Smithsonian Institution

This is our Super (b)Owl. Okay, but hooooooo gave northern saw-whet owls permission to be this cute?! Learn more about how a volunteer-run team at our Smithsonian Environmental Research Center is helping us better understand this mysterious species. s.si.edu/3CFFKQF : Courtesy of Melissa Boyle Acuti

It’s 400 feet long but, for us, it’s all in the details. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mark Bradford launched his career as an abstract artist in his 30s. For more than two decades, Bradford has expanded the language of abstraction by fusing personal experiences and historical significance into his works. Through his monumental series “Pickett’s Charge,” Bradford deconstructs how the American Civil War has been remembered through eight powerful, abstract paintings at our Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. He found his inspiration in an 1883 depiction of Pickett’s Charge—the final charge of the Battle of Gettysburg—by French artist Paul Philippoteaux. In his own version of “Pickett’s Charge,” Bradford worked with a combination of colored paper, ropes and reproductions of Philippoteaux’s original work to transform the historic Gettysburg imagery. #SmithsonianBHM

Rescuing family heirlooms can be overwhelming in the wake of a disaster. Smithsonian experts traveled to North Carolina after Hurricane Helene to help survivors preserve memories and mementos. https://s.si.edu/4aNGtf5

You know what rocks? Asteroid dust. 🪨✨Last week, our Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History researchers published a chemical analysis of samples that were collected from the asteroid Bennu back in 2023. And their findings are kind of a big deal. Read about the meteoric news. bit.ly/3EDwQDG

The Smithsonian is for everyone, including our youngest learners. Activities and resources for exploring the Smithsonian online or in person with littles.

#OnThisDay in 1913, American activist Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 and subsequent arrest sparked the NAACP's Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott lasted for 381 days and led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring segregation on buses operating in Alabama to be illegal. Parks was fired from her job as a department store seamstress and received death threats for years following the boycott. Congress has referred to Parks as “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement.” In her 1992 book, "Rosa Parks: My Story" she explained: “people always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was 42. No, the only thing I was tired of, was tired of giving in. #APeoplesJourney #BlackHistoryMonth #SmithsonianBHM 📸 Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Roderick Lyons, © Roderick Lyons.

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Black union to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor, was founded 100 years ago in 1925 What does a sleeping car porter do? Sleeping car porters are railroad employees who are responsible for assisting travelers and for the safe transportation of luggage, specifically for those passengers traveling via sleeping car. When this union was founded, the Pullman Company was one of the largest employers of Black workers, many of whom were porters or maids. While being a Pullman porter was often seen as an entryway into the middle class for Black Americans, both porters and maids were faced with discrimination in the workplace. Reliant on tips to supplement their low wages, many porters worked up to 400 hours a month in physically demanding roles. More than ten years after their initial founding, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters successfully negotiated a contract with the Pullman Company to raise wages and establish fair hours. These photographs from the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and Smithsonian National Museum of American History feature the men and women who were part of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters as well as their Ladies Auxiliary branches. 1. Porter James Bryant in uniform from our National Museum of African American History and Culture. Byant worked for the Railroad for 35 years and was an active member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. 2. 📍Oakland, California chapter of the Ladies Auxiliary from our National Museum of African American History and Culture. Pictured left to right are Mrs. Florence Bryant (President), Mrs. Margaret Jones, Mrs. Artis Wimberly, Mrs. Helena Wilson (International President from New York City), and Mrs. Alice Stephans (of New York), 1950. 3. 📍 Washington, DC. Union members in 1941 in front of a YMCA from our American History Museum. #SmithsonianBHM

Known as the "queen of Tejano music," Selena Quintanilla-Pérez introduced the South Texas sounds of Tejano music, fused with cumbia and pop, to mainstream audiences. The "Como La Flor" and "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" singer released hits in English and Spanish, appealing to fans on both sides of the border. Selena’s charisma and fashion-forward style—from bold red lips to bedazzled bustiers—solidified the singer as a pop culture icon in the 1990s. Selena won her first career #GRAMMY for Best Mexican American Album for “Selena Live!” in 1994. But just as her popularity was skyrocketing across the United States, Selena was tragically killed by the president of her fan club. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Selena’s death at age 23. Swipe to see a few objects from National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, National Postal Museum, and Smithsonian American Art Museum that represent Selena’s legacy. Credits: 1: “Selena” by John Dyer, 1992. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. © John Dyer 2: Leather outfit worn by Selena during a performance at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on March 14, 1994, National Museum of American History. 3: Forever Latin Music Legends: Selena single, 2011, National Postal Museum. © USPS. All rights reserved. 4: Rodolfo O. Cuellar, “Selena, A Fallen Angel,“ 1995, screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum. Museum purchase through the Julia D. Strong Endowment © 2020, Rodolfo O. Cuellar.

When four Black college students sat down to order lunch at this segregated, “whites only” counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, their request was refused. Jibreel Khazan, Franklin E. McCain, Joseph A. McNeil, and David L. Richmond made history #OnThisDay 65 years ago, when they remained in their seats and refused to leave. Their sit-in at Woolworth’s drew national attention and helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge inequality throughout the South. In Greensboro, hundreds of students, civil rights organizations, churches, and members of the community joined a six-month-long protest. Their commitment ultimately led to the desegregation of the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter on July 25, 1960. When the Greensboro Woolworth's closed in 1993, our Smithsonian National Museum of American History curators worked with Woolworth's executives and representatives of the local community to acquire this section of the historic lunch counter, which is on view at the museum. Swipe to see an image from our Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture of two of the original protestors, McNeil (left) and McCain (right), leaning against the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro in 2009. 📸: Joseph A. McNeil and Franklin E. McCain, 2009; printed 2019. Photograph by Platon. Courtesy Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. © Platon

“[Chinatown arches] are not just about decoration—they are a visual reminder of our survival”- Ameya Okamoto, multidisciplinary artist and nail tech. Architect Alfred H. Liu’s Friendship Arch has anchored Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown since it was installed in the 1980s. This arch and the history of American Chinatowns inspires Okamoto’s nail art design today. Look closely—each nail represents a specific pillar of the original structure. Thanks for following along on Ameya’s journey! Stay tuned to follow Santana Walker and Celeste Hampton on their visit to the Smithsonian. #NailInspo #NailsByAmeya #SmithsonianInspo #NailArtDesign #NailArt 💅 💅 💅 Video Description: Ameya Okamoto discusses the objects she discovered in a sit-down interview. Close ups include objects related to nail art and Asian American history behind the scenes at our American History Museum. Other clips feature Ameya exploring our Asian Pacific American Center’s “Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond” exhibit and our American Art Museum, as well as her creating a nail set based off Alfred H. Liu’s Friendship Arch in her artist studio. Smithsonian National Museum of American History Smithsonian American Art Museum