National Museum of American History

This 1989 custom-made guitar was designed by Prince and constructed by a small company, Knut-Koupee Enterprises, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (NMAH)

Five of the Most Intriguing Electric Guitars at the National Museum of American History

Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month this April with a look at five of the most exciting electric guitars at the National Museum of American History.

Photograph for a Coca-Cola ad featuring Selena, 1994. Photo by Al Rendon. (NMAH)

How Do We Remember Selena?

Three women on the National Museum of American History staff share their personal connections with Selena and discuss why her legacy matters not just to them but to many Americans.

Rendon working on a photoshoot with Selena, 1994. Photo courtesy of Rick Tolar. (NMAH)

How an Advertising Photographer Created Some of the Most Iconic Images of Selena

Who wouldn't want to share a Coke with Selena?

How Do the Arts Promote Social Change?

The long tradition of Americans using the arts to move people to support all manner of philanthropic endeavors has shaped American society by advancing causes while also shaping American culture by fostering appreciation for the arts.

Lena Richard (Image courtesy of Newcomb Archives and Vorhoff Library Special Collections, Newcomb College Institute, Tulane University)

How Chef Lena Richard Became a Culinary Icon and Activist

Lena Richard was an African American chef who built a culinary empire in New Orleans during the Jim Crow era.

Portrait of Jessica Govea. Courtesy of the Govea Family. (NMAH)

How One Girl Helped Build a Latinx Civil Rights Movement

Jessica Govea organized and advocated on behalf of farmworkers.

This dress, with a matching necklace and ruby red high heels, was worn by Cornell to her prom in 2018 (NMAH)

How Isabella Aiukli Cornell Made Prom Political

For Isabella Aiukli Cornell, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a prom dress was the perfect vehicle to express pride for her Native heritage and to signal her support of a growing political movement with which she has been deeply involved.

A quarantine sign used in Connecticut (NMAH)

How Failed Quarantines Led to 20th-Century Measles Outbreaks

In 1904, measles epidemics were spiraling across the state of Connecticut. Measles epidemics could, officials insisted, be arrested if quarantines were simply enforced across the state.

Luisa Moreno stands on a balcony in Mexico City, 1927 (NMAH)

The Case of Luisa Moreno

Luisa Moreno not only organized workers in the fields and canneries, she was also a vocal advocate for Latino/a civil rights, becoming a principal leader of El Congreso de Pueblos de Habla Española (the Spanish-Speaking People’s Congress)

Hopper and a colleague examine a sequence mechanism (NMAH)

Grace Under Pressure

Grace Hopper was an American computer scientist and mathematician and United States Navy rear admiral. One of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer, she was a pioneer of computer programming.

During World War I, Black soldiers served in segregated units. (Scurlock Studio Records, NMAH Archives Center)

How Black Philadelphians Fought for Soldiers During World War I

Since the colonial era, in times of peace and war, the African American experience of inequality included being denied medical treatment equal to that received by white peers. Unequal treatment continued during World War I. Not even the era's increasing humanitarian efforts were immune to inequality. Groups like the Crispus Attucks Circle for War Relief, founded by Black Philadelphians, worked to help members of their own communities.

Many contemporaries argued that Black men had more than earned the right to vote through their military service in the Civil War. (NMAH)

In 1868, Black Suffrage Was on the Ballot

Every election season in the United States revolves around a set of issues—health care, foreign affairs, the economy. In 1868, at the height of the Reconstruction, the pressing issue was Black male suffrage.

Maggie Lena Walker (Scurlock Studio Records, NMAH Archives Center).

How Maggie Lena Walker Became the First Black Woman to Run a Bank in the Segregated South

Maggie Lena Walker was the first Black woman in the nation to organize and run a bank. And she did it in the segregated South in the former capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia.

The trunk of Frank's car after three hours of collecting.

The Cold Morning of the Day After

National Museum of American History curator Frank Blazich discusses rapid-response collecting in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.

Director of the National Museum of American History Reflects on the Challenges of Our Historic Times

Anthea M. Hartig, the Director of the National Museum of American History, reflects on the challenges of living through a historic time.

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