In this post, students will learn about the first approved HIV/AIDS drug, AZT (also called Zidovudine (ZVD) and Retrovir)

In this post, students will read about the Scurlock Studio, a photographic business operated by an African American family in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1994. The Scurlocks maintained a long business relationship with Howard University as its official photographers. In the

In this post, students will learn about Audie Murphy by answering the question, "What was it about Audie Murphy that impelled him to become a hero?" Murphy was the most highly decorated World War II soldier, and upon his return to civilian life, he was an instant celebrity. He parlayed his n

In this post, students will learn how trading cards were used to educate those who could not be reached through more traditional methods during the AIDS epidemic. In 1993, comic book publisher Eclipse Enterprises released a set of 110 AIDS Awareness trading cards. The cards feature a va

In this post, students will learn about Washington during the Civil War. During the war, Washington’s busy wharves were the focal point for moving people and supplies into and out of the city. Here the wounded from the Virginia battlefields were off-loaded from steamboats to await transpor

In this post, students will learn about George Westinghouse, Sr. during his Civil War service, before he became a pioneer of the electrical industry. A transcript of the letter is availalbe for download. Written by Hal Wallace, Associate Curator of Electricity Collections, this post is publi

In this post, students will learn the story of Ms. Weslee W. D’Audney, a woman who modeled for a government poster during World War II. Students will also discover the challenges of managing the Smithsonian's large collection of war-related posters. Written by David Haberstich, Associ

In this post, students will learn about Celia Cruz's life, music, and impact on Caribbean and Latino immigrants in America. In a career that spanned six decades and took her from Cuba to the United States, Cruz became known around the world for her piercing and powerful voice and larger-than

In this post, students will read an interview with Marcia Quackenbush, a social worker in San Francisco in the early 1980s. She wrote one of the early textbooks for K-12 teachers, Teaching AIDS. Interviewer John O’Keefe is a guest assistant curator of the showcase displa

In this post, students will learn how packaging—and the unspoken dialogue between consumers and producers—is one way to understand the connection between supermarkets and food consumption habits in the United States. Package colors, materials, and other design elements of food products a