A short video, this one is great as a lesson opener! "Freemason's Snuff Box" is the second episode in the NMAH webseries "Founding Fragments." Join host Tory Altman for a behind-the-scenes look at some of our most intriguing and little-known objects.  Hear personal interviews with curators a

In this episode of the History Explorer podcast series, Richard Doty, senior curator of the National Numismatics Collection, shares the story of the "Richmond Hoard," an enormous collection of Confederate currency obtained by the museum and explains what currency meant to life in the South a

In this online resource, students will learn how the need for louder guitars led to the invention and proliferation of the electric guitar and how the emergence and popularity of rock and roll led to the guitar's commercial success and more innovative designs. Students can view the coll

How do you bring an innovation to market? Explore four historic case studies to learn how real entrepreneurs moved from an initial idea to a final product.

A topical collection featuring African-American leaders, inventors, activists, sports figures, and culture-shapers whose lives changed history.  These stamps are part of the Black Heritage Stamp Series. U.S. postage stamps were in use for nearly a century before Booker T. Washington became t

This exhibition is about Clotilde Arias, a Peruvian immigrant who came to New York City in 1923 at age twenty-two to study music. Decades later she translated the national anthem into the official Spanish version at the request of the U.S. government. Arias died in 1959 in Manhattan at age fifty-eig

In these classroom activities, developed for the exhibition America on the Move, students will use visual, analytical, and interpretive skills to examine primary sources including a historical map and answer questions about them to learn more about the expansion of transportati

In this episode of the History Explorer podcast series, Curator Katherine Ott discusses the anniversary of the defining of HIV and how it fits into the history of both science and our society.

In this series of five short videos, students can watch a museum  theater presentation. During the presentation, a fictional composite character from 1960 is conducting a training session for people interested in joining a student sit-in to protest racial segregation. The student speaks abou

Explore the civic responsibilities of Americans through short videos, mini-activities, and practice questions in this segment of Preparing for the Oath: U.S. History and Civics for Citizenship. The four questions included in this segment cover taxes, selective service, jury duty, and the Naturali