Untold Stories of American History
After Confederate Forces Captured Their Children, These Black Mothers Fought to Reunite Their Families
During the Civil War, Confederates targeted free Black people in the North, kidnapping them to sell into slavery. After the conflict ended, two women sought help from high places to track down their lost loved ones
Untold Stories of American History
The Spy Who Exposed the Secrets of the Black Chamber, One of America’s First Code-Breaking Organizations
In 1931, Herbert O. Yardley published a tell-all book about his experiences leading a covert government agency called the Cipher Bureau
Hundreds Died When This Steamship Sank in the Pacific Northwest in 1875 With Gold Worth Millions On Board
A century and a half later, the sinking of the S.S. Pacific remains one of the deadliest maritime disasters in the region’s history
The Enduring Mystery of a Plane That Vanished in the Icy Canadian Wilderness With 44 People On Board
Seventy-five years ago, a Douglas C-54D Skymaster disappeared en route from Alaska to Montana. No trace of its crew and passengers, including a pregnant mother and her young son, has ever been found
How Alaska’s Historic Roadhouses Are Standing the Test of Time
The multipurpose lodgings along trails and rivers capture the state’s pioneering culture and spirit
How the Nation’s First ‘Madam Secretary’ Fought to Save Jewish Refugees Fleeing From Nazi Germany
A new book spotlights Frances Perkins’ efforts to challenge the United States’ restrictive immigration policies as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s secretary of labor
Why Was Zora Neale Hurston So Obsessed With the Biblical Villain Herod the Great?
The Harlem Renaissance author spent her last years writing about the ancient king. Six decades after her death, her unfinished novel has finally been published for the first time
When a Deadly Winter Storm Trapped a Luxury Passenger Train Near the Donner Pass for Three Days
Snowdrifts stranded the vehicle in the Sierra Nevada in January 1952, imprisoning 226 people traveling from Chicago to California
Why Faneuil Hall Is the Perfect Metaphor for the American Revolution’s Complicated Definition of Liberty
How a lively market on Boston Harbor became part of many defining moments of the Colonial and Revolutionary eras
The Dramatic Rescue of the Citizen Sailors Who Patrolled the Atlantic Coast Looking for Nazi U-Boats
During World War II, the crew of the Zaida were among the everyday Americans who risked their lives watching out for enemy submarines
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 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
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
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
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
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