Business

The only available photograph of America Newton, a formerly enslaved woman who ran a laundry business out of her cabin in Julian, California, dates to around 1910.

The Trailblazing Black Entrepreneurs Who Shaped a 19th-Century California Boomtown

Though founded by Confederates, Julian became a place of opportunity for people of color—and a model for what the U.S. could look like after the Civil War

The FORMAT festival will be held on 250 acres of open green land just a few miles outside of Bentonville, Arkansas.

Walmart Heirs Launch New Music Festival in Bid to Make Arkansas an Art Destination

FORMAT will bring big-name musicians, contemporary artists to Bentonville

Under the proposed rules, companies would need to divulge climate-related risks that are likely to impact the business.

SEC Proposes New Climate Change Disclosures for Companies

The proposal passed on a 3–1 vote, and the public will now have around 60 days to submit comments

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This Missouri Company Still Makes Cassette Tapes, and They Are Flying Off the Factory Floor

National Audio Company is the largest manufacturer in the world for this retro sound

Harry Hall, Campbell's chief agricultural expert, inspects tomatoes in his office at Campbell's research farm in Cinnaminson, New Jersey sometime in the 1920s.

How Campbell Soup Turned New Jersey Into a Tomato-Growing State

The canned food company's tomato breeding program was responsible for developing several important varieties

A woman smiles as she reaches for a container of Betty Crocker pizza dough mix, in the dairy section of a grocery store.

The Real Betty Crocker May Never Have Existed, but She Still Became a Symbol for American Women

Created as a customer service tool 100 years ago, the fictional character marks the evolution of domesticity in the United States

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The Sake Master Who Bucks Ancient Tradition—in America

The ancient Japanese art of brewing a fragrant alcoholic drink from rice is being reinterpreted by Atsuo Sakurai in an unlikely setting

During the 2017 Grocery Walk, more than 500 protestors demanded greater investment in food access programs and healthy food retail options in a local Washington D.C. community.

In a City Flush With Power and Wealth, D.C.'s Ward 8 Faces Food Inequity

Eleven percent of U.S. households experience hunger; an expansive, new exhibition focuses how a local community manages this national problem

The stock certificate pieced back together and encased in mylar

How Conservators Preserved This Stock Certificate Destroyed on 9/11

The certificate arrived in the Smithsonian's Paper Conservation Lab as a pile of paper bits stored in an envelope

Three miners with federal soldier prepare to surrender weapons.

What Made the Battle of Blair Mountain the Largest Labor Uprising in American History

Its legacy lives on today in the struggles faced by modern miners seeking workers' rights

Herr, Thomas & Co., Pittsburg, PA. Catalogue No. 101 (1907), page 74, Dresser Trunk, Suit Case, Leather Suit Case, Cabinet Bag, Trunk, Steamer Trunk, Hand Bag or Satchel.

Pack Your Bags Like It's 1907

Early 20th century trade catalogs highlight a range of sturdy, vintage satchels and trunks

Rea Ann Silva with an oversized version of the Beautyblender sponge

Rea Ann Silva Invented the 'Beautyblender' and Changed Makeup Forever

Silva’s work as a makeup artist on "Girlfriends" unexpectedly thrust her into the beauty products industry as an innovator and entrepreneur

An early example of stylish appeal: the 1940 Chevrolet half-ton.

The Rugged History of the Pickup Truck

At first, it was all about hauling things we needed. Then the vehicle itself became the thing we wanted

Rebecca Lukens

How Rebecca Lukens Became the Nation's First Woman Industrialist

A sudden tragedy thrust this pioneer into the family business and into history, making her the first woman to run an iron mill in the United States

Just over 150 employees handcraft 12 million cigars a year from the historic J.C. Newman Cigar Company.

The Last Cigar Factory in Tampa

After a multi-million renovation, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company in Ybor City offers visitors a museum and tours of its working factory

Were it not for tuberculosis, artist and furniture maker Daniel Mack writes, “It’s unlikely that there would have been an Adirondack chair.”

How the Adirondack Chair Became the Feel-Good Recliner That Cures What Ails You

The furniture piece has gone through countless permutations, but it all started at a time when resting outdoors was thought to be a matter of life or death

Will an American athlete from the Tokyo Games grab gold and become the next to be featured on the cover of Wheaties?

How Wheaties Became the 'Breakfast of Champions'

Images of Olympians and other athletes on boxes helped the cereal maintain a competitive edge

James Delgado, the former director of NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Program, says there is consensus that the Prinzessin Victoria Luise was the “first purpose-built, non-private excursion ship: what we call ‘cruise’ ships today.”

The History of the World's First Cruise Ship Built Solely for Luxurious Travel

At the turn of the 20th century, a German Jewish shipping executive had an innovative idea for a new revenue stream: the cruise

Visionary executive William Barstow Strong led the second transcontinental line, the Santa Fe, in the 1880s, paving the way for thousands of miles of track.

How the Santa Fe Railroad Changed America Forever

The golden spike made the newspapers. But another railroad made an even bigger difference to the nation

A few short years after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Greenwood’s homes and businesses came back. This photograph shows a parade held in the Oklahoma neighborhood during the 1930s or '40s.

Decades After the Tulsa Race Massacre, Urban 'Renewal' Sparked Black Wall Street's Second Destruction

In the 1960s, construction of four federal highways brought the rebuilt neighborhood of Greenwood's prosperity to an abrupt end

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