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After George Floyd’s death, Jason Allende, 13, and his family joined protesters in Junction City, Kansas, on May 29, 2020.

Secretary Lonnie Bunch: Learning From Americans’ Past Ordeals

Looking to history can help find healing and hope

Protesters hold signs during a demonstration in a call for justice for George Floyd, who was killed while in custody of the Minneapolis police.

Secretary Lonnie Bunch: It Is Time for America to Confront Its Tortured Racial Past

This moment, says the Smithsonian secretary, should be the ‘impetus for our nation to address racism and social inequities in earnest’

"Project Pride," a virtual concert and “time capsule,” will celebrate LGBTQ history, heritage and culture through musical performances, conversations and highlights from the Smithsonian Institution’s collections.

How to Watch the Smithsonian Pride Alliance’s Free Virtual Concert

Catch “Project Pride,” featuring performances by Tig Notaro, Rufus Wainwright and Big Freedia, on YouTube this Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern time

Larry Kramer by Robert Giard, gelatin silver print, 1989

Playwright and AIDS Activist Larry Kramer Dies at 84

The American writer and public health advocate was “a lionhearted force,” says Smithsonian curator Katherine Ott

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Virtual Travel

Explore Washington, D.C. From Home With This Free, Smithsonian Scholar-Led Tour

Narrated by Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar Richard Kurin, the 24-part video series blends history with modern mainstays

3-D model of Head of Amenhotep III on Sketchfab

Education During Coronavirus

You Can Now Download 1,700 Free 3-D Cultural Heritage Models

A new Sketchfab collection brings models of fossils, artwork and more into the public domain

Spectacular offerings include (clockwise from top left): John Singer Sargent; art in response to the Age of Humans; Preston Singletary; Yayoi Kusama; and the mighty influence of Alexander von Humboldt.

Twenty Smithsonian Shows to See in 2020

Women inventors, baseball stamps and a new Kusama Infinity Room are among the offerings

Toni Morrison, painted by Robert McCurdy, 2006, oil on canvas

Toni Morrison, ‘Beloved’ Author Who Cataloged the African-American Experience, Dies at 88

‘She changed the whole cartography of black writing,’ says Kinshasha Holman Conwill of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

A team from Howard University’s Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival recorded voices from the #DontMuteDC movement on June 6: (L to R) Donald Campbell, Ron Moten, Dr. Natalie Hopkinson, Dr. Brandi Summers, Tone P, Nico Hobson.

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

The Social Power of Music Will Take Center Stage at the 53rd Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The D.C. tradition will hit the National Mall for two action-packed days this weekend. Here’s what to know about this year’s lineup

P-R-Z-E-... aw, forget it. P-horse!

Didn’t Make the National Spelling Bee? Play the Smithsonian Spelling Bee

We present a list of some of the toughest words to spell, pulled straight from the collections

Constance Wu's character, Rachel Chu, wears the gown to a wedding

Constance Wu’s ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Dress Is Coming to the Smithsonian

Curator Theo Gonzalves says he hopes the gown will enable Asian American visitors “to see themselves in the museum, … see themselves in American history”

Polish soldier and military commander Casimir Pulaski (1745 - 1779), circa 1775. From an original engraving by James Hopwood after a painting by Oleszkiewicz.

Was the Revolutionary War Hero Casimir Pulaski Intersex?

A new Smithsonian Channel documentary may affirm long-standing suspicions about the Polish fighter’s identity

Stan Lee Helped Shape the Story of What It Is to Be American

Smithsonian curator Eric Jentsch weighs into the legacy of the comic-book mastermind

A blue whale, the largest known creature in Earth's history, dives into the St. Lawrence river in Quebec, Canada.

Today’s Whales Are Huge, But Why Aren’t They Huger?

Most giant cetaceans only got giant in the past 4.5 million years, suggesting they could have room to grow

Washington’s National Mall, home to 11 Smithsonian museums, flooded in 2006, causing millions of dollars in damage.

How the Smithsonian Prepares for Hurricanes and Flooding

An emergency command center is ready for activation and the National Zoo could move animals into bunkers

Berry started his career colorizing actual telescope data. His more recent work includes this artistic impression of a black hole at the heart of galaxy NGC 1068. The material trapped around the black hole is moving so fast that the light itself is either compressed to blue where the material is coming toward the viewer, or stretched to red, where it is rushing away from the viewer.

Art Meets Science

The Supernova That Launched a Thousand Gorgeous Space Images

By colorizing one of the first Hubble satellite images, illustrator Dana Berry ushered in a new era of stunning space visuals

Scientists with Smithsonian’s Global Health Program examine a wrinkle-lipped bat, which can harbor a never-before-seen virus.

New Research

A Never-Before-Seen Virus Has Been Detected in Myanmar’s Bats

The discovery of two new viruses related to those that cause SARS and MERS marks PREDICT’s first milestone in the region

Using an artist's tools and the skills of a scientist, Tangerini makes “art in the service of science.”

The Botanical Artist Who Translates Plant Science Into Beautiful Art

The Smithsonian’s first and only botanical illustrator brings her subjects to life in all their scientific glory

Artist Evan Keeling will be meeting visitors at the four-day "By the People Festival," a new gathering for arts and dialogue that the DC incubator Halcyon presents June 21 to 24.

How This Comic Maker Plans to Make Everyone an Artist

The first annual “By the People Festival” kicks off in the Washington, D.C. area with interactive art, gospel, Jazz, opera and other performances

The asteroid didn't just wipe out the dinosaurs—it wiped out the forests. Which meant anything that lived had to learn to live on the ground.

New Research

How the Ancestors of Birds Survived the Dino-Killing Asteroid

Forest cover was crucial to avian evolution, a new study on the mass extinction event asserts

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