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.
Inspiration at Yosemite
The majesty of Yosemite National Park — with Roger Minick and the woman with the scarf.
Superman, World War II, and Japanese-American experience
Superman makes an appearance in what looks (at first sight) like a Japanese print.
American resilience and the Great Depression
Cats, gossip, and laundry — a view of Los Angeles during the Great Depression.
What’s in a map? Reading the United “States” in Jaune Quick-To-See Smith’s State Names
Native American artist Jaune Quick-To-See Smith suggests that thinking about our history in a different way helps us rethink our present.
Envisioning Manifest Destiny
Pioneers and frontiersmen, creating an American mythology amidst the Civil War
The business (and art) of seeing the American west
Business or pleasure? Watkins could photograph both beautifully.
The American Revolution as a world war: Kenseth Armstead’s Surrender Yorktown 1781
How can we begin to correct the lies of history? Artist Kenseth Armstead suggests a poetic solution.
Celebrating the modern city
An[...] interpretation of the sensations produced by the confusion of the streets. —Joseph Stella
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
