In collaboration with historic sites in Washington, DC, that have shared commitments to place-based and experiential learning, Ford's Theatre teaches K-12 educators about Civil War history through engagements with places, artifacts, stories, and enduring conflicts that can be made relevant to students' lives. In this article, we provide program…

In 2015, the Smithsonian welcomed hundreds of thousands of people to the newly renovated Renwick Gallery (p. 6), their scientists peered to the edge of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way (p. 18), and their anthropologists helped identify the remains of leaders of the Jamestown colony (p. 28). The theme of this year's annual report is…

The work of student journalists often appears as a source in the footnotes when researchers tell the story of perhaps the most significant period in the history of higher education in the United States--the student protest era throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Yet researchers and historians have ignored the student press itself during this…

The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.--a private museum that opened in July 2002 at the cost of $40 million--is rated as one of the most visited and popular tourist destinations in the nation's capital, despite stiff competition from the various public museums that are part of the Smithsonian. The popularity of the Spy Museum has a…

At the Smithsonian, big questions are the common denominators that unite their museums, research centers, and programs. And curiosity is contagious. Today's small child who looks in awe at the big dinosaurs that once roamed the earth and wonders, "What happened?" might just be tomorrow's paleontologist. Among this year's stories is a…

"Choosing to Participate" focuses on civic choices--the decisions people make about themselves and others in their community, nation, and world. The choices people make, both large and small, may not seem important at the time, but little by little they shape them as individuals and responsible global citizens. "Choosing to…

The Bush administration's public discourse after September 11 weaves a new story embedded in the national myth of the Old West. Seen in its historical context of a frontier political mentality reaching back to the early 19th century, and in its broader communication context as the rhetorical narration of a defining cultural myth, the tactical…