Our mission is to empower people to create a just and compassionate future by exploring, preserving, and sharing the complexity of our past.

The laces made in Belgium during World War One are an important part of the lace holdings of the Division of Home and Community Life’s Textile Collection in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of ...

With daily bathing becoming more accepted by the 1880s, many attempted to develop innovative ways to heat bath water and to incorporate the portable bathtub within a room setting. The Mosely Folding ...

African Americans turned to the courts to help protect their constitutional rights. But the courts challenged earlier civil rights legislation and handed down a series of decisions that permitted ...

This oil-wick lamp was made by an unknown maker during the 19th century. The oil-wick lamp was first invented in Scotland in 1850 and remained in use until the 1920’s. The font contained a mix of fat ...

This commercial bread-slicing machine was designed and manufactured in 1928 by Otto Frederick Rohwedder (1880-1960). It was used to slice loaves of fresh bakery bread at Korn's Bakery, in Rohwedder's ...

In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) posted pickets at the White House ...

In the opening years of the 19th century, a handful of Connecticut inventors and entrepreneurs transformed the way clocks were made in the United States. Recognizing a vast potential market for ...

Nineteenth-century Plains Indian drawings have often been called “ledger” drawings because they were made with pencil, ink, and watercolor on pages of old ledger or account books. When young Plains ...

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Aids in relieving distress and discomforts of colds by its fourfold action -- as an analgesic, as an antipyretic, as an ...

In 1877, Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, the first machine that could record sound and play it back. On the first audio recording Edison recited, “Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white ...

The American Brewing History Initiative at the National Museum of American History documents and collects the story of beer and brewing in America, with a special focus on home brewing and craft beer.