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...
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...
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...

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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...
Signed baseball
Satchel Paige: Pitching through history
"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" – Satchel PaigeWith a professional baseball career spanning the jazz age to the...
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...
Multiple layer cake
Place on the plate: Smith Island, Chesapeake Bay
"Regions Reimagined," the theme for this year's Smithsonian Food History Weekend, will explore the power of place and the...
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...
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...
Chef adding spice to a dish of food
"What's on your neighbor's table..."
In 2018, the Smithsonian Food History Team is taking a close look at regional foodways and why they matter. From our monthly live-cooking...
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...
A blue and yellow banner that reads "Please give your help" and "Bowl of Rice, Feb. 9, 10, 11,1940-S.F. Chinatown"
You're invited to a Bowl of Rice Party
Wartime often catalyzes developments in philanthropy. In 2017, the museum added the Bowl of Rice party banner, from fundraising efforts to...
Gold bell topped with eagle design
Does this ring a bell? School bells of the late 19th and early 20th centuries
What’s it like to intern with our Division of Home and Community Life? Elizabeth Wells found herself falling in love with our bell...
The top of a green wine bottle.
Grape gluts and Mother Clones: Prohibition and American wine
Congress passed the National Prohibition Act in January 1919, and a year later, Americans were barred from making, transporting, selling,...
La Choy and Korean cofounder Ilhan New: Negotiating Asian culinary identities in America
A photograph of Korean food products—rice wine, soy sauce, and galbi (marinated meat) sauce—at a grocery store in Washington, D.C., that I...
Production drawings from Steamboat Willie show Mickey Mouse pulling on a string, tumbling on a bar of soap, and a wheel
Mickey Mouse turns 90
It is hard to believe, but Mickey Mouse is celebrating his 90th birthday this year. For an old mouse, he still looks pretty spry! One of...
What does Alexander Hamilton have to do with the lace industry in Ipswich, Massachusetts?
If you were rich and powerful, from the late 1500s on into the late 1700s, you would show off your wealth by adorning your fashionable...
A white doily with blue embroidery.
Entrepreneurial embroiderers
Embroidery by the Deerfield Society of Blue and White Needlework is beautiful . . . but that's just the beginning of the story. These...
Oregon's Big Pine: Standing tall when the U.S. Constitution was signed
National anniversaries can be celebrated in many ways—parades, fireworks displays, and, of course, museum exhibitions. In 1983 Congress...
A black wig on a white mannequin head. It is cut flat across the top, and curved on the sides.
Who has the best hair in our Entertainment Collection?
April 29, 2018, marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Broadway opening of the rock musical Hair. Hair grew out of the counterculture...
Patch with character of Fifinella—a winged woman wearing goggles, frozen mid-jump
Mickey Mouse morale: Disney on the World War II home front
On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into World War II. The very next day U.S. Army troops...
Vibrant purple fabric, with Perkin Mauve written below
Souvenirs of science
I collect souvenirs, as do many friends and family members. Most of these souvenirs have scant monetary value, but we treasure them as...
A blue robotic arm
Adventures in collecting: Kenneth Salisbury's robot hand
A visitor to Kenneth Salisbury's Stanford University office can't miss the evidence of his life-long fascination with hands.Kenneth...
President Lyndon Johnson signing the Fair Housing Act, 1968, surrounded by onlookers
The Fair Housing Act: Fifty years later
Fifty years ago, on April 11, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a bill that was to end discrimination in most of the nation’s housing...
Oscar Peterson and Norman Granz seated together
In other words: Norman Granz, by the musicians who knew him
During this year’s Jazz Appreciation Month, we are exploring the relationship between jazz and justice by looking at the dynamic ways jazz...
Prohibition was fantastic for American beer, or, cheers to homebrewers
Did that title grab your attention? Great.Happy National Beer Day! When you open your fridge shortly after five o'clock this evening (or...
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...

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