What does babysitting mean to girls? It's complicated.
Two different guests linger at the Talk Back table at the end of the exhibition Girlhood (It’s complicated). Each one picks up a pen to...
New dresses, new traditions: Jill Biden’s inaugural ensembles go on view
Today first lady Jill Biden came to our museum to present her inaugural ensembles to the national collection and see them placed on...
Betty White's shoulder bag is a time capsule of World War II
On December 31, 2021, the beloved actress Betty Marion White Ludden (1922–2021) passed away at 99 years old, weeks shy of her hundredth...

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A wooden box filled with various tools that include blades and scissors
Macabre school supplies: 19th century dissection sets
A 19th-century medical student brought to school a number of things, including scientific texts and a hope to one day relieve the suffering...
Black and white posed photo of women, each with their hair piled on top of their head and high-collared blouses.
This Galentine's Day blog post is for you. You poetic, noble land-mermaid.
On February 13, women everywhere (we hope!) will be gathering together to celebrate Galentine's Day. First introduced in 2010 by character...
black metal device that looks like a typewriter. All the keys, however, have numbers on them and they are yellow, green, and red.
A curator goes to the movies: The stuff of "Hidden Figures"
Over the past few months, I’ve read Margot Lee Shetterly’s book Hidden Figures and seen the movie with the same title. These...
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....
A black patch with a white helmet sewn on the front
An auto racing legacy: Meet the Black American Racers
As a kid, Leonard W. Miller secretly tinkered with his parents' car for almost a year before they noticed he'd been replacing parts under...
A color portrait of a woman in a coral shirt and dark blazer. She sits outside.
Three questions for a brewing historian
Last summer, the National Museum of American History announced that we were hiring a brewing historian to join the team working...
A journal with yellowed pages and dark cursive script laying open. There is a small sandbag next to it.
HMS Terror, Charles Francis Hall, and the Star-Spangled Banner
Thanks to the help of online volunteers, the Smithsonian Transcription Center has completed a project to transcribe the second volume of...
A coin with two bearded men on it along with text and a small cross
Top 5 best beards of Byzantium
I have never seen my father's chin. The man has worn a beard since well before I was born, and my brother quickly followed in his tradition...
Photo of prop fish bowl with holiday decorations
Why does the Smithsonian have objects from a fake presidency on "The West Wing?"
As the fanfare leading up to the 2017 inauguration swirls around the Smithsonian and Washington, D.C., at large, I cannot help but think...
Three gold coins on a black surface. The are bright and shiny. Two are heads up showing a woman wearing a crown with stars ringing the border of the coin and "1959." One is the same with "1960" as the year listed. The third coin is tails-up and says "Nation of Celestial Space 1 Gold Celestron" with some laurel leaves
Coins: They're outta this world
Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered, "Who owns all of that?" Well, that's exactly what James Thomas Mangan did. He even...
How a Congressional vote to create Revolutionary War medals affirmed the Declaration of Independence
I'm a native New Englander. Sometimes I feel like I've been to Boston more times than Samuel Adams. When one grows up in New England, it is...
A red program for an inauguration with the statue of liberty and a golden star in the center
"You just became President of the United States. What would you like to do?" "I think I'll give a speech!"
Taking the oath of office is the only constitutionally mandated event of the day, but every president has agreed with George Washington...
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...
Old photograph of a group of people. Several women are dressed up and one is very, very tall
Burlesque for skyscrapers
Irene Siewert was born in a small town in Alberta, Canada, in 1925. Siewert looked just like any other little girl until she hit 13, when...
Black and white illustration on beige paper, showing portrait of man wearing suit and black tie with mustache and a stern/serious face. He is partially bald.
A firsthand look at Electoral College drama—in 1893
The 2016 presidential election brought renewed discussion about the way Americans vote for presidential electors, those who will then cast...
White button features a drawing of two students sitting next to each, one turns to the other and says "May 17th!." Around the button's border the text reads: "Keep the Buses Rolling...March on Boston."
Rethinking "busing" in Boston
On September 9, 1974, over 4,000 white demonstrators rallied at Boston Common to protest the start of court-ordered school desegregation in...
This October 9, 1944, advertisement for Whitman's chocolate boxes shows a woman embracing a soldier in uniform kissing her cheek. On the bottom right is a box of Whitman’s Chocolate Sampler. The bold font reads, “A WOMAN NEVER FORGETS THE MAN WHO REMEMBERS,” and, “BUY MORE WAR BONDS.” In fine print below the box of chocolates reads, “If you can’t always get your favorite Sampler, remember it’s because millions of pounds of Whitman’s Chocolates are going to all our fighting fronts.”
Top 10 tastiest food history posts of 2016
Our blog covered a cornucopia of food history topics in 2016, but a few dishes rose to the top. Here are ten of our most-read blog posts of...
