American History

The suspected Confederate blockade runner found near the mouth of the Cape Fear River

Civil War Blockade Runner Found in North Carolina Waters

Sonar scan finds possible remains of a Confederate steamship used to outrun the Union Navy

Nancy Reagan by Aaron Shikler, essence of oil on paper, 1984–85.

How Nancy Reagan Made Her Mark on the White House

A curator at the American History Museum reflects on the First Lady's impact on Washington

Velvalee Dickinson, suspected spy.

The Spy in the Doll Shop

The FBI was confounded by mysterious letters sent to South America, until they came across New York City proprieter Velvalee Dickinson

Portrait of Benjamin Franklin

Ben Franklin Was One-Fifth Revolutionary, Four-Fifths London Intellectual

The enterprising Philadelphian was late to adopt the revolutionary cause, but infused America with English ideals

The Eleanor Roosevelt Monument in Riverside Park, New York, was dedicated at 72nd Street on October 5, 1996.

It's Way Too Hard to Find Statues of Notable Women in the U.S.

Only a handful of the country's sculptures honor women

Jesse Owens' coach at Ohio State, Larry Snyder, taught Owens to crouch more compactly at the starting line so that he could get a faster start.

A Sports Curator at the Smithsonian Unpacks the Myths and Reality in the Film "Race"

Jesse Owens is best known for his performance at the 1936 Berlin Games, but curator Damion Thomas says there is more to the story

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (Mrs. Alexander Hamilton), 1787, Ralph Earl (1751-1801).

Elizabeth Hamilton Once Posed for a Portrait in a New York City Prison

There was a dire need for painters to immortalize America’s elites

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, circa 1787.

Why Elizabeth Hamilton Is Deserving of a Musical of Her Own

How the founding father’s wife kept their love alive in the face of tragedy

Hamilton Hall at Columbia University

Where to Go in New York When You Can’t Get Tickets to "Hamilton"

Fans of "Hamilton" can check out these historic sites

On his property, Jones County’s J. R. Gavin points out a site that was a hide-out for Newt Knight. “The Confederates kept sending in troops to wipe out old Newt and his boys,” says Gavin, “but they’d just melt into the swamps.”

The True Story of the ‘Free State of Jones’

A new Hollywood movie looks at the tale of the Mississippi farmer who led a revolt against the Confederacy

Onlookers crowd King Street in Alexandria, recently named America's most romantic city.

What's America's Most Romantic City?

A new Amazon.com list finds true love in Alexandria, Virginia

Theodore Roosevelt with his four sons

The First Children Who Led Sad Lives

Several children of presidents met cruel fates in the first 150 years of our country's history

Comb Through This Framed Collection of Presidential Hair

The Smithsonian keeps a most unusual artifact of hair clipped straight from the heads of presidents

The Peacekeeper missile was the most powerful weapon in the U.S. military's arsenal until its decommissioning in 2005. This photo is of a test launch in California in 1983.

Wyoming Is Turning a Former Cold War Nuclear Missile Site Into a Tourist Attraction

The U.S. Air Force is working to recreate a Cold War stronghold

A 1950s Mountain Dew ad as photographed in Jakes Corner, Arizona

Mountain Dew Once Had Ties to Moonshine

The original soda named Mountain Dew was supposed to be a whiskey accompaniment

A trumpet recovered from the USS Houston undergoes treatment at the Naval History and Heritage Command's Underwater Archaeology Branch laboratory on the Washington Navy Yard, Dec. 31, 2013.

A Trumpet Retrieved From a World War II Shipwreck Could Still Hold Its Owner’s DNA

Conservators are trying to identify the sailor who once played it

Students pledged to speak only Latin, Greek or Hebrew in each other's company in this 1712 note.

Read About Drama, Politics, Breakfast in These Newly Digitized Colonial Documents

An ambitious Harvard University project brings history to life, archiving nearly half a million documents online

44 Years Ago, Shirley Chisholm Became the First Black Woman to Run For President

Chisholm saw her campaign as a necessary "catalyst for change"

The First Person of Native American Descent Was Elected to the U.S. Senate 109 Years Ago Today

Charles Curtis, who would go on to become Herbert Hoover's vice president, left behind a problematic legacy

An engraving showing the Pequot War

Colonial America Depended on the Enslavement of Indigenous People

The role of enslaving Native Americans in early American history is often overlooked

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