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# Explore History & Culture

                  -   Smithsonian American Women’s History MuseumBecoming Visible: Bringing American Women’s History into Focus
Discover how women’s histories have been recorded, remembered, lost, and recovered.
Learn More  About  Becoming Visible: Bringing American Women’s History into Focus 
                  -   Smithsonian 175Explore America
Take an American road trip through 175 years of the Smithsonian's collections.
Learn More  About  Explore America 
                  -   Smithsonian American WomenSmithsonian American Women's History Museum
Stories and objects from women who have shaped America as we know it through their work, creativity, and resolve.
Learn More  About  Smithsonian American Women's History Museum 

The Smithsonian not only explores U.S. history and culture to better understand what it means to be an American, but also examines, explains, and protects cultural heritage in the U.S. and around the world. Our collections and subject experts illuminate the past and present to help discover, preserve, and disseminate knowledge that secures our shared future as a nation and a global community.

**Explore**

                      -        Smithsonian Collection Spotlight  A Celebration of Poetry
In celebration of National Poetry Month, explore poetry-related collections from across the Smithsonian.
 
                      -        Smithsonian Collection Spotlight  Playtime: Toys, Games, and Puzzles
From vintage to high-tech, there's something for every child (and child at heart) in our collections.
 
                      -        Smithsonian Collection Spotlight  1974: A Year in the Collections
Explore items from across the Smithsonian related to the year 1974.
 
                      -        Smithsonian American Women's History Museum  American Women Quarters Program
Learn the stories of American women who changed the nation and the world. 
 
                      -        Smithsonian Collection Spotlight  Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Swinging for the fences with these items in our collections.
 
                      -        April  Arab American Heritage Month
Learn more about the Arab American experience from collection items and oral histories.
 
                      -        Smithsonian Snapshot  Ginger Smock Is the Trailblazing Jazz Violinist You Might Not Have Heard Of         Jazz violinist Emma “Ginger” Smock was born in Chicago in 1920, and she soon displayed precocious musical talent.   
                      -        Smithsonian Collection Spotlight  Hip-Hop and Rap
This Technics brand turntable was used by hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash. Discover more hip-hop collection items.
 
                      -        Smithsonian Collection Spotlight  Billie Holiday
One of the most influential jazz vocalists of all time, Holiday was renowned for making songs entirely her own.
 
                      -        National Air and Space Museum  3D Scanning Space Shuttle Discovery
The Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office shows how they captured a comprehensive 3D dataset of the largest museum artifact ever to be digitized.
 
                      -        Smithsonian Collection Spotlight  Cats of Asia and Ancient Egypt
Explore Asian and Egyptian cats from across Smithsonian collections.
 
                      -        National Air and Space Museum  Passenger Flight
Learn about the history of commercial aviation in the United States from air mail to airlines.
 

## Sidedoor Podcast

The Smithsonian's flagship podcast sneaks you through the side door to learn the stories behind the collections. Discover more episodes on history and culture.

                      -        Sidedoor Podcast  Take Who Out to the Ball Game?         A long-forgotten lyric reveals a feminist message buried within a favorite song.   
                      -        Sidedoor Podcast  Red, White, and Brew         Meet the Smithsonian's brewing historian and a new wave of brewers who are working to craft some flavorful history of their own.     
                      -        Sidedoor Podcast  Appalachia Goes Beijing         Abigail Washburn and Wu Fei make a new brand of folk music that combines the tones of Appalachia with the melodies of China.   
                      -        Sidedoor Podcast  Inventor, Photographer ... Murderer         Meet Muybridge, a pioneering and eccentric photographer from the 1800s whose work paved the way for the invention of motion pictures.   

## History & Culture Collections Sampler

                        -  Reproduction of Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin Model 
                        -  1851 - Isaac Singer's Sewing Machine Patent Model 
                        -  Sunstone Capital 
                        -  Colt Second Model Dragoon Revolver 
                        -  Telegraph Register 
                        -  Mexican Army Frock Coat 
                        -  Frederick Douglass 
                        -  *Gospel Hymns No. 2* 
                        -  Rosa Parks 
                        -  Cesar Chavez's Union Jacket 
                        -  Sitting Bull 
                        -  Buckskin coat 
                        -  Encrusted Bugle 
                        -  Alexander Graham Bell's Large Box Telephone 
                        -  Edison "New Year's Eve" Lamp 
                        -  1903 Wright Flyer 
                        -  Helen Keller's Watch 
                        -  Woman Suffrage Banner, 1914-1917 
                        -  1926 Ford Model T roadster 
                        -  Trumpet owned by Louis Armstrong 
                        -  32c Woody Guthrie single 
                        -  I Want You for U.S. Army 
                        -  "We Can Do It!" 
                        -  Exhibition pamphlet for the exhibit *Executive order 9066* 
                        -  Salk Polio Vaccine, Mahoney Strain 
                        -  Dylan 
                        -  Jacqueline Kennedy, the King of Hearts - Stop Action Reaction 
                        -  Berlin Wall fragment, Berlin, Germany, 1961 
                        -  Pressure Suit, A7-L, Armstrong, Apollo 11, Flown 
                        -  AIDS Memorial Quilt Panel 
                        -  Patch, L’Ecole Des Trois Gourmandes 
                        -  Marshall Field's: Salute to Walt Disney 
                        -  RCA TRK-12 Television 
                        -  McDonald's Restaurant Sign for the Japanese Market, 1975 
                        -  R2-D2, from *Return of the Jedi* 

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