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-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...
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...

Blog Posts in "From the Collections"

Square banner for boxer John L. Sullivan showing flags and the phrases “Champion of the world…May the best man win”
A sports star being political, 19th-century style
There has been a lot of debate over the last few years about whether sports should be political. From NFL players taking a knee to a range...
Woman wearing purple latex gloves presses gently into the inside of one of the Ruby Slippers into a case.
The (display) case of the Ruby Slippers
Many noses are pressed against the case that houses Dorothy's Ruby Slippers each day. The famous shoes from The Wizard of Oz attract a lot...
Lobby cards for the film "Saludos Amigos"
Donald Duck: An American Diplomat?
Every April, people throughout North, Central, and South America celebrate Pan American Day. The roots of Pan American Day go back to 1890...
When the dandelion went to war: An American prisoner of war's story
“We were picking dandelions on the lawn there and we would boil them up,” Henry T. Chamberlain remembered. During the Great Depression,...
A heart shaped content
How Evelyn Lauder took on breast cancer at the cosmetics counter
They had just arrived in a foreign country and the small girl’s mother was sent away.  Ernest and Mimi Hausner fled their home in...
The hidden tractor
The National Museum of American History has a staggering 1.8 million objects in the collections. It isn’t possible for one person to know...
A Scout By Any Other Name
In May 2018, the Boy Scouts of America changed the name of its program for older children to Scouts BSA and opened membership to girls for...
Three political ribbons with red, yellow, and blue colors, all showing illustrations of James Buchanan
The unforgettably forgettable president: A look at Mr. Buchanan
James Buchanan. Do you recognize this name? According to TIME magazine’s “Top 10 Forgettable Presidents,” you probably don’t. Chances are,...
America's Kaiser: How a pigeon served in two World Wars
Souvenirs from battlefields the world over can be found in our Division of Political and Military History. Unique among them is a mounted...
Close-up detail of the end of a fairy's wand. It's the shape of a star, covered in silver/white/gold gems or sparkly stones.
The Ruby Slippers have company; Glinda's wand on loan for temporary display
The museum's pair of Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz returned to display on October 19, 2018, after spending time in the museum's...
Blue, white, and red banner with an image of Admiral Dewey in center of white stripe, surrounded by laurels.
The mock battle that ended the Spanish-American War
George Dewey was promoted to the rank of rear admiral after the Battle of Manila Bay. Dewey was celebrated in American culture with songs,...
American history must-reads of 2018
These are our most fascinating blog posts of 2018, according to our readers.When FBI agents showed up with a pair of sparkly, red shoesA...
Happy 50th anniversary of no mumps!
This year we celebrate 50 years of mumps vaccination in America, helping to make chipmunk cheeks and swollen testicles a thing of our...
Two advertisements for the 1947 Amateur World Series with cartoon illustrations of a baseball pitcher and catcher
Baseball in December: Leopoldo Martinez and the 1947 Amateur World Series
Over seventy years ago, in 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American athlete to play in the World Series, having famously...
Woman in green shirt with purple latex gloves adjusts a microscope. She is looking at the Ruby Slippers.
Thousands of tiny red sequins bask in individual attention as part of the conservation of Dorothy's Ruby Slippers
Wielding an adorably tiny vacuum, objects conservator Dawn Wallace peered through her stereomicroscope at thousands of 80-year-old red...
Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?
Sesame Street was an innovative and radical children's television program when it premiered in 1969. In the 1960s, many parents were...
Cartoon drawing of a tangled ball of yarn with emotions such as “anxiety” and “rage” tangled up
The history of getting the gay out
Title page to Garrard Conley's workbook from the gay-conversion camp Love in ActionIt is dangerous to be different, and certain kinds of...
An illustration of an African American soldier
How black Philadelphians fought for soldiers during World War I
Suffering from "shell shock and a general breakdown," Charles Mackall and James Randall arrived in Philadelphia in September 1918 from...
A young child is shown walking into church with sign "Church of the Nazarene." An American flag and "Polling Place" sign hand in the foreground.
Church bells and the noise of democracy
Like many other churches in the early republic, the Congregational meetinghouse in Castine, Maine, served both sacred and secular functions...
File of condolence letters
Matt Shepard objects in our collection remind us of the familiarity of an LGBTQ icon
In October 1998, a college student named Matt Shepard was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyoming, by two young men. Matt was slight of build...
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...
The Washington Senators couldn’t win—but excelled at scouting Latino talent
