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National Portrait Gallery USA
@smithsoniannpg
We tell the story of the U.S. by portraying the people who shape the nation's history, development, and culture. #myNPG | Legal: si.edu/legal
National Portrait Gallery USA’s Tweets
The National Portrait Gallery mourns the passing of Barbara Walters. She redefined the role of women on television news and became the first woman to co-anchor the national evening news.
📸: Lynn Gilbert, 1980. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.© Lynn Gilbert
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It's the last day of 2022! What's your New Year's look? 🎩✨
Chinese American actress Anna May Wong was inspired by actress and friend Marlene Dietrich whose tuxedo suit and top hat style became her signature look.
📸: Carl Van Vechten, 1932. © Carl Van Vechten Trust.
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#HBD, LeBron James! 🏀 Born in Akron, Ohio, LeBron James was the #1 pick of the 2003 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and led the team far into the playoffs. He won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and a gold medal in 2008.
📸: s.si.edu/2JFbmdQ
© Michael O'Brien
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Cameras out at the National Portrait Gallery 🎞🖤📸
Hats off to @rachelcatherinephotography_ on Instagram for snapping this striking photo of our third floor. #myNPG
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Jess T. Dugan's project, "Family Pictures" spans three generations: "While these photographs are highly personal, they also address the broader lack of representations of queer families in society."
📸: s.si.edu/3gPF7IW
© Jess T. Dugan
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How can you create a path forward for others? Harriet Tubman became an active "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, guiding enslaved people to freedom. In 19 recorded trips, she was reputed to never have lost a soul.
#OurStruggleForJustice
📸: s.si.edu/3voyNMN
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'Tis the season for Nat "King" Cole! 🎶🥁
Thank you all for making our holiday season bright! The National Portrait Gallery is closed today, but will reopen at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, December 26th.
📸: s.si.edu/3WqJUQv
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❄️ It's the first day of winter! ❄️ Just looking at this painting of Richard Evelyn Byrd is making us chilly.
Richard Evelyn Byrd was a noted pilot and explorer. He and his crew were the first men to fly over the South Pole on November 28–29, 1929.
🖼: s.si.edu/3G2mFH9
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What makes an effective negotiator? Chief Sagoyewatha (Seneca) navigated his people through two major wars. During the War of 1812, he successfully convinced Native Americans on both sides to withdraw after heavy casualties.
#OurStruggleForJustice
🖼: s.si.edu/3v1vECo
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Un feliz cumpleaños a Sandra Cisneros, one of the most prominent Latina voices in American Literature. Do you have a favorite book by her? #BecauseOfHerStory s.si.edu/3hHAC3S
📷 by Al Rendon, .
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Have you been to the third floor of the National Portrait Gallery? ✨
Photo credits to Katie Melynn, who did an amazing job capturing its beauty during her visit! #myNPG
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Marilyn Monroe’s original name was Norma Jean Mortenson. She took on her stage name after she signed a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox and made it her legal name in 1956.
This photograph of her was taken in 1960. 📸: s.si.edu/3hCPfW9
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#OnThisDay the #WrightBrothers made the 1st sustained motorized aircraft flight in 1903.
“If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.”—Orville Wright
📸: s.si.edu/3HpuqZ0
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The horticulture team have added some extra sparkle to the Kogod Courtyard this holiday season! ✨
Stop by and enjoy it from 11:30 a.m to 7 p.m.
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These pocket-sized portraits were exceedingly popular starting in the 1840s. For the first time in history, having an image of your likeness was easily accessible.
This daguerreotype is of Robert & Elizabeth Mills, who'd been married for over 40 years when the photo was taken.
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How do you support the fight for civil rights?
Malcolm X drew large crowds as a riveting spokesperson for the Nation of Islam, a Black separatist group. He separated from them in 1964 and continued fighting for civil rights until his assassination.
🖼: s.si.edu/3Pfamdt
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Learn more about the photograph in an interview between Gloria Steinem and the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet:
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This first photograph was taken by Dan Wynn in 1971 for Esquire Magazine. Hughes and Steinem signaled their solidarity with the Black Power salute.
Forty-two years later, the two replicated the iconic photo.
(1) s.si.edu/3We2XNM
(2) s.si.edu/3iQgixv
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Show this thread
Today we remember Dorothy Pitman Hughes, photographed here with fellow activist Gloria Steinem. She was an advocate for child-welfare and a pioneer in feminism at a time when many viewed feminism solely as a white, middle-class movement.
📸: s.si.edu/3We2XNM
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Happy birthday to Frank Sinatra, “the first modern pop superstar."
