Curator's Corner: Behind-the-Scenes

More than 1,200 newspapers serve ethnic communities across America. Current front pages from some of those publications are on display at the Newseum.

News For All: How the Immigrant Experience Shaped American Media

From Benjamin Franklin to Noticiero Univision, the Newseum discusses the profound influence of immigrants on modern news

July 2, 2014

Hokule'a departs on 4-year worldwide voyage from Honolulu in May 2014.

For Four Years, This Polynesian Canoe Will Sail Around the World Raising Awareness of Global Climate Change

A Smithsonian curator chronicles the genesis of the project that hearkens back to when ancient navigators traveled the oceans

June 23, 2014

Human towers for democracy at the anniversary of Castellers in Barcelona.

What Does a 36-Foot-Tall Human Tower Have to Do With Catalan Independence?

An eye-catching protest across Europe is steeped in cultural heritage says Smithsonian curator Michael Atwood Mason

June 13, 2014

Why Do We Have Trouble Talking About Success In Ocean Conservation?

Despite what you’ve read in the news, there’s still hope for a future with a healthy ocean

June 12, 2014

This month's Atlantic cover story by Ta-Nehisi Coates is generating some serious discussion about "The Case for Reparations."

Breaking Ground

America's Moral Debt to African Americans

The director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture joins the discussion around "The Case for Reparations"

June 6, 2014

Family photographs collected from around the United States are featured in Beyond Bollywood. Here, Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Shrimati Sanjukta Ghosh, with Vikram (Boomba) Ghosh at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Lagunitas, Calif., ca. 1970.

How Museums and the Arts are Presenting Identity So That It Unites, Not Divides

Curators and practioners of the arts share a renewed focus on how culture and heritage shape who we are as Americans

May 29, 2014

Washington, D.C.

How a Ragtag Band of Reformers Organized the First Protest March on Washington, D.C.

The first March on Washington was a madcap affair, but in May of 1894, some 10,000 citizens descended on D.C., asking for a jobs bill

May 1, 2014

Several scenes in this month's box office smash Captain America: The Winter Soldier were filmed at the National Air and Space Museum.

How Captain America Made the Leap From the Museum to the Front Pages

Filmed at the Smithsonian, the smash hit prompts curator Amy Henderson to ponder the real world anxieties underlying our superhero fictions

April 29, 2014

Celebrating his 20th anniversary as the host of Turner Classic Movies, Robert Osborne describes his job as "such luck."

On the Red Carpet with "Mr. Oscar" Himself, Robert Osborne

In celebration of his 20-year anniversary at Turner Classic Movies, the ultimate film buff stops by the Smithsonian to chat

April 11, 2014

How Did the Cruellest Month Come to Be the Perfect 30 Days to Celebrate Poetry?

A Smithsonian historian makes the case why springtime is the best time to reawaken a thirst for verse

April 4, 2014

Duke Ellington and band members playing baseball in front of their segregated motel ("Astor Motel") while touring in Florida.

Rare Footage of Duke Ellington Highlights When Jazz and Baseball Were in Perfect Harmony

The Smithsonian's curator of American music explains how the history of two great American innovations—Jazz and baseball—are intertwined

April 1, 2014

Redpath lectures lasted well into the 20th-century (above, 1913), but when James Redpath started them in the late 1860s, he sought out speakers who could electrify an audience.

Before SXSW and Ted, A Manic Visionary Revolutionized the American Lecture Circuit

Meet James Redpath, the man who coached national celebrities on how to bring a crowd to its feet

March 19, 2014

Artwork Culled From the Collections Proves That No One Will Ever Be As Fashionable As the French

This collection of early 20th-century fashion plates reveal how women used their wardrobe for empowerment

March 13, 2014

Karita Mattila as Tosca ready to jump to her death in Puccini's perennial favorite that opened the 2009-2010 Met HD Season

Can Museums and Other Institutions Keep up With Digital Culture?

Get with it, or get left behind in the digital dust

March 7, 2014

Invitees to the museum’s grand reopening in 2008 admire the newly restored flag.

Previewing the Smithsonian’s Plans for the 200th Anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner

And at the same time, the American History Museum celebrates its 50th birthday

March 2014

Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S. perform during the ice dance free dance at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France, on March 29, 2012.

Winter Olympics