Cultural Preservation

Interior Views Light through windows in Main Concourse, Grand Central Terminal, 1929.

The Preservation Battle of Grand Central

Forty years ago, preservationists—including a former First Lady—fought to maintain the integrity of New York City’s historic railway station

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Oaxaca's Pre-Hispanic Monte Albán Ruins to Be Restored

World Monuments Fund raised $1 million to help repair 15 structures at the World Heritage Site that were impacted by a 2017 earthquake

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Step Inside the Louvre Abu Dhabi

A History Nerd Will Get to Spend the Summer Guiding Visitors Through 4,000 Years of History

Jarlshof in the Shetland Islands is looking for a guide to take visitors through its Stone, Bronze and Iron Age, Pictish, Viking and Scottish ruins

"Untitled," a previously known James Castle work

Eleven Never-Before-Seen Artworks Found in the Walls of James Castle's House

The renowned Idaho Outsider artist was known for squirreling his drawings and sculptures away in the walls and ceiling of his Boise home

Ulysses Simpson Grant, Oil on canvas by Thomas Le Clear

Ulysses S. Grant's 1849 Home in Detroit May Be Restored

The house he rented as a young officer is now boarded up and full of trash on the site of the former Michigan state fairgrounds

Open Heritage shows Bagan, an ancient city in Myanmar, before and after the 2016 earthquake.

Check Out the World’s Largest Archive Digitally Preserving At-Risk Heritage Sites

Open Heritage features 27 sites in 18 countries with more locations to be added in the future

A movie screening at Hollywood Forever.

From Yoga to Movie Nights: How Cemeteries Are Trying to Attract the Living

These cemeteries around the country are more public space than burial ground

Truck tracks on the Nasca lines

Truck Driver Leaves Tire Tracks Over Peru's Ancient Nasca Lines

Three of the Unesco World Heritage site's enigmatic glyphs were harmed, but authorities believe they can repair the damage

Riley, future bug-cop.

Meet Riley, the Puppy Training to Sniff Out Bugs in Boston's Museum of Fine Arts

The Weimaraner will inspect incoming artwork for beetles, moths and other critters that can damage museum collections

Detail of north elevation of Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall), from 1752 map of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Two Centuries Ago, Pennsylvania Almost Razed Independence Hall to Make Way for Private Development

Fortunately saner minds prevailed when the state thought about tearing down Philadelphia's historic structure

The live cinema event traverses time periods, New York City boroughs, to present portrait of urban life

Archivist Captures New York’s Bygone Past Through Home Movies, Historical Footage

Rick Prelinger seeks to capture ephemeral portraits of city life

In Valle de Allende, Mexico, a school child carries her homework assignment, an altar for Día de los Angelitos, the first of three days when participants honor and commune with deceased ancestors.

These Dramatic Photos Reveal the Soul Behind the Day of the Dead

New Mexican Photographer Miguel Gandert allows his subjects to narrate their own story

The Boston Public Library Is Digitizing 200,000 Vintage Recordings

With the help of the Internet Archive, the recordings from the Sound Archives Collection will one day be available for free streaming and download

The Ainu, the Indigenous people of Japan, have fought Japanese domination for centuries. As this century unfolds, their efforts are finally paying off.

How Japan's Bear-Worshipping Indigenous Group Fought Its Way to Cultural Relevance

For a long time, Japanese anthropologists and officials tried to bury the Ainu. It didn't work

Visitors next month will be able to tour the top tiers of Rome's Colosseum

Rome's Colosseum Is Reopening Its Upper Tiers to Visitors

For the first time in four decades, the public will be able to enter the top levels of Rome’s amphitheater

Tripartite Mahzor, Lake Constance Area, ca. 1322 (Oxford, Bodleian Library) - The Tripartite Mahzor is a magnificent illuminated manuscript divided into three volumes, housed today in Budapest, London and Oxford. It is adorned by paintings in colors and gold, produced in a non-Jewish workshop. Here the initial word: כל ("All") opening the Eve of Yom Kippur prayers is written within a colorful panel adorned with hybrid creatures typical to this workshop. This image is taken from the Ursula and Kurt Schubert Archive held in the Center for Jewish Art.

World's Largest Online Database of Jewish Art Preserves At-Risk Heritage Objects

Take a tour through the Bezalel Narkiss Index of Jewish Art, which contains more than 260,000 entries from 41 countries

Young people of the U.S. Virgin Islands march along in a carnival parade, amid the destruction of Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

How Cultural Resilience Made a Difference After Hurricane Hugo And Could Help Again

When the 1989 hurricane devastated the U.S. Virgin Islands, Smithsonian folklorists were working on an upcoming Folklife Festival

Want to Learn Cherokee? How About Ainu? This Startup Is Teaching Endangered Languages

Tribalingual founder Inky Gibbens explains how saving languages is a means of preserving different worldviews

Humpback whales sounding in Windham Bay, Alaska.

What Humpback Whales Can Teach Us About Compassion

Are these orca-fighting, seal-saving good Samaritans really just in it for themselves?

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