Detail: Postcard with photo of two young children wearing ballet shoes. Little boy holds top hat in his raised hand and an over-sized coat. The little girl strikes a pose with a fancy fan and wears a full-skirted tea length dress and a hat with many bows.
10 blog posts from 2016 that history buffs can't miss
2016 was a stupendous year for the museum's blog! Many thanks to the staff, volunteers, interns, and guest writers who shared their...
Detail of image: Black and white snapshot. A woman sits in a chair, her legs crossed and her hands on knee. She smiles, eyes closed and mouth open to show her teeth. She wears a smart suit with white collar. The man balances on one of the arms of the chair, gesturing toward her, also with a smile. He wears a suit and black/white shoes.
Duke Ellington's Christmas gift
What does a world-famous musician put under the tree for the woman he loves . . . when he happens to be married to someone else?In the case...
A silver coin with a woman's likeness on the front. Reads "Liberty" at the top and "1979"
Suffragists: From campaigns to currency
Recently there has been a significant debate about how and where to feature a woman on United States currency. In April 2016, Secretary of...
Detail of card showing two stick figures. They sit at a table with serious-yet-not-unhappy expressions. Each rests his head on his hand.
A cheerful Depression-era holiday greeting
A cheerful holiday greeting sent during the Great Depression? Isn't that somewhat contradictory? 1933 was a difficult year. Unemployment...
Detail of: "One Hundred Trillion Dollars" bank note from "Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe." It is blue, turquoise, and tan in color. The central image appears to be a mountain or rock outcropping made of three large stones. Palm trees and other vegetation appears tiny at its base. Geometric patterns are included in the bill, mostly triangles.
Let them eat dollars: Hyperinflation from revolutionary France to Zimbabwe
When my friend Trish got her first paycheck from her part-time job in high school, it was for $50,000. "It was enough to buy a pair of...
A portrait of a man sitting behind a curtain drawn partially back to show a church spire. His hair and moustache are unkempt and he looks directly at the viewer, his head seeming to hang low.
A criminal scheme of the 1880s brought presidential treasures to the Smithsonian
I was exploring storage one day with Larry Bird, emeritus curator in the museum's Division of Political History, when a very curious self-...
An award on a short wooden base of a young tiger with its paw on what appears to be a golf ball painted light blue with the world on it.
And the winner is...
The Division of Culture and the Arts at the museum collects a wide variety of awards and trophies. We have iconic awards such as Oscars,...
Detail of: Bill with dark gray and blue and portrait of man set in oval
Hidden turtles and rude gestures in World War II-era Chinese banknotes
When we joined the museum's National Numismatic Collection team this summer to rehouse a collection of international banknotes, we expected...
A pin, presumably for a woman. There is a gold eagle perched on top with its wings outstretched. It stands on top of a red banner saying "Remember" which is over a blue banner that says "Harbor" Between the banners is a pearl.
Eyewitness to a "Day of Infamy": Commemorating Pearl Harbor
December 7, 2016, marks the 75th anniversary of the bombing of the Pearl Harbor naval base by the Japanese Imperial Navy. In commemoration...
A photo from the museum of the installed portion of the counter from the Greensboro diner. It includes the countertop, four chairs, and part of the back wall with a mirror on it.
I'll have an order of desegregation, please
We often remember the civil rights movement as a few iconic events that took place at famous landmarks—the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the...
A graphic, black and white illustration of a stylized man in a top hat and cane pointing to the word "REM" in the sky. It appears to be storming, as trees are blown sideways. It says "Cough?" in the upper lefthand corner
The emergence of modernism in early 20th century American advertising: Lucian Bernhard and his REM Cough Syrup advertisements
What does it take for an advertisement to capture the attention of a potential consumer?It takes aesthetically pleasing simplicity, vibrant...
Two men in dress uniform stride forward carrying flags, one for the army and one for the navy. The program says "Army-Navy" and "1941 Fifty Cents" on the cover
Army-Navy Saturday: A family tradition
Growing up the child of a World War II Navy veteran who happened to love football, it was easy to know who to root for in the Army-Navy...
A cubed machine that is beige and brown in color. It has a switch near its base and a plug. Some features protrude from it, including a white piece on the top that has slats in it.
Cutting-edge recent acquisitions sharpen our understanding of food history
One of our favorite food history collecting trips over the last year started with a predicament we are all familiar with—the frustration of...
An old photograph in sepia tones showing a number of people sitting on stairs outside of a building. Some are women and some are men, many of whom are wearing uniforms.
The Wild West through the eyes of "Libbie" Custer
Wolves, rattlesnakes, floods, fire, and stampedes—these are just some of the many dangers faced by women on the American frontier of the...
