Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

In time for the 250th anniversary of the country, the Smithsonian has assembled a variety of programs, resources and success stories to help educators guide students through aspects of civic engagement, collected on the new Civic Education at the Smithsonian website.

Learn more about the tools Smithsonian educators use to facilitate civic engagement, and help young people envision and design the future they want to live in. http://s.si.edu/civic-education

And join us on Tuesday, July 14 at 3pm, EDT for “We the Teachers: New Resources for Civic Education” at the Smithsonian National Education Summit to hear from Smithsonian educators and collaborators about how students are contributing to civic life in America today. Register here for the National Education Summit https://s.si.edu/EducationSummit2026

What does civic engagement mean to you, and to the youth around you?

Civics can sometimes feel removed from students’ lives, focused on how government and policy works. Civic education makes this knowledge come alive, showing students how to envision and create the communities they want to live in. Understanding the communities they are part of, identifying issues they care about and want to change, and knowing how to research and talk to others to inform an action plan – are all part of civic engagement that ultimately makes every community stronger.

Youth care about their communities and are eager to shape their futures. They benefit from the support of educators committed to strengthening their civic identities and expression.

In time for the 250th anniversary of the country, the Smithsonian has assembled a variety of programs, resources and success stories to help educators guide students through aspects of civic engagement, collected on the new Civic Education at the Smithsonian website.

Learn more about the tools Smithsonian educators use to facilitate civic engagement, and help young people envision and design the future they want to live in. http://s.si.edu/civic-education

And join us on Tuesday, July 14 at 3pm, EDT for “We the Teachers: New Resources for Civic Education” at the Smithsonian National Education Summit to hear from Smithsonian educators and collaborators about how students are contributing to civic life in America today. Register here for the National Education Summit https://s.si.edu/EducationSummit2026

Bayard Rustin once wrote, “The only weapon we have is our bodies.” Rustin’s life was not only a testament to the non-violent weaponization of his own body, it was a call for the bodily freedom to live as he deemed and love whom he desired.

As one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Rustin worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. to bring about the boycott of Montgomery’s segregated buses in 1956, during which time he introduced King to Gandhi’s philosophy of resistance. Rustin’s mastery of civil disobedience tactics reached an apex in 1963. That year would see him become a key organizer of the now famous March on Washington, a moment immortalized by the images of thousands of bodies becoming weapons in the fight for jobs and freedom.

But Rustin’s struggle for equal rights was not confined to his race; as an openly gay man, he was attacked and shunned by friend and foe alike. His refusal to hide who he was while he continued to fight on the front lines of the civil rights movement revealed the heart of a hero—one who understood that the only true freedom is complete freedom.

Bayard Rustin was featured in our “Men Of Change: Power. Triumph. Truth.” exhibition which traveled from 2019 through 2023.



Image: Courtesy of Smithsonian Affiliations

If you’re human, you’re biased. But, the real question is: what do we do about it? Every brain develops its biases from the environment. But bias does not dictate our destiny. Explore the science of bias in "The Bias Inside Us" traveling exhibition on view now at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History!

This is pioneering Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer scientist Margaret Hamilton. MIT played a critical role in the development of the flight software for NASA’s Apollo program, which landed humans on the Moon for the first time in 1969. Hamilton led the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory to develop the Apollo program’s guidance system. Ensuring that the programs had no errors required an enormous amount of paper documentation!

In our free “Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission” poster set, you can explore more stories of the many women who played a crucial role in making this historic mission possible! Request your digital copy here: https://s.si.edu/45JSG1B 🚀🌒