CURRENT ISSUE

July 2005

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Features

54th Mass Morris Island charge

Preservation or Development at Morris Island?

On this site where the nation's legendary African-American fighting force proved its valor in the Civil War, a housing development ignited a debate

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Saving Mali's Migratory Elephants

A new photo library of West Africa's desert elephants is helping researchers track the dwindling herd and protect their imperiled migration routes.

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Syria at a Crossroads

Following a humbling retreat from Lebanon and increasingly at odds with the U.S., the proud Arab nation finds itself at a critical juncture

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Through Our Readers' Eyes

SMITHSONIAN's second annual photo contest generates more than 30,000 entries

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The Real Robinson Crusoe

He was a pirate, a hothead and a lout, but castaway Alexander Selkirk—the author's ancestor inspired one of the greatest yarns in literature

FBI update

Ripped from the Walls (and the Headlines)

Fifteen years after the greatest art theft in modern history the mystery may be unraveling

Departments

Indelible Images

Paris, Mon Amour

For photographer Robert Doisneau, finding an openly affectionate couple in the City of Light was as easy as falling in love

The Object at Hand

Going for the Gold

A pop-music confection known as The Village People belted out disco hits in the 1970s that morphed into American standards

Points of Interest

Cowboys and Artists

Each summer models decked out in period dress give artists a picture of life in the Wild West

Digs

Board Rooms

Near Portland, Oregon, archaeologists and Indians have built an authentic Chinookan plankhouse like those Lewis and Clark saw

Tribute

Tocqueville's America

The French author's piquant observations on American gumption and political hypocrisy sound remarkably contemporary 200 years after his birth

Editor's Note

Making Tracks

On the trail of art thieves and elusive elephants

The Year We Were Born

July 1970

A look back at the world in Smithsonian Magazine's first year

From the Secretary

From the Secretary: Guiding Light

New palm-size computers show videos and maps to lead visitors around— even to a good cup of joe

Lewis and Clark

The Elusive Shoshone

Needing horses and a route across the Rockies, the corps must find Sacagawea's people —or risk the fate of the expedition

The Last Page

The Power and the Glory

She bought the electric drill to get a tidier household. Then she found out about the secret sisterhood