The Roots of U.S. Work Culture—and Why the American Dream Is So Difficult to Achieve Today
A new book examines the evolution of the American workplace, interrogating the idea that hard work is enough to ensure success
The Death-Defying Attempt to Circumnavigate the World in a Canoe
How Captain John Voss put his dugout canoe—and himself—to the ultimate test
The Remarkable Life of One of Boston’s Most Fervent and Daring Abolitionists
Harriet Bell Hayden is believed to have helped hundreds of people fleeing slavery from her Beacon Hill residence
Did Colonial Americans Wear Wristwatches? And More Questions From Our Readers
You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts
Discover Why Thomas Jefferson Meticulously Monitored the Weather Wherever He Went
The third president knew that the whims of nature shaped Americans’ daily lives as farmers and enslavers
How People of the Past Predicted the Future, From Spider Divination to Bibliomancy
A new exhibition spotlights the ways in which cultures around the world have sought answers in the face of uncertainty
Inside the Struggle to Preserve Georgia’s Butler Island, Home to a Notorious Plantation
Descendants of people enslaved at the site are grappling with its complicated history while also honoring the region’s rich culture
Martin Van Buren Created America’s Partisan Political System. We’re Still Recovering
The eighth president of the United States, the so-called little magician, saw political parties as the key to achieving power
The Lasting Legacy of Jimmy Carter, Dead at 100
Smithsonian curators remember and honor the 39th president’s uncompromising idealism
Archaeologists Are Finding Dugout Canoes in the American Midwest as Old as the Great Pyramids of Egypt
In the waterways connected to the Great Lakes, researchers uncover boats that tell the story of millennia of Indigenous history
The Real Story Behind ‘A Complete Unknown’ and Bob Dylan’s Early Career, From His Arrival in New York City to When He ‘Went Electric’
A new film starring Timothée Chalamet tracks Dylan’s evolution from an acoustic folk singer to a rock ‘n’ roll superstar
General Sherman Offered Savannah as a ‘Christmas Gift’ to President Lincoln. The Victory Signaled the End of His Brutal March to the Sea
Unlike much of Georgia, the historic port city was preserved from Sherman’s wrath, but suffered psychological terror nonetheless
After Failing Math Twice, a Young Benjamin Franklin Turned to This Popular 17th-Century Textbook
A 19th-century scholar claimed that “Cocker’s Arithmetick” had “probably made as much stir and noise in the English world as any [book]—next to the Bible”
Kids Send Thousands of Letters to Santa Each Year. Here’s What Really Happens to Them
The United States Postal Service and volunteers have responded to North Pole holiday correspondence over the past century
Four Decades After the Fall of Argentina’s Dictatorship, a Fight Over the Country’s Darkest Chapter Is Reopening Grievous Wounds
Inside the fight to memorialize victims of the military junta that ruled over the South American nation in the 1970s and ‘80s
These Black Soldiers Fought for the British During the American Revolution in Exchange for Freedom From Slavery
The Carolina Corps achieved emancipation through military service, paving the way for future fighters in the British Empire to do the same
How a Tale of Demonic Possession Predicted the Decline of an Early Medieval Empire
A new book examines the rise and fall of the Carolingian dynasty, discussing how people across social classes understood the momentous history of their day
How a Black, All-Female WWII Unit Saved Morale on the Battlefield
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion sorted through a massive backlog of undelivered mail, raising American soldiers’ spirits during World War II
How ‘Blackbirders’ Forced Tens of Thousands of Pacific Islanders Into Slavery After the Civil War
The decline of the American South’s cotton and sugar industries paved the way for plantations in British-controlled Fiji and Australia, where victims of “blackbirding” endured horrific working conditions
When 170 Wild Monkeys Escaped From a ‘Jungle Camp’ and Terrorized New York
In 1935, dozens of rhesus macaques absconded from Frank Buck’s Long Island menagerie. Nearly a century later, 43 members of the same species broke out of a South Carolina research facility
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