Hot Topics in Archives Research

Winter's arrival brings the annual increase of requests for photos by Wilson A. "Snowflake" Bentley

When asked what the Smithsonian Institution Archives collects, we say we hold records about the history of the Smithsonian and its people, programs, research, and activities. While accurate, this doesn’t really give anyone a clue about what is actually in those records.

The Smithsonian Institution Archives Reference Term handles an average of around 6,000 queries per year, and if you us what people have been researching at the Archives recently, you’ll get some pretty interesting responses. Although not comprehensive, here’s a snapshot of the diverse range of information encompassed by the history of the world’s largest museum complex!

Over the past three months, researcher projects have included:

  • National Museum of American History’s upcoming 50th anniversary
  • Theodore Roosevelt’s African expedition
  • Post-Modern historicism in exhibits
  • History of the American Society of Icthyologists and Herpetologists
  • Plant geography
  • The Paleontology Hall at the National Museum of Natural History, for renovations to the  Dinosaur  Hall
  • Collecting & interpreting objects relating to George Washington
  • William Healey Dall
  • The history of tropical research in the US
  • Zoological imagination in America

The Smithsonian's pilot aluminum-can recycling program started early in February 1990 when forty-fou

Upcoming publications using the Archives' photos or documents include:

  • Wright Brothers National Memorial, State of the Park Report
  • Leslie Bedford, The Art of Museum Exhibitions
  • Ted Binnema, Enlightened Zeal: The Hudson’s Bay Co. and Scientific Networks
  • The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, The Clark: the Institute and its Collections
  • Robert Kett, "Ornithologists in Olman," The Museum Journal, April 2014
  • Julian Zelizar, A Great Society: The Fight for Liberalism, 1963-1968

Annual List of Publications by Smithsonian Institution ArchivesFellows and Interns

  • Gibson, Abraham H. 2013. "Edward O. Wilson and the Organicist Tradition," The Journal of the History of Biology, 46 (3)
  • Gibson, Abraham H., Kwapich, Christina L. and Lang, Martha. 2013. "The Roots of Multilevel Selection: Concepts of Biological Individuality in the Early Twentieth Century." History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 35 (4)
  • Henson, Pamela M. 2013. "O Instituto Smithsonian: Arquivos e a Historia da Ciencia." Acervo, Revista Da Arquivo Nacional, 26 (1): 113-122.
  • Leventhal, Richard M. and Daniels, Brian I. 2013. "'Orphaned Objects,' Ethical Standards, and the Acquisition of Antiquities." DePaul Journal of Art, Technology, and Intellectual Property Law, 23 (2): 339-361.
  • Takarabe, Kae. 2013. "Bibliographical Essay on The History of Science and Technology at the Smithsonian Institution: Focusing on women in science and technology." The History of Science of Tokai, 5: 43-51.
  • Takarabe, Kae. 2013. "Essay on B. S. Lyman's Collecting Ainu Objects: Focusing on General Instructions to the Assistants of the Geological Survey of Hokkaido." Bulletin of the Historical Museum of Hokkaido, 41: 147-152.
  • Takarabe, Kae. 2013. "Research on Technological Innovation in Science Museums and the Use of its Results: A Case Study of the Smithsonian Institution." Lectures and Reports of 31th Symposium-Range and Scope of History of Technology in Japan: Learning about the History of Technology, and Technological, 3: 24-39.
  • Takarabe, Kae. 2012. "Study on the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation: Science Communication at the Smithsonian Institution." Journal of the Museological Society of Japan, 37 (2): 135-159.

Most Unusual Reference Inquiry: Does the Smithsonian have Radar's teddy bear from the TV show, M*A*S*H?

Most people assume the teddy bear owned by Radar (actor Gary Burghoff) came to the Smithsonian when the program ended. After all, we received the donation of a large collection of  M*A*S*H memorabilia that was displayed in a 1983 exhibit at the National Museum of American History.

A "Radar's Teddy bear" file in Record Unit 360 - National Museum of American History, Office of Public Affairs, Records, circa 1970-1985contains several 1984 memos planning an event at the National Museum of American History for the proposed donation. However, there's nothing that indicates that such an event ever occurred. The registrar's office at the National Museum of American History confirmed that the teddy bear had not been accessioned. Something must have happened to prevent the teddy bear donation.

Online research revealed that the teddy was missing until 2005, when it brought $10,000 at auction. In a  2007 Orlando Sentinal interview, Burghoff confirmed that the bear was never at the Smithsonian, had disappeared 30 years earlier, and was purchased at the aforementioned auction by a medical student who then sold the bear to him.

Now where was that bear between 1984 and 2005?

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