Seeing America was created by Smarthistory with 16 leading museums and examines the long history of the United States, from before European settlers to the modern era.
Inventing “America”: Theodore de Bry’s Collected travels in the east Indies and west Indies
De Bry's images of the Americas affirm and assert a sense of European superiority.
Going out to the cinema in 1913 New York, John Sloan’s Movies
When movies were new and lights transformed the darkened city streets.
Turning Uncle Tom’s Cabin upside down, Alison Saar’s Topsy
A Greek myth and the American anti-Slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin combine to upend our own contemporary myths
Dreaming big: Thomas Cole’s The Architect’s Dream
Cole, the great American landscape painter, looks across the vast history of Western architecture
Politics and humanity in 1970s New York: Faith Ringgold’s Ben
Buttons, flags, and booze — Ben conjures up a specific time and place.
Disillusionment in 1970s America: Duane Hanson’s Executive (originally titled, Another Day)
Museum visitors often mistake this sculpture for a real person
American brilliance at the St. Louis World’s Fair: Libbey’s Punch Bowl
This dazzling, prismatic, brilliant cut glass creates a universe of pattern and reflection.
Fashion & alienation in 1960s New York: Marisol’s, The Party
At this party, everyone has the same face and seems profoundly alone.
Is the judge trustworthy? Blythe’s Justice
The dubious justice of the anti-immigrant Know-Nothing Party
Jess, If All the World Were Paper and All the Water Sink
From the Manhattan Project to nursery rhymes, a collision of art and science.
Teaching guide: Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom
Living in peace—predator and prey, and Native Americans and settler colonists—but for how long?