Today, the Washington Senators are most remembered for their ability to finish in last place. Despite their successful early history marked...
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...
White celluloid collar on black background
A white collar with a message
Men’s celluloid collar, 1900sAt first glance, this collar from the 1800s might not look like much. A closer inspection shows that this...
Lace with U.S. seal
Why do we have a National Lace Collection?
Safely cared for in the collections of the National Museum of American History are about 6,000 examples of hand- and machine-made lace from...
Grace Hopper examines a computer at work.
Grace under pressure
On December 7, 1941, two days before her 35th birthday, Grace Murray Hopper, an associate professor of mathematics at Vassar College, was...
A book of poetry
The literary Luisa Moreno
Curators at the National Museum of American History often rely on scholars in the field to illuminate new areas of collection and research...
Culture in the colonial classroom: A failed attempt at assimilation
As our Philanthropy Initiative continues to explore the history of giving, we're eager to share stories of success and failure. This story...
What you may not know about the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire
Shirtwaist made by Fisk, Clark & Flagg, about 1910.Shirtwaists, tailored blouses of the 1890s and early 1900s, became especially...
Pair of Ruby Slippers with red sequins and bows, very sparkly but worn
Recovered Ruby Slippers visit museum for examination by conservators, curators . . . and FBI agents
Dawn Wallace and Richard Barden stood in the museum's objects conservation lab over two shoes. Red. Sequin-covered. Small heels. Petite in...
John McCain and other returning soldiers stand before a crowd
Sailor, statesman, symbol: reflecting on John McCain and the Vietnam War
This past Saturday, August 25, Arizona Senator John S. McCain III bid the nation farewell. For 60 years, McCain served the country either...
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...
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...
Blue book with photos of show cast and text: “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen”
M*A*S*H ended, but is not gone or forgotten
The final episode of “M*A*S*H” was co-written with eight collaborators and directed by star Alan Alda.Despite the photo ops and historic...
Total eclipse of the sun, partial eclipse of inequality
"It was now quick work," Maria Mitchell noted. "As the last rays of sunlight disappeared, the corona burst out all around the sun, so...
Uncle Sam, playing a pipe, leads a group of children armed with farming tools. Text reads: “Follow the Pied Piper. Join the United States School Garden Army”
Who are the Dewdrop Fairies?
While most of us have heard of the victory gardens of World War II, many of us may not realize that those gardens are seeded in a history...
License plate showing Disney characters and bicentennial years, 1776 and 1976
Minuteman Mickey Mouse: Disney and America's Bicentennial
The month of July plays host to the birthdays of both the United States of America (July 4, 1776) and Disneyland (July 17, 1955). This is...
"Green Egg" GPS Receiver
The crop of the 21st century
"Information is your new crop!" proclaimed John Deere's brochure, announcing the company's newly launched GreenStar Precision Farming...
Detail of baseball program with illustration of FDR
The All-Star Game returns to the nation's capital for the fifth time
All-Star Games of years past that were played in Washington were full of history: the historic arrival of a president, the effective end of...
Sheets wearing the Special Olympics oath on his shirt with Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Courtesy of Dave Sheets.
Special Olympics at 50
"Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of Special Olympics, recited this oath at...
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 group of musicians performing on stage
William Steinway's New York
What was the Big Apple like in the second half of the 19th century? The daily diary of piano manufacturer William Steinway opens a window...
Alan Alda's insider view from the set of M*A*S*H
Hawkeye’s corduroy bathrobe looks purple in real life, but comes across as red on camera.The chronically jet-lagged actor Alan Alda got...
Political campaign buttons with slogans from Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign
Remembering Robert Kennedy
June 6, 2018 marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Robert “Bobby” Francis Kennedy. Being a native Northern Virginian, I knew that the...
A medal for the Humane Society of Massachusetts
When philanthropists convinced people to save lives
Young Charles Taylor drowned in June 1818. He was six years, seven months, and 10 days old, the son of Nathan and Sally Taylor. While a...
Silver coin with Queen Cristina of Sweden
Queer coins: LGBTQ rulers through history
With Pride Month celebrations recognizing LGBTQ history and culture throughout the country this June, what better way to highlight the...
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...
Bronze Abraham Lincoln life mask on white background
What connects Abraham Lincoln and vampires? Bram Stoker, of course.
What is it about Abraham Lincoln and vampires? When Seth Grahame-Smith published his action/horror mash-up novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire...

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