Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

How Students Use AI in the Classroom Can Be a Difficult Choice. Why One Educator Thinks It's Imperative to Teach Learners to Use AI Ethically and Responsibly As the nation marks 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Smithsonian invites educators to reflect on our shared story and imagine the future we want to build. High school teacher, Casey Cuny of California, addresses the current state of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in....

The boreal forest, North America’s largest forest, holds epic stories of people and places written over thousands of years. Here are our top five mind-blowing facts about the boreal forest!

1. Home of nesting sites for up to 3 BILLION birds
2. Holds 1.5 million lakes
3. 500 BILLION trees
4. 32,000 kinds of insects
5. Refuge for the few remaining caribou herds in North America

You can explore more of this extraordinary forest in our "Knowing Nature: Stories of the Boreal Forest" traveling exhibition on view now at the Peabody Essex Museum through September 27.

📷: ©Gary and Joanie McGuffin/themcguffins.ca;l; ©Tom Walker All Rights Reserved; Courtesy Stephen Loring; Cape May Warbler/Courtesy Jeff Nadler

This Juneteenth, we reflect on witness trees, a concept featured in the "Sheltering Branches" thematic section of the exhibit HABITAT, from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

A "witness tree" is one that was present during a key event in American history. While the Garden cannot (yet) claim one of these trees on its 132-acres, we know of a witness tree that is not very far from here.

Shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, enslaved people of the Palmer Plantation gathered under a large live oak in what is now Missouri City, where they learned that they were free. That witness tree is still growing in Freedom Tree Park to this day. and you can read more about it on one of the Sheltering Branches panels under the shade of our Bayou Oaks.

When we plant trees, we choose to participate in a history that will go on and on. For instance, we wonder what these trees overlooking Sims Bayou might one day witness, and just as importantly, we encourage you to think about what something you plant might witness in the future?

Summer internship season is here! ☀️ Meet our 2026 Smithsonian Leadership for Change Intern Dream Team! 🏆

RJ is studying history at Central Piedmont Community College. PJ studies history at Appalachian State University. PJ and RJ will be working with our Project Director Maria Del Carmen Cossu and the Charlotte Museum of History on our “ ¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas” exhibition.

Akilah is studying sociology at Spelman College, and Eve studies law and public policy at Indiana University! This summer Eve and Akilah will be working with the Smithsonian Museum on Main Street’s team including our Project Director Robbie Davis, on their “Voices and Votes: Exploring Democracy Across America” exhibition which is on view now at the Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building in Washington, D.C.

We are delighted to welcome and collaborate with these bright and visionary young students this summer!

Our colleagues at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture have created a deeply rich and powerful free educational toolkit celebrating Juneteenth! Join the museum’s Juneteenth celebration today – and during the entire month of June – and embrace the rich history of Freedom Day each week.

Learn more: https://s.si.edu/40a7yVG

It’s Museum on Main Street Monday, a weekly spotlight on "Americans"—the traveling Smithsonian exhibit currently touring Kentucky.

Each Monday, we’ll share exhibit highlights, trivia, and upcoming events from Kentucky communities hosting this traveling exhibition.

In the "Americans" exhibit, Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche), associate curator at the National Museum of the American Indian, invites us to take a closer look at the origins of Thanksgiving. His introduction explores how the holiday reflects the ways Americans have grappled—and continue to grapple—with difficult and complex truths about our shared history.

🎥 Take a moment to watch and reflect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPEuQNp0nII

"Americans" is now open at the Highlands DOzeum in Ashland. The exhibit closes on July 5th.

Taíno peoples developed religious traditions around powerful beings called cemís. Cemís inhabit many forms and materials, including stone, wood, or cotton. They connect Taíno to their ancestors, to ancient beings, and to natural forces like rain.

You can learn about the Caribbean Indigenous survival journey through stories, contemporary crafts and musical instruments in our “Caribbean Indigenous Resistance ¡Taino Vive!” exhibition. It’s on view at Yale Peabody Museum through June 21.



Image: Taíno (Chican Ostionoid) cemí carved to represent a human head, AD 800–1500, San Pedro de Macorís Province, Dominican Republic.

Purchased in 1941 from A.E. Todd. National Museum of the American Indian, 20/3511