A black and white photograph of a man in a patterned jacket and wire-rimmed glasses hovering over a boy with an Afro. The man holds a pair of scissors and a wide-toothed comb over the boy's hair as he looks off.
Three D.C. teens spend an inspirational summer at the museum
This Thanksgiving, education specialist Ariel Gory reflects on an experience for which she is thankful: the opportunity to inspire future...
A pair of dark leather books that are higher than ankle-length. They lace up the front. They have seen wear, as some of the seams look worn and the soles look like they're coming apart. On the ground in front of the shoes is a notebook. It looks to be made of dark leather and has rings like a modern binder, with pages covered in dark cursive.
Follow the yellow brick road, the Appalachian Trail, or your own path
Update: Thanks to you, our Kickstarter campaign to "Keep Them Ruby" was a success and we have the support we need to conserve and display...
A pair of replica ruby slippers sit inside of a display case. They are positioned so that the toes are pointed slightly away from one another, and one of the shoes has its heel places on a small box covered in blue gingham wrapping paper.
A multi-decade passion for a pair of red pumps
 Update: Thanks to you, our Kickstarter campaign to "Keep Them Ruby" was a success and we have the support we need to conserve...
In foreground, red poppies grow tall and straight in the sunlight. In background, the Washington Monument rises up behind some trees. Clear blue sky.
"… If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard..."
Update: Thanks to you, our Kickstarter campaign to "Keep Them Ruby" has concluded successfully. The Ruby Slippers will return to...
Botanical model of Papaver rhoeas, the common poppy, late 19th century, used at the University of Minnesota Pharmacy School.
The power of the poppy: Exploring opium through "The Wizard of Oz"
"And now my beauties, something with poison in it I think, with poison in it, but attractive to the eye and soothing to the smell . . ....
A page from a television script. The paper is beige colored and the text looks like it is from a typewriter and is centered on the page
The "M*A*S*H" scripts: A collection of laughter and tears
Watching the television show M*A*S*H is a family tradition in my house. My grandfather introduced the show to my mother and uncle...
A contraption that appears to be made of translucent plastic, silver metal, and some sort of white cloth. It looks a bit like a gyroscope or a toy "top".
Heart valves galore, to Tin Man's delight
In The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man longs for a heart. That's a problem Manuel "Manny" Villafaña has rarely had—he has collected pieces of many...
a 4-wheeled, covered wagon with messages of suffrage and equal rights painted on the side
5 ways women influenced politics before they got to vote
As a young woman casting my vote in my first presidential election, I came to the museum interested in learning more about the history of...
A print showing a group of men by the ballot box. One man is holding some papers in his hands while the man across from him had his arm raised, appearing to be on the verge of hitting something. The men wear top hats and there is text at the bottom that explains a conflict between voters about who they would want to vote for.
The election of 1864 as seen through the Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Collection
As we near Election Day, political cartoons are inescapable. Satirical cartoons continue a tradition of political printmaking that has been...
Sara Sunshine’s Clio Award, 1987
Collecting the history of Hispanic advertising
Over the past two years, the museum's business history curator, Dr. Kathleen Franz, has been collecting a wide range of materials related...
Crop of image also used in full post. A little girl with her eyes closed gently touches the webbed foot of the lion. Her facial expression is happy--we see her in silhouette. The lion's poofy made is visible.
"Emily's Oz" brought a little girl's imagination to life
Update: Thanks to you, our Kickstarter campaign to "Keep Them Ruby" was a success and we have the support we need to conserve and display...
A sculpture made from one dollar bill(s). It is complex with interwoven triangles that give it a spiked sort of appearance.
Art from money: Paper money origami
Money is often defined as a medium of exchange, but to some artists money is simply a medium—or set of materials—that they can use to...
Did the Cowardly Lion give the greatest campaign speech of all time? Quite possibly.
Many writers have suggested that L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an allegory for late 19th-century American Populism. (For a...
Portrait of Marjorie Stewart Joyner
Making waves: Beauty salons and the black freedom struggle
Born in 1896 in the tiny Appalachian hamlet of Monterey, Virginia, Marjorie Stewart grew up in extreme poverty. Of her 12 brothers and...
Wizard of Oz, 1900
Populism and the World of Oz
Update: Thanks to you, our Kickstarter campaign to "Keep Them Ruby" was a success and we have the support we need to conserve and display...
Early television in wooden piece of furniture
Pay attention to the man on the television screen!
Update: Thanks to you, our Kickstarter campaign to "Keep Them Ruby" was a success and we have the support we need to conserve and display...
Photo of the Ruby Slippers on a yellow background
VHS killed "The Wizard of Oz" for me
 Update: Thanks to you, our Kickstarter campaign to "Keep Them Ruby" was a success and we have the support we need to conserve and...

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