All articles tagged with #american history
A 15-year Smithsonian-led project has concluded with 99.9% certainty that Thomas Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings. Researchers sequenced Jefferson's genome from hair found at Monticello and compared it to living descendants. While the findings validate long-standing historical theories, the release has sparked controversy over ethical protocols and the premature publication of results before peer review.
Photographer Taryn Simon has unveiled a major exhibition at the Guggenheim titled 'Father Country I Do Love You,' which uses the career of a retired FBI agent to map the long-term human consequences of American state power. The project, developed over nearly a decade, connects major national tragedies like the 9/11 attacks and the TWA Flight 800 crash to the personal lives of those affected by surveillance and government intervention. Simon’s work blends journalistic rigor with conceptual art, exploring how state actions reverberate through decades, affecting individuals far beyond the immediate events. The exhibition includes intimate portraits, such as a birth scene captured in a New Hampshire hospital, illustrating the artist’s method of embedding herself in private moments to reveal broader societal narratives.
The statue’s torch summit has remained off-limits to the public since the 1916 Black Tom sabotage, when German agents set ablaze a nearby munitions depot and damaged the arm that holds the flame. Despite later restorations and crown access reopening, the torch ladder and balcony have never been reopened to visitors, making the highest point of the statue a long-standing closed-off historic site and a grim reminder of how a World War I-era act helped shape U.S. security and espionage history.
Heather Cox Richardson reminds readers that the Voting Rights Act, signed on August 6, 1965, followed a long arc from Reconstruction amendments and federal enforcement against white supremacist obstruction to protect Black voting rights; she details how later Supreme Court decisions and recent cases have narrowed those protections and boosted suppression in some states, while studies show persistent and widening gaps in turnout—echoing Lyndon Johnson’s pledge that the vote is the core right without which democracy falters.
Trump's administration has pursued a sweeping review of the Smithsonian to root out what it calls 'woke' content, issuing executive orders, launching a White House investigation of eight museums, and demanding records and on-site reviews. In July 2026, a White House report accused the National Museum of American History of 'ideological capture' and urged removing activist exhibits in favor of patriotic, founding-era content. The administration then ordered reforms across federal agencies, while the Smithsonian defends its mission of scholarship and public education, setting up a protracted clash over how America's story should be told.
Heather Cox Richardson argues that the Trump administration is attempting to rewrite U.S. history by portraying the country as founded on white, European heritage, criticizing a White House report that claims the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History ‘erases’ heritage. The piece details congressional hearings, partisan attacks on museum director Anthea Hartig, the administration's executive order to place corrective signage at the Smithsonian, and the broader warning that politicizing history threatens public trust and the accuracy of our national story.
A House hearing probes why the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History removed the phrase 'American history' from its mission statement, with Rep. Mike Carey demanding explanations while Anthea Hartig defends the move as broadening voices and linking history to civic understanding rather than erasing the nation's past amid broader culture-war debates.
President Trump signed an executive order directing temporary warning signs near the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to alert visitors about allegedly inaccurate exhibits and direct them to “accurate information” about American history, basing the move on a White House report that accuses Smithsonian leadership of politicizing history; the White House says the museum has veered toward activism, while Interior is tasked with installing the signage; Smithsonian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kelsey Grammer urged a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. education system on Planet Tyrus, arguing Americans must learn the founding history and the Founding Fathers' vision to prevent manipulation and guide the country toward a more unified future.
Washington Post critics present a decade-by-decade list of 25 transformative American works—spanning books, art, music, and film—explaining how each reshaped the national story, sparked debates, and reflected evolving ideas from the 18th century to the modern era, with concise context for why they mattered.
Ken Burns argues that confronting the brutal realities of American history, rather than sanitizing it, sharpens our view of the present and reveals how the founders imagined a citizen-led republic. He warns that today’s authoritarian impulses thrive on distraction and conspiracy, urges unity over division, and emphasizes the ongoing need to reconcile a diverse nation while learning from the past.
Myth-busting the Fourth: American independence was declared on July 2, the Declaration was adopted on July 4 and signed on August 2; not all famous founders signed it; the Liberty Bell did not ring to celebrate independence on that day; there are no hidden messages in the Declaration; Americans were not universally in favor of independence, and Native Americans had mixed loyalties with many aligning with different sides during the conflict.
The Guardian piece argues that America’s semiquincentennial has been hijacked by Donald Trump into a partisan, spectacle-driven celebration—from a UFC event on the White House lawn and a sprawling ‘Freedom 250’ pageant to a controversial Lincoln Memorial pool renovation. Critics say the anniversary should prompt a honest reckoning with the nation’s founding contradictions (slavery, Native dispossession) rather than a vanity project centered on Trump. Historians warn the moment exposes a clash between liberal and illiberal impulses, while museums and scholars push for nuanced truth-telling that counters the simplification of history. The mood is broadly pessimistic about democracy’s future, with official celebrations overshadowed by cultural wars and concerns over how the country remembers its past.
Larry David’s seven-episode HBO sketch series Life, Larry reimagines American history through his signature humor, featuring him as iconic figures (including Susan B. Anthony and Rosa Parks) with Barack and Michelle Obama as producers; the show skewers progress and historical myths in a satirical tour from Founding-era quips to more recent themes, embodying David’s Seinfeld/Curb-style humor.
Chris Pratt will star in a series of comedy shorts about American history, co-starring presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Nicknamed a “Faster Class” for U.S. history, the project from ATTN: blends live action and animation, with Goodwin as executive producer, editorial adviser, and on-screen authority to keep facts straight. It has U.S. Department of State funding via the Office of Public Diplomacy and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to inform and engage foreign audiences about America’s constitutional values through modern digital storytelling ahead of the 250th anniversary.