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When Watchmen were Klansmen
Note: While history shouldn’t require a spoiler alert, this blog does contain some minor ones regarding the HBO series Watchmen.“You know...
How picturing the Boston Massacre matters
Maybe this painting looks familiar. A long row of red-coated soldiers. A cloud of gun smoke engulfing the street. Falling bodies.Detail of...
The most radical thing about Stonewall wasn’t the uprising
The Stonewall uprising began June 28, 1969, in response to a police raid at The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York, and has since...

Blog Posts in "Music"

A group of people by what appears to be a hot-air balloon.
What did 1889 sound like?
Q: What’s cylindrical, made of wax, and part of one of history’s great showdowns?A: These records in the museum collection with audio...
A graphic with a red background and a white illustration of the neck of a guitar with a bird resting on it.
Remembering Woodstock
The weekend of August 15 through 18, 1969, approximately 400,000 revelers traveled from near and far to inhabit the rolling fields of Max...
EDM in the history museum: Steve Aoki gear travels the world and finds a home at the museum
Music blasts toward the audience as concertgoers dance to Steve Aoki's pounding bass rhythms and bright LED displays. The DJ throws cakes...
Photo of Jose Feliciano playing guitar at Smithsonian
Musician José Feliciano shook up a baseball tradition at age 23
José Feliciano will remain forever celebrated for his perennial Christmas classic "Feliz Navidad," one of his many hit recordings that have...
4 music-inspiring objects through the eyes of our Making American Music interns
Musical inspiration abounds in the collections and exhibitions around us. As interns in the Making American Music project, we get to follow...
Photo of album cover featuring Aretha Franklin shown in four reflections with stained glass background
Reflecting on the Queen of Soul's reign in American culture
Today we're reflecting on the life of singer, songwriter, diva, civil rights activist, and cultural icon Aretha Franklin. Over 100 of...
Sheet music cover, 'Get off the track!'
An anti-slavery anthem reimagined for today
Turn right at the Batmobile. Take the elevator behind the John Bull locomotive. If you hit Julia Child's kitchen, you've gone too far. My...
An illustration showing crowds of well-dressed people gathering beside their seats in Madison Square Garden, as well as crowds approaching the building from the outside
New York City’s Sängerfest of 1894
Piano manufacturer William Steinway kept a diary from 1861 to 1896. It resides in the National Museum of American History’s Archives Center...
A yellowed page with black text announcing the "Grand Concert in aid of the Russian Jewish Refugees"
How do the arts promote social change?
The arts are "a space where we can give dignity to others while interrogating our own circumstances," Darren Walker, president of the...
Norman Granz and Ella Fitzgerald stand side-by-side in front of a microphone
Norman Granz: Revolutionizing jazz for social justice
A civil rights protest often invokes the vivid images of sit-ins, boycotts, and marches, but the fight for racial equality took many...
A white background with a black electric guitar.
5 objects that James Smithson might be surprised to find in the institution he founded – until he learned their philanthropy stories
James Smithson might be surprised to learn about some of the objects in the collections at the institution he established. The Englishman...
In a black and white photo, a woman stands behind a microphone and sings in a dark room. A jazz band is behind her, and they are smiling.
A-tisket, a-tasket, a hit song in her basket: Ella's rise to fame
"They're swingin' everything else—why not nursery rhymes?" stated Ella Fitzgerald while dancing around the room showcasing some new dance...
A photograph of a smiling man, his arms outstretched, in front of an exhibit with images on the wall, objects against it, and signs with captions on them.
Pure Cotton with a Berry on Top: The Legacies of Chuck Berry and James Cotton
Only a few days after the passing of James Cotton, one of the country's greatest blues harmonica players, we lost one of our greatest...
Photo of a large space with high ceilings. Tables in the center include space for inventing. Cabinets on both sides contain cases with museum objects, including what looks like a guitar. Above, in lights, is a sign that says "Spark Lab."
At our "Draper Spark!Lab" the sound of homemade banjos beckons
Around age eight I decided I wanted to play the violin. Fortunately, my parents had the access and money to buy a new instrument for me....
Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald sit in front of a microphone
Ella at the gala: Ella Fitzgerald's performance at the Kennedy Inaugural Gala
Within the Ella Fitzgerald Papers collection, a hidden gem reveals a surprising connection between Fitzgerald and President John F. Kennedy...
