Making history happen: Reflecting on DACA and its impact
In 2011, one year after the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act failed to pass through the Senate, members of...
Ten objects that will help you understand Latinx history
The National Museum of American History has over 2 million items in its collections, spanning every topic you could think of. And from...
Suit up! Honoring Latino heritage on the field
Custom uniforms display cultural pride and signal Latino presence and excellence in baseball, America’s pastime. The colorful jerseys and...

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Happy holidays from the Graphic Arts Collection
Editor's note: In honor of the season, we bring you four holiday-themed collections objects from our Graphic Arts Collection, selected by...
The quest for Grandmere’s cookies
On your next visit to the museum, take a look at our new exhibition FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000, which...
Aloha and farewell to the Honorable Senator Daniel K. Inouye
Editor's note: Curatorial Assistant Noriko Sanefuji reflects on the life of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, who passed away on December 17, 2012...
Photo of two men smiling
A tribute to David Baker, Smithsonian jazz master
Editor's note: David Baker died on Marc 26, 2016. He will be remembered for his commitment to jazz and his incredible service to the...
Memories and family history
George Scurlock (son of George Scurlock, the photographer) with his siblings in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. ...
Increasing and diffusing knowledge—and campaign badges, yo-yos, banjos, and integrated circuits
Editor's note: There are more than three million artifacts in the museum’s collection. We can't put them all on display and, even...
History in the walls
One of the cola cans discovered in the museum's wallsMuseum people have a hard time throwing things away—our offices are proof of this....
Menorah with tiny Statues of Liberty on each candle holder plus eagle in center
The objects of our traditions
 My family's menorahThe holiday season makes me think of boxes. Full of history, memories, and objects, boxes make great metaphors.In...
A dozen cool things in our online collection for 12-12-12
In honor of today's date of December 12, 2012, we searched our collection database for artifacts that relate to the number 12. We were a...
Last-minute holiday gifts for history lovers, nostalgic baby boomers, and the French chef
The best gifts come with a story. One holiday, my mom gave my sister and I homemade cookbooks with our favorite recipes in them. Each dish...
Part II: Five questions with Susan Hilferty, costume designer for "Wicked"
Susan Hilferty's costumes for the musical WICKED are part of a carefully crafted world, one that she envisioned "had...
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...
What was in colonial cups besides tea? Cider, water, milk, and whiskey!
Editor's note: Yesterday, museum fellow Melissa Swindell gave us a peek into colonial cups in her blog post about hot chocolate. Today she...
George Washington drank hot chocolate…
...but, so did everyone else. Turns out, hot chocolate was a pretty common beverage in colonial America—before and after the Revolution....
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Helping People with AIDS organization records donated to the Archives Center
Editor's note: This post was originally posted on the Smithsonian Collections Blog. December 1st is World AIDS Day.   Helping...
costume for Elphaba from the musical Wicked
Five questions with Susan Hilferty, costume designer for "WICKED"
Caves, oil spills, and museums might not sound like the most likely sources of inspiration when it's your job to design costumes for a...
Del Mar Avionics Dynamic Electrocardiography Systems, 1976
Donor spotlight: A century of achievement, the commitment of a lifetime
Bruce Del Mar pointing to the Del Mar Avionics Holter monitoring system on displayIf your life spanned nearly an entire century of American...
Thanksgiving, forty one years later
Editor's note: A tweet from the National Museum of African American History and Culture recently caught our eye. They asked an...
Drawing of buffalo hunting
A closer look at the Plains Indian Ledger Drawings for American Indian Heritage Month
Image of a buffalo chase drawn by Wohaw, Beef, Wolf Robe or Gu hau de (Kiowa), drawn between 1875 and 1878 at Fort Marion, FloridaA herd of...
Chef holding a tray of apple pies
As American as apple pie
Editor's note: If you're planning a visit to the museum after Thanksgiving, save room for dessert—and check the hours of our cafés. In...
Cranberries in a pot, set on dried leaves
5 questions with a colonial culinarian
It's not everyday that you get to meet an expert on colonial foodways—especially not one dressed in a historically accurate pilgrim outfit....
Stanley moves in
On October 24, Stanley, winner of a historic robot race, left its home at the National Museum of American History aboard a flatbed truck...
