American South

Steadfast Stride Toward Justice by artist Basil Watson is the first life-sized depiction of John Lewis in his home state.

New Statue Honoring Civil Rights Activist John Lewis Unveiled in His Home State of Alabama

The life-sized bronze sculpture of the congressman joins statues of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks in the Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Plaza in Montgomery

The machine features a ceramic countertop and two parallel rollers—one that's covered with small nubs.

Historians Say They've Solved the Mystery of a Curious 100-Year-Old Contraption Discovered in Storage

Staffers at the Dorchester County Historical Society in Maryland were baffled by the unusual machine, so they asked the public for help in determining its purpose

A white mob poses outside of the razed office of the Daily Record, a Black-owned newspaper in Wilmington, North Carolina, on November 10, 1898.

When White Supremacists Staged the Only Successful Coup in U.S. History

The 1898 Wilmington massacre left dozens of Black North Carolinians dead. Conspirators also forced the city's multiracial government to resign at gunpoint

Robert Smalls made headlines when he commandeered a Confederate ship during the Civil War.

He Escaped Slavery and Became a Civil War Hero. Now, Robert Smalls Is Getting a Statue in South Carolina

A special committee has until January 15 to finalize the design, location and funding for a monument that will be erected on the lawn of the South Carolina State House

The grand Biltmore house will reopen on November 2.

Asheville's Biltmore Estate Will Reopen for the Holidays After Sustaining Damage From Hurricane Helene

The sprawling estate, which is the largest privately owned home in the country, will open its doors in November after a month-long closure

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How Black Americans in the South Boldly Defied Jim Crow to Build Business Empires of Their Own

The Great Migration transformed the nation—but millions of African Americans never left their Southern communities. Their unlikely success makes their stories all the more remarkable

This specimen is the first complete tusk of its kind found in Mississippi.

Rare Seven-Foot Mammoth Tusk Unearthed in Mississippi Creek

The enormous fossil belonged to a Columbian mammoth, a larger relative of the woolly mammoth

Start dates at schools across American range from mid-July to early September.

When Do Kids Go Back to School? It Depends on Where They Live

In some districts, students returned to their classrooms weeks before Labor Day

A 1959 photograph of William "W.R." Saxon, who is standing third from left

This Little-Known Civil Rights Activist Refused to Give Up His Bus Seat Four Years Before Rosa Parks Did

William "W.R." Saxon filed a lawsuit against the company that forced him to move to the back of the bus, seeking damages for the discrimination and mental anguish he’d faced

To mark her graduation from dental school in 2021, Breanna Henley took photographs in front of a slave cabin at Redcliffe Plantation.

Why Descendants Are Returning to the Plantations Where Their Ancestors Were Enslaved

Some Black Americans are reclaiming antebellum estates as part of their family legacy, reflecting the power and possibility of these historic sites

The badges identify the wearer's occupation, such as servant or porter. 

These Badges Shed New Light on the Enslaved Workers Who Built Charleston

The Smithsonian has acquired a collection of 146 slave badges from between 1800 and 1865

Rickwood Field is the oldest ballpark in the United States.

Everyone Should Know About Rickwood Field, the Alabama Park Where Baseball Legends Made History

The sport's greatest figures played ball in the Deep South amid the racism and bigotry that would later make Birmingham the center of the civil rights movement

Members of the Little Rock Nine study together after being blocked from Little Rock Central High in 1957.

Little Rock Nine and Paul McCartney React to Beyoncé's 'Blackbird' Cover

McCartney was inspired to write the song after hearing about the battle to integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1957

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2024 Spring Travel South Louisiana

Home to a confluence of cultures, iconic jambalayas, and a vibrant jazz legacy, let the Bayou State feed your soul and inspire you.

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2024 Spring Travel South Mississippi

Whether you’re chasing waterfalls in the Appalachian foothills, exploring Black history, or tucking in to comforting culinary classics, the Magnolia State is an invitation to all those who love to wander.

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2024 Spring Travel South Kentucky

The Bluegrass State has something for everyone. Sample bourbon, embark on subterranean adventures, or visit equine legends. You can even scuba dive.

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2024 Spring Travel South Alabama

Home to dazzling beaches, Southern culinary classics, and the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, this crossroads of American culture is calling all visitors.

The Mississippi John Hurt Museum stood on the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta.

Fire Destroys Museum Honoring Legendary Blues Musician Mississippi John Hurt

The three-room shack in the town of Avalon, Mississippi, was once the singer and guitarist's home

A white Baptist woman named Harriet M. Buss taught Civil War hero Robert Smalls (pictured) how to read and write.

What a Teacher's Letters Reveal About Robert Smalls, Who Stole a Confederate Ship to Secure His Freedom From Slavery

Harriet M. Buss' missives home detail the future congressman's candid views on race and the complicity of Confederate women

A Tuskegee study subject gets his blood drawn in the mid-20th century.

What Newly Digitized Records Reveal About the Tuskegee Syphilis Study

The archival trove chronicles the extreme measures administrators took to ensure Black sharecroppers did not receive treatment for the venereal disease

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