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...

Blog

Fort Collins, a place of invention
I love talking with inventors about their creative lives and careers. Better yet, I love speaking with them at their workplaces. There is...
Donor Spotlight: Ed and Diane Straker
What is a slide rule? As a product of the computer generation, my knowledge of these tools is virtually nonexistent. Recently, I had the...
Many Americans remember Tuesday, September 11, 2001 as horrific. Nearly 3,000 people died, others were injured, and many had to run for their lives. Most Americans, however, experienced September 11 from a safe distance. Even for those (like me) who were not directly touched by death or injury, the trauma was significant.
Collecting September 11: One curator’s story
Editor’s note; This post is one of a series exploring the 10th anniversary of September 11.Many Americans remember Tuesday, September 11,...
Innovation and industry on TV
By the mid-20th century, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), an advocacy group representing the interests of manufacturers...
Teaching September 11: History or current event?
Editor’s note: This post is part of a series exploring the 10th anniversary of September 11. Learn about the museum’s commemoration....
Walter Reed and Armory Square: Saying goodbye to 2 historic D.C. military hospitals
Editor's Note: This is the fourth post in a series featuring additional context about "So Much Need of Service": The Diary...
The public memory of September 11
Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of weekly blog posts exploring the 10th anniversary of September 11. Learn about the...
Theater Preview: "Time Trial of John Brown" and "Am I a Pirate?"
When you read a textbook, glance at a grainy photograph of a legendary historical figure, or gaze at an artifact locked behind a...
One word: Plastics
As you wander through a museum, do you ever wonder about the story behind a collection or object? How did something so intriguing or...
Button with "National AIDS Vigil" text in white on black background
Speaking out about HIV/AIDS, one button at a time
Editor's Note: This is the fifth post in a series exploring the 30th anniversary of HIV and AIDS. Beginning last June 3, the National...
Denis Leary and Peter Tolan gift the museum with objects from "Rescue Me" set
As longtime players in the entertainment business and the two masterminds behind the critically acclaimed television series Rescue Me,...
Shortcuts across time and space
Chromolithograph, from about 1893, of Columbus bidding farewell to the queen of Spain on his departure for the New World in 1492. Courtesy...
Searching for Anna Lowell: The mystery behind a Civil War nurse's photo album
Editor’s Note: This is the third post in a series featuring additional context about "So Much Need of Service": The Diary of a...
Why I love working at the National Museum of American History
The author conversing with visitors at the history cart. Every so often, I am reminded of why I love working at the National Museum of...
Photo of the museum
A Simple Gesture: Remembering a museum volunteer
Fred Starobin, former museum volunteer.The other day, my mail included a card-sized letter. It was addressed simply to "Smithsonian...
Podcast: The Future of Food
Editor's Note: This post is part of a series to accompany Inventive Voices podcasts from the Lemelson Center for the Study of...
Scenes from the Hurly Burly Hotel: Louisa May Alcott's Civil War
Louisa May Alcott. Courtesy of National Library of Medicine. “As no two persons see the same thing with the same eyes, my view of hospital...
Happy birthday, America! (Like my t-shirt?)
I’ve written before about the sartorial trends of our teens and other groups of like-minded visitors, but the biggest clothing event here...
A truly national (and international) museum of American history
Writing a 5-digit ZIP code at the end of your mailing address may seem commonplace, but it wasn’t always that way. The United States Postal...
Culture a la Carte: Would you like some Han Dynasty with your meal?
King Dragon menu, New York, NY, 1976.I recently delved into the museum’s newly acquired menu collection. My focus was a sub-set of the...
Out of Storage: Fire hat, sewing machine, dress with cannons, and more
With over 3 million objects in our vast collections, the museum is only able to exhibit a fraction at any given time. Last week, a group...
Celebrating National History Day at the museum
Students at the hands-on history carts. On an evening earlier this month, the museum came alive with the bustle of 5,414 National History...
Quilt spread out with many people looking at it, some kneeling
Collecting an Epidemic: The AIDS Memorial Quilt
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth post in a series exploring the 30th anniversary of HIV and AIDS. Beginning on June 3, the National Museum...
Cats with asparagus and "Forkery" in Julia Child's kitchen
Editor’s Note: Today's post is the last in a series about the museum's work in Julia Child’s kitchen. Caitlin Dichter is a Museum Studies...
