Stories

1863 results
Gold locket with black onyx stones along its border and brown hair embedded in the center under glass.
Article

How first families have memorialized and mourned

Sara Murphy
October 19, 2017
On the left there is a box with bright green and red packaging. On the right there are two vials with the same red and green packaging as the box.
Article

Healthy hogs for a healthy nation

Diane Wendt
October 18, 2017
A long history of attempts at treating plague are represented in the museum's collections. Clockwise: a bottle to hold a preparation of scorzonera, or viper’s grass; a container used to store a paste of eggs, honey, and other ingredients; a jar intended for pulverized bezoars; and a bezoar formed from ingested hair in the stomach of an ox.
Article

Plague hits Mouse Town, USA!

guest blogger Charles Richter
October 16, 2017
Three amber-colored bottles that resemble upside down bells with handles. They have yellowed labels on them.
Article

An-tee-bodies: T-shirts in celebration of the antibody

Mallory Warner
October 13, 2017
An open brown box. The top of the box has a label reading "via air mail" and a stamp that says refrigerate, but no other markings. Insides the open box, there is a pipette and other components of the pregnancy test.
Article

Antibodies are a girl's best friend

Alexandra Lord
October 12, 2017
On a boat with waves in the background, a young man with blonde hair holds a video camera to his face. He wears a military vest and pants with bare arms. In front of him--the subject he is filming--is a gun or other military equipment on the boat. An operator's forearm is visible holding/manipulating the gun or equipment.
Article

Combat Photographer: Vietnam through the lens of Marine Corporal William T. Perkins, Jr.

Frank Blazich
October 12, 2017
An elaborate outfit comprising a crimson robe with matching skirt with gold lace overlay. There is a sloping sash placed around the shoulders and a hat with four points.
Article

The woman who would be cardinal

Kenneth Cohen
October 11, 2017
A model of the head and decolletage of what used to be a woman but is now a creature with leathery and deteriorating skin opening its lipless maw hungrily. It doesn't have arms.
Article

Contemporary collecting: Creepy costumes and props from "The Walking Dead" join our collection

Jane Rogers
October 10, 2017
A folded white cloth napkin with writing on it. The notes and graph demonstrate Laffer's theory of supply side economics.
Article

Great napkins of history: Laffer and Zandman's sketches of breakthrough ideas

Peter Liebhold
October 6, 2017
Newspaper clippings, white cards with handwritten text, and a photograph on old, faded paper. There are dark streaks on some of the clippings and the page.
Article

Scrapbooks: troublemakers and treasures in the archives

Eva H. Buchanan-Cates
September 30, 2017
Cover of Leopoldo Martinez's red leather scrapbook. The embroidered book has features the text: Scrap Book.
Article

Commemorating a LIFE: How one Latino ballplayer remembered his career

Luke Perez
September 29, 2017
Photograph of Ernie Martinez's re-stitched baseball glove and repair tools.
Article

Innovative solutions to baseball problems: Latina/o style

Luke Perez
September 20, 2017
Four figurines lined up against a background. They wear colorful clothing, carry different items and have objects on their heads
Article

The small town sculptor and the American collector

intern Sarah Barton
September 15, 2017
A black and white photograph of a wall inside a building covered in a line of photographs with text panels and large lettering.
Article

Looking back on "M*A*S*H," the show and the exhibition

volunteer Lucy Harvey
September 14, 2017
A dark-haired woman in a gold hat and top holds up a bottle of Coca Cola and smiles. There is a dark border created by the visible film strip around the photograph.
Article

Yo Te Sigo Queriendo (I Still Love You): Memories of Selena

Melinda Machado, Amelia Thompson, intern Chloe Reynolds
September 12, 2017
A colorful mask with red antlers, a black face covered in yellow dashes with two yellow horns. The eyes are exaggeratedly large and the mouth is open with many thin white teeth. There are bells attached all over the mask.
Article

Ask a Curator Day: Indulge your curiosity, history nerds!

Erin Blasco
September 8, 2017
Photo of World Trade Center site after attacks of September 11, 2001. Two or three workers in hard hats and uniforms are in the cherrypicker of a crane, shooting a fire hose downward in a gentle arch. A battered wall or part of a building visible left.
Article

The day I decided not to collect: A curator's view of Ground Zero

Jane Rogers
September 8, 2017
On a white background lies a rectangular piece of paper with chunks missing. It looks like a puzzle because some pieces are lined up next to each other. There is a second partially destroyed document laying to the right.
Article

Preserving and displaying layers of history: The stock certificate nearly destroyed on September 11

intern Devin Mattlin
September 7, 2017
Photograph of lunch counter with four chairs
Article

Greensboro, Charlottesville, and the nation we build together

Megan Smith
August 31, 2017
Photograph of Skorton welcoming visitors at the opening of the new wing. He is joined by two museum staffers dressed in Statue of Liberty costumes.
Article

Smithsonian Secretary Skorton's introduction to our new wing, The Nation We Build Together

David J. Skorton
August 30, 2017