“In March 1943, Paul Bland was drafted into the military at the age of 19. He had experience in trucking and so was trained as an ambulance driver for the Army. He was then deployed to Europe in February of the following year to fight in World War II. Private First Class Paul Bland served in the 5

“A former laundress who became a millionaire from her hair-care company, Madam C. J. Walker (1867–1919) was a leading philanthropist of the early 1900s. Because of her pioneering role in both business and philanthropy, she's featured in two museum exhibitions: American Enterprise and Giving in A

“Wartime often catalyzes developments in philanthropy. In 2017, the museum added the Bowl of Rice party banner, from fundraising efforts to aid people in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, to its collection. Curator Theodore S. Gonzalves, a scholar of Asian American history, answered three

“Soil is more than just dirt; it affects all of the foods we eat. But why is this really a conversation about history and why are we talking about this at the National Museum of American History this summer? The way Americans have treated dirt throughout American history has had wide-ranging resul

In the fictional universe of George Lucas' Star Wars films, robots called droids (short for android) come in many shapes and serve many purposes. Two droids-R2-D2 and C-3PO-have won enormous popularity for their supporting roles in all six of the series. In the collections of the museum are costu

In the fictional universe of George Lucas' Star Wars films, robots called droids (short for android) come in many shapes and serve many purposes. Two droids--R2-D2 and C-3PO--have won enormous popularity for their supporting roles in all six of the series. In the collections of the museum are cos

This ongoing collection of posts from the National Museum of American History's blog "O Say Can You See?" share stories and objects about The Nation We Build Together.

American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith traces the unfolding of America’s experiment with government “of, by, and for the people” and illustrates the fact that democracy involves civic engagement and participation. This exhibition and its 

Giving in America is a permanent exhibit that looks at the historical role of philanthropy in shaping the United States. The exhibit showcases four major themes of American philanthropy centered on the questions of “Who Gives?” “Why Do We Give?” “What Do We Give?” and �

The First World War remade the world geopolitically and transformed how societies engage and relate to military conflict. Artistic expression during the war contributed to this transformation. Before World War I, war art largely depicted heroic military leaders and romanticized battles,