Illustration for sheet music that says "Fair Hawaii" at the top in yellow text atop green palm trees. A woman in a lei and grass skirt sits in the center looking at a red, setting sun
Itching to see the jumping flea: The great 1915 ukulele craze
In recent years, the ukulele, or jumping (lele) flea (‘uku) in Hawaiian, has received a renewed appeal. I've heard the instrument make...
Image from stage showing multiple tiers of audience packed into the seats
Ecstatic frenzy over Wagner's "Ring Cycle" premieres
Are you a Wagner fan? If so, you were likely excited by the Washington National Opera's presentation of The Ring of the Nibelungen, a cycle...
Sheet music cover with witches
The New Woman meets the old witch
How would you describe a witch? Black pointy hats probably spring to mind, as well as a range of distinguishing ugly features like crooked...
Latin Jazz postage stamp
Conga drums and collaboration: A peek inside our Afro-Cuban Jazz concerts
On October 16 and 17, the museum's own big-band-in-residence, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (SJMO) will kick off their 25th...
Document listing radio stations
Turning the dial to 1928's Independence Day radio programming
Independence Day is often celebrated with picnics, parades, fireworks, and music. While I can't help with the first three, music is...
Black and white photo of people of all ages exiting through a door, some holding programs. Signage advertises upcoming concerts and shows.
What made Nashville into Music City?
The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation's Places of Invention explores what happens when the right mix of...
D.C.-area musicians Little Benny on saxophone and and MeShell Ndegeocello on bass. Photograph by Thomas Sayers Ellis, used with permission.
Go-go, the funky, percussive music invented in Washington, D.C.
Experience live go-go music on Thursday, June 11, 2015, as part of our America Now! Music Festival.In the early 1970s, musical pioneer...
3 guitar heads
5 intriguing electric guitars from our collections
Happy 100th Birthday, Les Paul!June 9, 2015, is an important day for the guitar and music world: It is the centennial of the birth of...
Dole pineapple ad in very saturated color with can, fruit, and ukulele
5 things you probably didn't know about the ‘ukulele
The ‘ukulele, or ukulele, as it's spelled in American English ("uke" for short), is one of the first things that many people associate with...
Watercolor of Strayhorn in progress
Discovering the cool: Creating a visual identity for Jazz Appreciation Month
April is Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), with a variety of events and programs throughout the museum and country designed to...
Sheet music cover
O say can you sing a different patriotic song?
On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional act that made Francis Scott Key's "The Star-Spangled Banner" the...
Queen Elizabeth II meets Duke Ellington
On our holiday playlist: Duke Ellington's "Nutcracker" and a special suite for the Queen
Smithsonian Jazz Intern Jake Huss shares the stories behind the selections heard at the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra's holiday...
Tarima and shoes used by Martha Gonzalez in California, 1999
The beat goes on: New acquisitions once stomped out the soundtrack of Los Angeles
As the Museum gears up to open new exhibitions in 2015, 2016, and 2017, our curators have combed the country, looking for the richest...
Hashtag jazz: Tweeting jazz history day-by-day
You can learn a note or two of jazz history every day, just by reading @CelebrateJAM's tweets. Adam Whitehurst, the intern behind the...
Slack key guitar
Talking and playing Hawaiian slack key guitar with Dennis Kamakahi
What do cows have to do with slack key guitar music? Sarah Coffee from our education outreach team explains.For this month's episode of the...
Sheet music titled "Southern Collection"
Fiddling the Civil War
On certain days this winter, you could hear fiddle music coming from the Civil War section of our Price of Freedom exhibition. It...
Signed leather with silver studs
Hair band history: Teasing hair and playing rock 'n' roll
Rocking leather jackets, teased hair, and loud music, Nova Rex traveled across America in the 1980s and early 1990s, living the rock 'n...
Record album with black and white photo of the Beatles
Feb. 11 1964, the Beatles' first concert in the United States
Eric Jentsch in our Division of Culture and the Arts shares the story of the first Beatles concert in America, which took place right here...
The Apollo Theater: "It's in the Cards"
For a good part of the twentieth century, Harlem’s Apollo Theater was one of the most prestigious, important, and well-known venues for...