Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

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Bernice Johnson Reagon's Lessons for Living

Bernice Johnson Reagon’s life offers us lessons to navigate an unjust world and work toward change. From her role as a Civil Rights activist to her transformative curatorial position at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Reagon demonstrated how songs and musical traditions, particularly those of the oppressed and marginalized, can transform the world.

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What's Happening in September: Events, Exhibits and More!

Women in Blues Event

What's Happening in August: Events, Exhibits and Resources

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Remembering Emmett Till, Appreciating Jazz and More in April

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Sports Inventions, Music and More, Check Out These March Happenings

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How the American History Museum Is Celebrating Its 60th Birthday This January

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Celebrating Pride Month, Flag Day and More, Check Out these June Happenings

Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra

Celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month and More, Check Out These April Happenings

Three cards where visitors left handwritten messages invoking girl power. One card reads: “you think we're not good enough but we're just to [sic] good for you, girl power.”

What Does 'Girl Power' Really Mean?

Engraved cooking pan

Fall in Love With These October Events

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Meet the Titans of Jazz

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Ella at the Gala

Museum visitors participate in a flag folding while singing (or humming) the anthem (NMAH)

Why is the National Anthem So Hard to Sing?

The first stanza of the national anthem is projected prominently on the wall above the Star-Spangled Banner in the museum. (NMAH)

Why is There a Question Mark at the End of the National Anthem?

Norman Granz and Ella Fitzgerald at a microphone, 1950. (Ella Fitzerald Papers, NMAH Archives Center)

How Norman Granz Revolutionized Jazz for Social Justice

This 1989 custom-made guitar was designed by Prince and constructed by a small company, Knut-Koupee Enterprises, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (NMAH)

Five of the Most Intriguing Electric Guitars at the National Museum of American History

Photograph for a Coca-Cola ad featuring Selena, 1994. Photo by Al Rendon. (NMAH)

How Do We Remember Selena?

Rendon working on a photoshoot with Selena, 1994. Photo courtesy of Rick Tolar. (NMAH)

How an Advertising Photographer Created Some of the Most Iconic Images of Selena

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How a Newspaper Revolution Sparked Protesters and Influencers: Disinformation and the Civil War

Bernice Johnson Reagon's Lessons for Living

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