US Government

The Peace Memorial stands in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 15, 2021, nine days after the storming of Congress.

The Tragic Irony of the U.S. Capitol's Peace Monument

An unfinished Civil War memorial became an allegory for peace—and a scene of insurrection

A framed display of locks of George and Martha Washington's hair is estimated to sell for upward of $75,000.

Trove of Presidential Memorabilia, From Washington's Hair to JFK's Sweater, Is Up for Sale

RR Auction is offering a collection of nearly 300 artifacts, including a signed photo of Abraham Lincoln and a pen used by FDR

Artist Simon Berger created the portrait by strategically hammering cracks into a pane of glass.

Kamala Harris Portrait Draws Inspiration From the Glass Ceiling She Shattered

Artist Simon Berger created the unconventional likeness of the vice president in just one day

This Project Blue Book chart shows the frequency of unidentified flying object (UFO) reports during the months of June through September 1952.

You Can Now Explore the CIA's 'Entire' Collection of UFO Documents Online

Thousands of pages of declassified records are available for anyone to peruse

President John Tyler was born in 1790 and died in 1862.

Grandson of President John Tyler, Who Left Office in 1845, Dies at Age 95

Born 14 years after the nation's founding, the tenth commander in chief still has one living grandson

A sign asks Navajo residents to stay safe and warns of a curfew near the Navajo Nation town of Casamero Lake in New Mexico on May 20, 2020.

COVID-19 Adds a New Snag to the 2020 Census Count of Native Americans

The nation's indigenous population has long been undercounted, but the pandemic presents extra hurdles

Protesters gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 23, 2019. The Commerce v. New York case highlighted a proposed question about U.S. citizenship included by the Trump administration in the 2020 U.S. census.

The Enumerated Story of the Census

A new book charts the history of counting the public, from the ancient censuses in Rome to the American version of decennial data collection

"Washington and His Cabinet" lithograph by Currier & Ives

The President's Cabinet Was an Invention of America's First President

A new book explores how George Washington shaped the group of advisors as an institution to meet his own needs

Olive oils for sale at The Spanish Table at Seattle's Pike Place Market.

Is Paying a Premium for European Foods Worth It?

New tariffs on certain wines, spirits, olive oil and cheeses from Europe have us wondering how much place really factors into taste

This 1948 ad for Cudahy's Delrich brand of margarine uses a "color berry" to color its margarine yellow.

How the Government Came to Decide the Color of Your Food

A business historian explains America's commitment to regulating the appearance of everything from margarine to canned peas

Heidi Schreck encourages a wider view of American justice in her surprising drama What the Constitution Means to Me.

Heidi Schreck's Riveting Play Deconstructs the U.S. Constitution

Her surprising drama about the founding document encourages a wider view of American justice

Children cross the street in front of a yellow school bus in 1965.

The History of How School Buses Became Yellow

Rural educator Frank Cyr had the vision and pull to force the nation to standardize the color of the ubiquitous vehicle

A government demonstration of the polygraph from the 1970s

Why Lie Detector Tests Can't Be Trusted

Federal agencies embraced the polygraph in the 1950s to reassure the public that they could unmask spies

The character of Smokey Bear first appeared in 1944.

A Brief History of Smokey Bear, the Forest Service's Legendary Mascot

How the beloved figure has become a lightning rod in a heated environmental debate

A crop of a carte-de-visite of Harriet Tubman seated in an interior room.

An Internal Watchdog Will Investigate the Delay of the Harriet Tubman $20 Bill

The bill’s redesign was supposed to be unveiled in 2020, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the process would be delayed until 2026

The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis

Why Museums Should Be Proud Polling Sites

The head of the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site calls upon his colleagues to engage with their community by opening their doors to voting

Southern Chivalry – Argument versus Club's, John L. Magee

Before the Civil War, Congress Was a Hotbed of Violence

A new book from historian Joanne Freeman chronicles the viciousness with which elected officials treated each other

Robert Smalls, memorialized in a bust at Beaufort’s Tabernacle Baptist Church, was sent to work in Charleston at age 12 after he started defying the strictures of slavery.

Terrorized African-Americans Found Their Champion in Civil War Hero Robert Smalls

The formerly enslaved South Carolinian declared that whites had killed 53,000 African-Americans, but few took the explosive claim seriously—until now

The Naturalization Act of 1906 federalized the naturalization process, allowing millions of immigrants a smoother process for becoming U.S. citizens.

Stripping Naturalized Immigrants of Their Citizenship Isn’t New

The United States has a history of denaturalization spanning more than a century

A 1921 political cartoon portrays America’s new immigration quotas, influenced by popular anti-immigrant and nativist sentiment stemming from World War I conflict.

A 1911 Report Set America On a Path of Screening Out 'Undesirable' Immigrants

The Dillingham Commission conducted one of the most extensive investigations on immigration to the U.S. But in the end, bias hijacked its recommendations

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