| Welcome to the Saturday edition of The Conversation U.S.'s Daily newsletter. In July, scholars of 19th-century literature Susanna Ashton and Mollie Barnes traveled to a small, decorative arts museum in South Carolina to see a table that belonged to a formerly enslaved writer. During their visit, they came across a set of wooden stairs, which had been installed as an exquisite example of 18th-century craftsmanship. On the wall leading to the first landing was a framed photograph of a Black woman named Harriet Jacobs. Below that, there was a framed copy of her book. Ashton and Barnes were stunned. Jacobs wrote one of the most well-known slave narratives, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," which they regularly teach to their students at Clemson University and University of South Carolina Beaufort. In the harrowing account, Jacobs details how her enslaver once threw her down the stairs in a fit of rage, leaving her bedridden for weeks – the very stairs that now stood before them. After doing some more research, they realized that a few scholars had pointed out the connection, but it wasn't something that was widely known. The encounter with the staircase highlights the way regional museums can "preserve artifacts whose stories unfold over generations – whose meaning may not rest on the reasons they are salvaged, purchased or preserved," Ashton and Barnes write. And it serves as an example of the important work small museums continue to do, particularly as the Trump administration seeks to slash funding for museums and libraries, while dictating which stories get told. This week we also liked stories on what George Washington considered the ideal military leader, neighborhood animal tracking, and the work of atomic physicist Irene Curie – daughter of fellow Nobel winners Marie and Pierre Curie. One last note: If you find our work valuable, please support us. We're giving all our donors a free e-book of our recent series looking at bold solutions to the affordable housing crisis. | 
