Ellen Wexler

Ellen Wexler

 

Ellen Wexler is Smithsonian magazine’s assistant digital editor, humanities.

As the story goes, the makers of the first talking board asked the board what they should call it; the name “Ouija” came through.

The Ouija Board Can't Connect Us to Paranormal Forces—but It Can Tell Us a Lot About Psychology, Grief and Uncertainty

The game was born from Americans' obsession with Spiritualism in the 19th century. Since then, it's functioned as a reflection of their deep-seated beliefs and anxieties for more than a century

The memorial artwork hadn't been seen since the 1970s, when it was placed on a replica of Kennedy's gravesite in Upperville, Virginia.

A Secret Sculpture Built for John F. Kennedy's Grave Vanished in the 1970s. Half a Century Later, the Mystery Has Been Solved

The bronze wreath immortalized the moment when the members of the Honor Guard removed their hats and placed them on the president's grave during his burial

Agafia Lykova was born while her family was living alone in the wilderness. She is the only surviving member of the family.

This Russian Family Lived Alone in the Siberian Wilderness for 40 Years, Unaware of World War II or the Moon Landing

In 1978, Soviet geologists stumbled upon a family of five in the taiga. They had been cut off from almost all human contact since fleeing religious persecution in 1936

The Prometheus tree once stood in this grove on a mountain in Nevada.

How One Researcher Accidentally Killed One of the Oldest Trees in the World

In 1964, a graduate student cut down a bristlecone pine in Nevada. The tree, now known as Prometheus, turned out to be nearly 5,000 years old

After inheriting the flag from his grandfather, Scott Stein decided to return it to the descendants of its original owner.

A Japanese Soldier's Son Receives a Memento of His Father, Who Was Killed During World War II

The so-called good-luck flag, which hung on an American veteran's wall for many years, returned home last month after nearly eight decades

Napoleon in Burning Moscow, Adam Albrecht, 1841

To Strike Fear Into Napoleon's Occupying Army, These Retreating Soldiers Burned Down Their Own City

When the blaze in Moscow subsided on September 18, 1812, the French—who had traveled hundreds of miles into Russia—were left without vital resources as a brutal winter approached

The exterior of the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery in London. The controversial columns stood inside the ground-floor foyer.

Workers Find Mysterious Letter Hidden Inside a Concrete Column at London's National Gallery

John Sainsbury hoped the note would be found when the "unnecessary columns" were finally demolished

The front of the postcard features a print of The Challenge (1844) by English artist Edwin Henry Landseer.

See a Mysterious Postcard That Was Delivered 121 Years Late

The handwritten note, which bears a 1903 postmark, recently arrived at a building society in Wales

Robert C. Weaver Building houses the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Washingtonians Love to Hate Brutalist Architecture. But What If We Could Fix It?

An exhibition at the National Building Museum investigates the history and future of the much-maligned architectural style

An aerial photograph of Lahaina's banyan tree taken on August 3, 2024. A wildfire devastated the town in August 2023.

One Year After a Devastating Fire, Lahaina's 151-Year-Old Banyan Tree Is Healing

Arborists didn't know if the historic tree would survive, but they've been working to give it the best possible odds

An 1838 illustration of Pindar, the lyric poet from ancient Greece, reciting one of the Olympian odes

Poetry Was an Official Olympic Event for Nearly 40 Years. What Happened?

Pierre de Coubertin hoped the modern Games would encourage the ancient Greek notion of harmony between "muscle and mind"

Benjamin Franklin lived in London for much of the time between 1757 and 1775.

Why Were There So Many Skeletons Hidden in Benjamin Franklin's Basement?

During restorations in the 1990s, more than 1,200 pieces of bone surfaced beneath the founding father's London home

The Dolphin Hotel is a historic structure dating in Southampton, England.

Inside the Controversial Plan to Turn a Hotel Where Jane Austen Attended Balls Into Student Dorms

Devoted readers are worried about the fate of the historic Dolphin Hotel in southern England

The blade, known as Durandal, was embedded in rock more than 30 feet above the ground.

Fabled Sword From Medieval French Folklore Disappears

Known as the "French Excalibur," the blade is said to have hung from a rock face in the village of Rocamadour for 1,300 years

A self-portrait taken in New York by Vivian Maier in 1954

Meet Vivian Maier, the Reclusive Nanny Who Secretly Became One of the Best Street Photographers of the 20th Century

The self-taught artist is getting her first museum exhibition in New York City, where she nurtured her nascent interest in photography

Attendants assist Thomas Hicks, an American runner who consumed strychnine, egg whites and brandy during the race.

How the 1904 Marathon Became One of the Weirdest Olympic Events of All Time

Athletes drank poison, dodged traffic, stole peaches and even hitchhiked during the 24.85-mile race in St. Louis

Jacob Sharvit and Karnit Bahartan examine the two amphorae recovered from the wreck.

World's Oldest Deep-Sea Shipwreck Discovered a Mile Beneath the Mediterranean Sea

Archaeologists recovered two amphorae from the 3,300-year-old wreck site, which sheds new light on ancient maritime navigation

This still from The Bikeriders is a recreation of Danny Lyon's photo Crossing the Ohio River.

The Real Story Behind 'The Bikeriders' and the Danny Lyon Photography Book That Inspired It

A new film dramatizes the story of a motorcycle club chronicled by Lyon in the 1960s, offering a tribute to the outlaw spirit

These gendered designs have been the standard for hundreds of years.

Men's Shirts Button on the Right. Why Do Women's Button on the Left?

Nobody knows for sure, but plausible theories include swords, servants and saddles

Lali (played by Jonah Hauer-King) and Gita (Anna Próchniak) in "The Tattooist of Auschwitz," a new mini-series based on Heather Morris' 2018 novel of the same name

'The Tattooist of Auschwitz' Demonstrates the Limits of Holocaust Fiction

A new mini-series dramatizes the best-selling 2018 novel that sparked debate over the line between history and memory

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