Explore the American presidency and elections in these four activities from Smithsonian Education’s Art to Zoo. Each of the four activities focuses on a different skill in social studies: examining maps, using timelines, studying collections, and using primary sources. The activiti

Spud Campbell was a Merchant Mariner who served on a Liberty Ship carrying supplies to help the Soviet Union fight Germany on the Eastern Front.  Listen to his oral history, and then study the supporting primary sources to answer the discussion questions. This resource is part of a series ca

Khaki-colored tropical worsted material with a rolled collar with lapels, epaulets on the shoulders, two false horizontal breast pockets with small gold-colored metallic buttons, and two side pockets over the hips. The jacket is closed by four gold-colored metallic buttons. Staff sergeant chevron

"I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking." So began on March 12, 1933, the first of about thirty informal "Fireside Chat" addresses that President Franklin D. Roosevelt would deliver over the radio. His ability to communicate over this new medium direct

Mariachis, groups comprised of vocalists, trumpeters, violinists, and various bass and guitar players, are today considered Mexico's traditional musical ensemble. Originally from the state of Jalisco, mariachi music transformed itself from a regional to a national music between the 1930s and 1950

In the 1950s, the station wagon became a staple of America's new suburban landscape and a ubiquitous extension of the suburban home. This car reveals how one family adopted a mobile, active lifestyle and how station wagons shaped family life. Between the 1920s and 1940s, station wa

America's worst accident at a civilian nuclear power plant occurred on March 28, 1979. This online exhibition provides information about the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the course of the accident there and the steps-extending over almost 15 years-through which the nature and extent of

Over the course of her 60-year career, Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) became known to fans and colleagues as "The First Lady of Song." Her rise to international fame as a jazz and popular singer coincided with the rise of an American entertainment industry that brought music to millions through conc

In 1980, Namco released Pac-Man, an extremely popular video game designed by Toru Iwatani and distributed in North America by Bally/Midway. It was the first video game to spawn a marketing phenomenon, including licensed books, clocks, radios, a Saturday morning cartoon, and gadgets like this comb

WANN represents a significant moment in American cultural history-the rise of black-oriented broadcasting. Although blacks constituted 10 percent of the population, black interest in broadcasting on any scale, didn't begin until 1948. That year WDIA in Memphis became the first station to go to a