The gun that won't exist until 2419
When you work in a room with over 10,000 firearms and weapons every day, people will inevitably ask, "Which is your favorite gun?...
Lace veil on black background
The finer details of the Hapsburg Imperial Bridal Veil
This spectacular veil was handmade for Princess Stéphanie of Belgium for her wedding to Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Rudolf in 1881. It...
Dictaphones and Bowties: Documenting Lester Brown
Lester R. Brown is the president of the Earth Policy Institute.Lester R. Brown is one of the few authors laying claim to an entire shelf...
Introducing TalkBack Tuesdays
The TalkBack Board at the museum. At the National Museum of American History, we want to know what you think—so we ask! Every day at the...
The sculptor behind the Ken Behring bust
When sculptor Marc Mellon was commissioned to create the bust of philanthropist Kenneth E. Behring, the artist gladly took up the job and...
Spatulas, used by Julia Child, in her kitchen exhibit
What do Julia Child's spatulas say about preservation?
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is the fifth in a series of six about the museum’s work in Julia Child’s kitchen. Lauren Anderson is a Museum...
AIDS Awareness trading cards
Teaching AIDS awareness through trading cards
Editor’s Note: This is the third post in a series exploring the 30th anniversary of HIV and AIDS. Check out the companion website.Trading...
Flag Day ceremony welcomes 20 new U.S. citizens
What better place to become an official U.S. citizen than at an American history museum?  During a special naturalization ceremony,...
Everyday discoveries in Julia Child's kitchen
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is the fourth in a series of six about the museum’s work in Julia Child’s kitchen. Anneliese Bustillo is a...
A bowl where soap is being mixed by museum interpreters
Suds Up: How to make soap, 19th-century style
Piqued by the innovation, resourcefulness, and ingenuity required in an era before washing machines did all the scrubbing for us, we...
The museum's architecture: Classical with modern details
Have you ever wondered why the exterior of the National Museum of American History looks the way it does?Architectural sketch of the...
June brides and D-Day
It’s wedding season! With the recent royal wedding and my own daughter finalizing plans for her summer wedding, I’ve been asked by several...
Julia Child's notes in a book
What’s on Julia Child's bookshelf?
Editor’s note: Today’s post is the third in a series of six about the museum’s work in Julia Child’s kitchen. Christine Klepper is a Museum...
Color photograph of four people in which shirts, arms inter-linked, walking on or standing in street during daytime, parade crowd in background
Interview: "Teaching AIDS" in the early 1980s
Editor’s Note: This is the second post in a series exploring the 30th anniversary of HIV and AIDS. Beginning on June 3, the National Museum...
Tracking the condition of objects in Julia Child’s kitchen
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is the second in a series of six about the museum’s work in Julia Child’s kitchen. Amanda Browe is a Museum...
In the nano-world, anything can happen
In Michael Crichton’s 2002 sci-fi thriller, Prey, Jack Forman, a Silicon Valley computer programmer with serious job and marital problems,...
Black and white photo of four people (three men in military uniforms) standing with a dog that wears a harness.
Stubby: Dog, Hoya mascot, and war hero
Stubby the dog, known to many as “Sgt. Stubby”, is one of my favorite artifacts in the Armed Forces History collections. He was the mascot...
A presidential visit
As we closed the museum last Sunday after a typically busy spring weekend, we prepared for three visitors who live in Washington but rarely...
30 years of HIV and AIDS in America
This summer will mark 30 years since the first official reports of HIV and AIDS. It was not called that back then, of course...
Prep work in Julia Child’s kitchen
Recent visitors to the Bon Appétit! exhibition have observed the first steps of a major change planned for the display of Julia Child’s...
Dear Sir, Please send a menu. - Virginia Mericle
The museum recently received an exciting addition to its archival collections: 4,500 menus from restaurants across the United States and...
An "Oprah and the Prius" moment in the National Numismatic Collection
It began with a complaint. But as complaints go, this one was articulate and astute. Mary had just visited Stories on Money. Her love...
Why I love new media!
Editor's Note: The following post was written by a spring intern in New Media, the department that is responsible for bringing you this...
Inspiration from the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides
One of the things I love most about being a public historian at the nation’s history museum is how the past comes to life every day. As the...

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