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Conservation of the Star-Spangled Banner is made possible through donations like yours.

Jazz Appreciation Month

Celebrating the origins of Latin Jazz

Really BIG Money

See our new money gallery for kids

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American History on Instagram

  • Happy Easter! This two-piece, metal Easter rabbit chocolate mold was designed to produce a chocolate rabbit with a basket. Molds began appearing in the late 1840s to early 1850s in Europe. In the late 1880s, U.S. companies began manufacturing chocolate molds, but Germany remained the largest supplier to the U.S. until the early 1900s. During the First World War, U.S. firms began to gain more ground against their European counterparts. The design of molds often followed the trends of the time. The “classic period” of 1880-1910 consisted of very realistic pieces made to resemble an object as closely as possible. Chocolatiers would often set up small vignettes depicting a complicated scene. These were time consuming and painstakingly complicated. From 1910-1930, molds were redesigned to be simpler and rounder in appearance. Fantasy began replacing realism. The mechanical design of the molds also began to change to accommodate changes in technology, such as new rotary machines that were developed to spin multiple molds at the same time to evenly distribute the chocolate. Gift of Chocolate Manufacturers Association of the USA #Easter #Chocolate #ChocolateHistory
  • 75 years ago today, Jackie Robinson became the first Black baseball player in the major leagues, debuting for the Brooklyn Dodgers on Opening Day. Robinson, along with many of his teammates, signed this baseball in 1952. That season the Dodgers finished 96-57, 1st in the National League, losing to the New York Yankees in the World Series. Autographs include Jackie Robinson; Carl Erskine; Billy Cox; Roy Campanella; Gil Hodges; Duke Snider; Pee Wee Reese; Carl Furillo; Andy Pafko; George Shuba; Bobby Morgan; Billy Loes; Ben Wade; Preacher Roe; Joe Black; Chris Van Cuyk; Johnny Rutherford; Clem Labine. #JackieRobinsonDay #Jackie42
  • This Bata Cubana, or Cuban Rumba dress, was donated to the Smithsonian by Celia Cruz, the great Cuban salsa singer in 1997. An adaptation of the traditional Cuban rumba dress, it was made in the United States by Cuban-born designer José Arteaga. The Bata Cubana has its roots in the 19th century, with origins as diverse as the multicultural makeup of the people of Cuba. It brings together influences from Spanish, French, and African culture and dress, combining theater, fiesta, and the spectacle of carnival with slave and gypsy dress. The Bata Cubana is a garment worn for performance on stage or cabaret. This Bata Cubana is made of orange polyester satin, trimmed with white nylon eyelet along ruffle-edges and eyelet beading along seams with inserted orange ribbon. The Bata Cubana was Celia's preferred performance costume. Gift of Celia Cruz #JazzAppreciationMonth #JazzHistory #AmericanHistory #MusicHistory
  • This month, we’re celebrating #JazzApprecationMonth! Throughout the month, we’ll be exploring the cross-pollination of Afro-Caribbean music and jazz leading into the formation of Latin jazz. These drums were used by Ramón 'Mongo' Santamaría Rodríguez (1917–2003), a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga and boogaloo dance crazes of the 1960s. From the 1970s, he recorded mainly salsa and Latin jazz, before retiring in the late 1990s. Santamaria made several recordings as a leader of his own group, as well as a sideman with Fania All-Stars, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ray Charles. The drums are a gift from Nancy Santamaria Support for jazz programming is made possible by the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation (@leroyneimanfoundation); The Argus Fund; the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation (@firstladyofsong), founding donor of the Smithsonian Jazz Endowment; David C. Frederick and Sophia Lynn; @goldmansachs; and the John Hammond Performance Series Endowment Fund. #Jazz #JazzHistory #MusicHistory #AmericanHistory #LatinJazz

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Our Mission

Empowering people to create a just and compassionate future by exploring, preserving, and sharing the complexity of our past.

Exhibitions

Exhibitions on a range of topics offer firsthand experiences with treasures of American history.

Collections

We collect artifacts of all kinds—from gowns to locomotives—to preserve an enduring record of our past for the American people.

News and Events

Visit the Museum

The museum is once again open seven days a week! Visit us every day 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Follow the link to plan your visit.

Video Release: Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia”

The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Octet performs Gillespie’s composition “A Night in Tunisia” in celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month. Free on the NMAH YouTube channel.

Smithsonian Entertainment Exhibition To Showcase Pop Culture

A new exhibition opening Dec. 9, “Entertainment Nation”/“Nación del espectáculo,” will immerse visitors in the dramatic arc of the nation’s story as told through the power and influence of theater, television, film, music, and sports.

Dawson Her Many Horses and Darnell Strom Join Museum Board

Smithsonian Opens “Really BIG Money” April 8

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Honored With Great Americans Medal

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From Our Blog

Large stone shaped like a donut, with a hollow center. One side has cracked and broken away from the rest of the stone.

What can really BIG money teach us about our world?

Long feathers that shimmer in the light. A formidably heavy stone ring. An iron blade . . . These artifacts are now displayed together in the museum’s newest exhibition for children called Really BIG Money.
Poster showing a woman worker in a jumpsuit and bandana rolling up her right sleeve. Above her head is a speech bubble with the text, "We Can Do It!"

Rosie, Wendy, and Government Girls: The women behind the war

Today, we often associate the women workers during World War II with the popular symbol Rosie the Riveter, but as the museum's collections show, "Rosies" were just one of the many types of women workers during the war. 
Page from copybook showing illustration of a child seated in various positions as a desk, as well as diagrams showing how to hold a writing instrument in a right hand

Don’t write off cursive yet

Once a universal skill taught in the school classroom, handwriting fell out of favor with the introduction of technologies designed to make communication more efficient.
Sepia-toned photo of young African American man in U.S. Marine Corps uniform

Calvin and Clarence Curtis: Montford Point Marines

In 2012, World War II veteran Calvin Curtis was presented with a copy of the Montford Point Congressional Gold Medal for his part in the beginning of the desegregation of the United States Marine Corps, the last branch of service to accept Black recruits.
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