His career began in his native New Jersey. In 1939, he scored a breakthrough when he was recruited to be a vocalist with Harry James’s big band.
What's your favorite Sinatra song?
📸: s.si.edu/3FBWze2
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Artist Hugo Crosthwaite walks us through his artistic process in creating his multi-faceted portrait of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.
The portrait consists of a 4:59 minute stop-motion drawing animation and 19 drawings, 7 of which are on view in the museum: s.si.edu/3sPVtE4
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"One of the things I like about that picture is that it reflects so well the experience that many have right after having a baby" explains artist Jessica Todd Harper of her self-portrait with her son.
📸: s.si.edu/3gPF7IW
© Jessica Todd Harper
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Amazing photo of the Kogod Courtyard by Agnieszka Werner. 👏 Thanks for visiting!
Are you making a trip to the National Portrait Gallery this month? ❄️ Share your photos with #myNPG!
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Last night, the Portrait Gallery received a shoutout on The Tonight Show! Clive Davis & Jimmy Fallon took a look at Davis's new portrait by David Hockney: bit.ly/3uSPeAJ
Visit the museum to see more portraits of Tonight Show guests over the years. ⭐️
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Artist Kenturah Davis incorporates writing and language in her process.
In her portrait of filmmaker Ava DuVernay, she used ink-dipped rubber letter stamps that corresponded with the words in a cherished letter from DuVernay’s father. #PortraitOfaNation
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How do you use your platforms to lead?
Eva Longoria got her big break with the role of Gabrielle Solis in the series “Desperate Housewives,” playing the first pivotal and primetime Latina character in U.S. television.
#OurStruggleForJustice
📸: s.si.edu/3iELBve
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As we prepare to launch our new season later this week, we're spotlighting a recent episode of 's PORTRAITS podcast.
Explore #StarTrek actor George Takei's story in "Live Long and Protest": s.si.edu/3UAiJl8
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Pauline Morton Smith Sabine was the powerhouse behind the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform, which she founded in 1929.
Due in no small part to her efforts, the prohibition of alcohol in the U.S. ended #OnThisDay in 1933. 🥂
🖼: s.si.edu/3gHIDWj
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In case you missed it, the Obama portraits are back on view at the National Portrait Gallery!
Visit Barack Obama's portrait by Kehinde Wiley on the 2nd floor and Michelle Obama's portrait by Amy Sherald on the 3rd floor.
🖼: s.si.edu/3gCBYMr, s.si.edu/3zm6UXU
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Maya Lin brought 49 dead white cedars into Manhattan, NY. This "Ghost Forest" is a part of what she describes as her last memorial, dedicated to the environment.
📸: "Ghost Forest, Madison Square Park Conservancy, New York" by James C. Ewart, 2021. Courtesy of Maya Lin Studio.
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#OTD in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, AL.
Her act sparked a boycott of the city's bus system that lasted for 381 days until the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.
📸: s.si.edu/3FbZ46B
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Botanist George Washington Carver revealed the untapped potential of peanuts and other crops. 🥜 He helped poor Black farmers, who were trapped in sharecropping, diversify their crops.
How can you empower those around you? #OurStruggleForJustice
🖼: s.si.edu/3UH744K
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A painter of Native American subject matter, Fritz Scholder (an enrolled member of the Luiseño tribe) developed an approach known as Indian Pop. This is his last self-portrait, made when he was battling complications from diabetes.
📷: s.si.edu/3OhZgUE #NAHM
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Did you know that the term "security blanket" came from the "Peanuts"? The series was created by cartoonist Charles Schulz, born #OnThisDay in 1922.
Who's your favorite character?
✒️: "Peanuts" by Charles Schulz, 1965. © Charles Schultz s.si.edu/3U0wQjv
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Zitkála-Šá, born in 1876, was a pioneer in a generation of Native American rights activists who had graduated from mission and government schools. In 1926, she founded the National Council of American Indians. #NAHM
📸: s.si.edu/3tGzNei
#NativeAmericanHeritageDay
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Did you know that Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, was born in the Caribbean? As a teen, through his intelligence and drive, he convinced wealthy patrons to send him to King's College (now Columbia University) in New York.
🖼: s.si.edu/3URGhmo
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How can you mobilize people to work towards change? Fred Hampton was the deputy chair of the Black Panther Party. Charismatic & effective, he lead the party successfully until he was killed by the FBI while asleep in 1969.
🖼: s.si.edu/3hSJ6VR
#OurStruggleForJustice
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