Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

Bernice Johnson Reagon's Lessons for Living

Bernice Johnson Reagon’s life offers us lessons to navigate an unjust world and work toward change. From her role as a Civil Rights activist to her transformative curatorial position at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Reagon demonstrated how songs and musical traditions, particularly those of the oppressed and marginalized, can transform the world.

Three cards where visitors left handwritten messages invoking girl power. One card reads: “you think we're not good enough but we're just to [sic] good for you, girl power.”

What Does 'Girl Power' Really Mean?

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Meet the Titans of Jazz

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Ella at the Gala

Portrait of Madam C. J. Walker, taken in 1915.

How Madam C.J. Walker Changed Philanthropy

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Ten Objects That Will Help You Understand Latinx History

Robert Abbe's hourglass (NMAH)

Curing Cancer with a Single Gram of Radium