This online exhibition tells of the development of COBOL, a computer programming lanugage, and how it changed the commercial, banking, and defense industries. Fifty years ago, each computer maker used its own programming languages to tell a computer what to do. In 1959, a group of programmer

This online exhibition features photographs taken along the trail, Shaffer’s diary from the 1948 hike, and maps he used. The exhibition also covers the conception and development of the Appalachian Trail and its larger cultural and environmental impact. Earl Shaffer was the first pers

Students can explore each page of the bible, read translations, and view short videos about the bible’s history and conservation. This volume, created by Thomas Jefferson in 1820, is an 84-page assemblage of passages from the first four books of the New Testament, a project undertaken by J

This online exhibition features approximately 100 objects from the Museum's collections to tell stories from the earliest days of America's colonial history through the 2008 presidential election. Each object is used as the starting point for a larger story about American history. The exhibition

In 1794, Eli Whitney patented a new kind of cotton gin. His invention, using rotating brushes and teeth to remove the seeds from cotton, was quickly pirated by others. Southern plantation owners depended on slaves for labor-intensive crops such as rice, sugar, tobacco, and especially cotto

This website features the diary of Civil War nurse, Amanda Akin. In April 1863, Akin left her home in Quaker Hill, NY, to serve as a nurse at Armory Square Hospital in Washington, D.C. During her 15 months at Armory Square, Akin wrote long letters to her sisters and recorded her daily activities

This apparatus was designed by Catherine Stern, a physicist by training and the founder of a Montessori school in her native Germany. Stern and her husband were of Jewish descent, and emigrated to New York City in 1938 to avoid persecution by the Nazis. There she developed these materials, descri

Read or listen to a short news story about the food in a Japanese American internment camp, then create a meal using some of the same ingredients. Part of an OurStory module entitled Life in a WWII Japanese American Internment Camp, this activity includes links to instructions to make "W

In this activity, children will examine pictures of a Congressional Gold Medal for Japanese American soldiers, investigate the symbols on both sides, and design their own medal for kids who lived in the camps. Part of an OurStory module from entitled Life in a WWII Japanese American Internmen

This activity will encourage children to look for math in their everyday activities, and introduce science concepts behind the game of baseball. In this activity, students will use discussion prompts to make the most of their visit. This activity is part of an OurStory module entitled Life in