The ghost of the Panama Canal
Lauren Jaeger discovered an emotional story from the Canal Zone in the museum's collections. Edward Ray aboard the steamship "Panama"...
Confession: we peeked at your feedback (but would still like more)
Tell us what you think about this blog! Whether you're a regular reader or this is your first visit, we want to hear from you. We...
Speakers on stage at the Youth Summit
Reflections on the Dust Bowl (National Youth Summit)
Editor's note: This is a guest post from former summer teacher associate Carla Pacitti, and is a follow-up to the post Dust Bowl...
People watch a Civil War balloon go up above a treeline
Was the Civil War high tech?
Editor's note: Civil War technology is the topic of this weekend's symposium, and some of the sessions may surprise you, particularly...
Chris Kimball remembers eating and cooking with Julia Child
Chris Kimball of the cooking show "America's Test Kitchen" shares memories of cooking in Julia Child's kitchen with museum curators.Peering...
Collecting on the campaign trail
Editor's note: Political conventions generate a lot of stuff, including signs, pins, and, well, cheesehead hats. In this post, Project...
Tell us what you think about this blog
From time to time, we ask you what you think of the museum’s blog. Based on your feedback, museum staff write blog posts on new topics,...
The bagatelle wizard instead of the pinball wizard
Located on the bottom shelf of a storage cabinet in the sports collection is a small open wooden box lined in green felt, with holes and...
Halloween how-tos
Looking for a creative costume for your upcoming Halloween celebration? We have some quick ideas pulled straight from our collections,...
Covered wagons and the American frontier
This ca. 1840-1850 Conestoga wagon, a freight hauler in Pennsylvania, represents the role of covered wagons in pushing the American...
Part II: My Experience on the set of "Gettysburg"
Editor’s note: As part of our free Classic Film Festival featuring four Civil War movies, you can see Gettysburg (1993) at...
The big story behind synthetic human growth hormone
Editor’s note: This post is the first in a series about the history of biotechnology and genetics related to objects that have recently...
Part I: My experience on set of the movie "Gettysburg"
Editor's note: As part of our Classic Film Festival featuring Civil War movies, you can see Gettysburg (1993) at the...
How to cope while the ruby slippers step out
The Ruby Slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz are on their first trip to Europe....
What makes America... America?
Hello, I’m David Allison, Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs. Here at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, we...
Debating the candidates, family style
Federal government and politics have surrounded me for most of my life. I grew up in Washington, D.C., the hub of the nation for topics of...
Lithograph of city on fire, boats in harbor
Fire Prevention Week: a hot idea
All of the objects in the collections of the National Museum of American History are interesting and important in their own way, but few...
Technicolor camera
Technicolor sets the scene
"Within a short time she was walking briskly toward the Emerald City, her silver shoes tinkling merrily on the hard, yellow roadbed. The...
Museum visitos look at the Star Spangled Banner
The "unscripted" field trip
In line in the cafeteria recently, I stood behind a young woman in her early teens here on a field trip. She had with her a paper scavenger...
The colorful, kinetic world of Charles and Ray Eames
When it comes to inventive uses of color, there is hardly a more inspiring example than the contributions of the late husband-and-wife...
Teaching and learning in India
Stepping off the plane in Kolkata, India, where the nighttime temperature seared at 104 degrees Fahrenheit and the monsoon was late, I...
A colorful biographical portrait of Celia Cruz, painted by Robert Weingarten, featuring aspects of her life
Celia Cruz portrait unveiled
Biographical portrait of Celia Cruz by Robert WeingartenIt's a pop of vivid color and glimmering textures, tinted with memories of home,...
Answering “Ask a Curator” questions
If you could ask one of the museum's experts a question, what would you ask? People around the world recently got that opportunity by...
Portrait of Rachel Carson
Listening to nature
Growing up in Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s I can recall the many lovely tall elm trees shading the streets and sheltering the numerous...
Manuscript written by typewriter with hand-written corrections and markings
Singing "El Pendón Estrellado"
This guest blog is by Diana Sáez, the founding artistic director of Coral Cantigas. She was asked by the Museum to perform “The Star-...
The Bayeux Tapestry at the Smithsonian? Yes, but who made it, when, where and why?
This is probably one of the most elaborate table runners you’ll ever see. It is a needle lace runner made entirely by hand with innumerable...

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