Ellen Wexler

Washington, D.C., United States

Assistant Digital Editor at Smithsonian

Assistant digital editor, humanities @SmithsonianMag // previously @MomentMagazine

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Articles

These Ancient Scrolls Have Been a Tantalizing Mystery for 2,000 Years. Researchers Just Deciphered a Title for the First Time

1 month ago | smithsonianmag.com | Ellen Wexler

Mount Vesuvius’ eruption preserved the Herculaneum scrolls beneath a blanket of ash. Two millennia later, X-ray scans show that one of them is a philosophical text called “On Vice” In the 1750s, an Italian farmer digging a well stumbled upon a lavish villa in the ruins of Herculaneum. Inside was a sprawling library with hundreds of scrolls, untouched since Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 C.E. Some of them were still neatly tucked away on the shelves.
These Ancient Scrolls Have Been a Tantalizing Mystery for 2,000 Years. Researchers Just Deciphered a Title for the First Time

1 month ago | flipboard.com | Ellen Wexler

7 hours agoThis Manhattan apartment and studio is a shrine to artThis downtown apartment couldn’t belong to anyone other than a New York artist. The space was imagined by local interior design studio Ries Hayes, comprising a studio on the ground level and the artist’s private residence above.
The New Pope Is Calling Himself Leo-Just Like 13 Other Pontiffs Who Came Before Him. Who Are They?

1 month ago | smithsonianmag.com | Ellen Wexler

When Robert Prevost was elected pope this week, he chose one of the most popular papal names. The lives of the Pope Leos who preceded him may offer insight into his approach to the papacy About two weeks after Pope Francis died at age 88 on April 21, the conclave to elect his successor began inside the Sistine Chapel. The 133 cardinals gathered inside reached their decision after two days of deliberations.
The Only Black, All-Female Unit to Serve Overseas in World War II Receives the Congressional Gold Medal

1 month ago | smithsonianmag.com | Ellen Wexler

Women Who Shaped History A Smithsonian magazine special report The Six Triple Eight cleared a years-long backlog of mail in just three months. Eighty years later, the unit is finally getting the recognition it deserves When Congress voted to bestow its highest honor on the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in 2022, only six members of the 855-person World War II unit were still alive.
Paul Revere Wasn't the Only Midnight Rider Who Dashed Through the Darkness to Warn the Patriots That the British Were Coming

2 months ago | smithsonianmag.com | Ellen Wexler

Revere, who was later immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, was one of many riders who rode through the countryside, spreading the alarm on April 18, 1775 Hours before the first shots of the American Revolution rang out, 700 British soldiers stationed in Boston mobilized under cover of darkness, hoping to stop the war in its tracks.
Flannery O'Connor Wanted to Shake Her Readers Awake. Her Family Wanted Her to Write the Next 'Gone With the Wind'

Mar 25, 2025 | smithsonianmag.com | Ellen Wexler

History | This year marks the writer’s 100th birthday. Through fiction anchored in her Southern background and Catholic faith, O’Connor revealed how candid confrontations with darkness lead to moments of reckoning When the film Gone With the Winddebuted in 1939, an extravagant premiere gala unfolded over three days in downtown Atlanta. Thousands gathered outside Loew’s Grand Theater, which had been decorated to resemble a Southern plantation home, to watch the stars arrive.
The QWERTY Keyboard Will Never Die. Where Did the 150-Year-Old Design Come From?

Feb 25, 2025 | smithsonianmag.com | Jimmy Stamp |Ellen Wexler

History | The invention’s true origin story has long been the subject of debate. Some argue it was created to prevent typewriter jams, while others insist it’s linked to the telegraph A few years after the iPhone’s debut, an innovative new keyboard system started making headlines. Known as KALQ, the split-screen design was created specifically for thumb-typing on smartphones and tablets.
The Real Story Behind ‘Nickel Boys’ and the Brutal Florida Reform School That Inspired the Film

Feb 24, 2025 | ourcommunitynow.com | Ellen Wexler

Share When students like Billey Jackson died under mysterious circumstances, they were buried in unmarked plots at Boot Hill Cemetery, a graveyard behind the garbage dump at the Florida School for Boys . Billey had landed at the reform school on August 8, 1952, after cutting class three times. The small 13-year-old made friends with older students who shielded him from bullies, but their protection wouldn’t be enough.
The Real Story Behind 'Nickel Boys' and the Brutal Florida Reform School That Inspired the Film

Feb 24, 2025 | smithsonianmag.com | Ellen Wexler

When students like Billey Jackson died under mysterious circumstances, they were buried in unmarked plots at Boot Hill Cemetery, a graveyard behind the garbage dump at the Florida School for Boys. Billey had landed at the reform school on August 8, 1952, after cutting class three times. The small 13-year-old made friends with older students who shielded him from bullies, but their protection wouldn’t be enough.
Why Was Zora Neale Hurston So Obsessed With the Biblical Villain Herod the Great?

Jan 16, 2025 | smithsonianmag.com | Ellen Wexler

Near the end of her life, Zora Neale Hurston wrote to her editor at Scribner’s that she was “under the spell of a great obsession.” She had been working feverishly on the early chapters of a project, which, she assured him, “has EVERYTHING.”The all-consuming subject? “The life story of HEROD THE GREAT,” she wrote.

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Ellen Wexler

Articles

These Ancient Scrolls Have Been a Tantalizing Mystery for 2,000 Years. Researchers Just Deciphered a Title for the First Time

These Ancient Scrolls Have Been a Tantalizing Mystery for 2,000 Years. Researchers Just Deciphered a Title for the First Time

The New Pope Is Calling Himself Leo-Just Like 13 Other Pontiffs Who Came Before Him. Who Are They?

The Only Black, All-Female Unit to Serve Overseas in World War II Receives the Congressional Gold Medal

Paul Revere Wasn't the Only Midnight Rider Who Dashed Through the Darkness to Warn the Patriots That the British Were Coming

Flannery O'Connor Wanted to Shake Her Readers Awake. Her Family Wanted Her to Write the Next 'Gone With the Wind'

The QWERTY Keyboard Will Never Die. Where Did the 150-Year-Old Design Come From?

The Real Story Behind ‘Nickel Boys’ and the Brutal Florida Reform School That Inspired the Film

The Real Story Behind 'Nickel Boys' and the Brutal Florida Reform School That Inspired the Film

Why Was Zora Neale Hurston So Obsessed With the Biblical Villain Herod the Great?

Contact details

Emails

Socials & Sites

X (formerly Twitter)