CURRENT ISSUE

September 2005

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine image Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine mobile image

Features

Green turtle swimming over coral reefs in Kona

Back from the Brink

Not every endangered species is doomed. Thanks to tough laws, dedicated researchers, and plenty of money and effort, success stories abound

Nigerian village of Tajae

Born into Bondage

Despite denials by government officials, slavery remains a way of life in the African nation of Niger

Between 6 B.C. and A.D. 4, Roman legions established bases on the Lippe and Weser rivers.

The Ambush That Changed History

An amateur archaeologist discovers the field where wily Germanic warriors halted the spread of the Roman Empire

lifetime_road.jpg

Lesson of a Lifetime

Her bold experiment to teach Iowa third graders about racial prejudice divided townspeople and thrust her onto the national stage

jazzman_trumpet.jpg

Jazz Man

Louis Armstrong before he was Satchmo? A youthful Ella? For photographs of musicians great or obscure, just about everyone turns to Frank Driggs

navigating_map.jpg

Navigating Siberia

A 2,300-mile boat trip down the Lena River, one of the last great unspoiled waterways, is a journey into Russia's dark past—and perhaps its future as well

Departments

Indelible Images

Ties That Bind

At last, all parties were ready to make peace in the Middle East. Whoops ... Not So Fast

The Object at Hand

John Lennon's First Album

A boyhood collection of stamps opens a new page on the teenage Beatle-to-be

Phenomena & Curiosities

Fuel for Thought

Cars that run on vegetable oil? Do-it-yourselfers and entrepreneurs alike fill 'er up with the nation's fastest-growing propellant

Digs

The Best Offense

A buried Civil War battery in a Kentucky suburb tells of valiant men standing at the ready... and waiting... and waiting....

Presence of Mind

On Not Naming Names

The reporter was given a choice: Identify his confidential sources or go to jail. He chose jail

Editor's Note

Formative Years

Early lessons last a lifetime

From the Secretary

New Faces

Artists, emerging and renowned alike, will vie to display their works in the National Portrait Gallery when it reopens next July

Lewis and Clark

Cold and Hungry

When snow blankets the mountains, the expedition is once again imperiled