their Families

During the Civil War, Confederates targeted free Black people in the North, kidnapping them to sell into slavery. After the conflict ended, two women sought help from high places to track down their lost loved ones

A view of the "In Slavery's Wake" exhibition at the National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Vast Geographic Scope of Slavery Is Hard to Fathom. One Groundbreaking Exhibition Shows Its True Scale Around the Globe

At the National Museum of African American History and Culture, “In Slavery’s Wake” tells the international history of slavery and Black freedom

Atop Faneuil Hall sits a grasshopper weather vane, imitating a similar one on London’s Royal Exchange.

America's 250th Anniversary

Why Faneuil Hall Is the Perfect Metaphor for the American Revolution’s Complicated Definition of Liberty

How a lively market on Boston Harbor became part of many defining moments of the Colonial and Revolutionary eras

“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

Page 3 of 25