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The Bigger Picture: Visual Archives and the Smithsonian

Posts tagged with: Politics/Government

Now Open to the Public (in 1922) - Museum of the American Indian

by Mitch Toda on November 13, 2012

G. G. Heye Holding Bella Coola Dish, by T. P. O Menzies, July 29, 1958, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 04-162 - National Museum of the American Indian, Office of Public Affairs, Visual Materials, 1987-1997, Neg. no. SIA2011-2246.

On November 14, 1922, George Gustav Heye opened to the public the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in New York City to display his collection of Native American artifacts.  Heye, a mining engineer, began collecting Native American artifacts while working in Arizona in 1896. The museum, founded in 1916, was located at Audubon Terrace and there was also a research branch in the Bronx where collections were available for research and study.  

After Heye's death in 1957, the future of the museum was in doubt.  Some thoughts were to transfer the collection to the American Museum of Natural History in New York or possibly for it to be purchased by businessman, H. Ross Perrot.  Neither of these options came to pass.  

It was not until the 1980s when discussions began with the Smithsonian that a home would be found for the Museum of the American Indian.  On November 18, 1989, President George H. W. Bush signed legislation creating the National Museum of the American Indian as part of the Smithsonian.  Today the museum consists of the George Gustave Heye Center in New York City (unfortunately because of Hurricane Sandy the Heye Center is temporarily closed), the Cultural Resources Center facility in Maryland, and the museum on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

Related Resources

  • History of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution Archives
Categories: Smithsonian History
Tags: Cities/Places, Politics/Government
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The Military at the Smithsonian

by Mitch Toda on November 8, 2012

In honor of Veteran's Day this coming weekend we want to take a look at the way the military has been represented at the Smithsonian, both in the past and present.  Thank you to all the women and men who have served in the U.S. military forces, your sacrifice and service will be remembered.  Please enjoy the slideshow.

Original Hall of Naval History, Arts and Industries Building, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 97-097 - National Museum of American History, Division of Armed Forces History, Exhibition Records, c. 1912-1965, 1990.

Categories: Smithsonian History
Tags: American History, Exhibitions, Politics/Government
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See Here: 11/5/2012

by Kira M. Cherrix on November 5, 2012

Political Campaign Exhibit in Arts and Industries, by Unknown, 1960, Smithsonian Archives - History Div, 94-13363.

Categories: Collections in Focus
Tags: See Here, Exhibitions, Politics/Government
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Link Love: 10/12/12

by Mitch Toda on October 12, 2012

The National Personnel Records Center building (shown under construction in 2011) includes 29-foot-high shelves for storing records. (Photo by Lenin Hurtado.)

  • Ever worked for the federal goverment?  If so, you'll find your personnel record at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis Missouri. [via Prologue, NARA]
  • Icons of design and a favorite of Secretary S. Dillon Ripley, Charles and Ray Eames brought some new ideas to the Smithsonian.  [via O San Can You See?, NMAH]
  • A beautiful thing, the Perkins School for the Blind Archives has made available online some of the correspondence of Helen Keller, her teacher Anne Sullivan and Sullivan’s mentor at Perkins School for the Blind, Michael Anagnos. [via InfoDocket]
  • While many us will never need to store a petabyte of data, many cultural institutions around the world need to think about how to best store and preserve massive of amounts of data. [via The Signal: Digital Preservation, LOC]
  • Want to know more about the flu?  You're in luck, the University of Michigan Center for Medicine just released The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919: A Digital Encyclopedia, an original, open access digital collection of archival, primary, and interpretive materials related to the history of the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic in the United States. [via InfoDocket]
  • Terra cotta archivists and the book archives of the Internet Archive. A conversation with Brewster Kahle. [via InfoDocket]

 

Categories: What Gets Saved
Tags: Web/Tech, Archive, Health/Medicine, Politics/Government, Link Love
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Link Love: 10/5/2012

by Mitch Toda on October 5, 2012

Map of Washington Square Park in green tones, designed in Mapbox by Aly DesRochers.

  • This week Brown University Library announced the launching of curio a new weekly blog, focusing on imaging rare, unusual, and intriguing objects. [via InfoDocket]
  • In 1947, Polaroid disrupted the world of photography with its now iconic invention.  Instant: The Story of Polaroid is an upcoming book tracing the rise and fall of Polaroid. [via core77]
  • Our former intern and volunteer, Aly DesRochers, writes about the Greenwich Village Digital Archive and includes information on a useful interactive mapping platform. [via Courtney Esposito, SIA]
  • Sadly, The Art of Video Games is no longer on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, but fortunately video games can be found in the collections of the Library of Congress. [via The Signal; Digital Preservation, LOC]
  • Talk about service.  North Carolina State University's James B. Hunt Jr. Library will be opening in a few months and will boast among other things the bookBot, a robotic automated delivery system that will deliver a book requested via the online catalog within 5 minutes of being requested. [via InfoDocket]
  • Getting to the heart of a website - Crawling websites at the Library of Congress. [via The Signal; Digital Preservation, LOC]
  • Avoiding conflicts of interest - The relationship between NARA and Wikipedia. [via NARAtions]
  • With the election season in full swing, take a look back at past campaign commerials at: The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commericals 1952-2012, from the Museum of the Moving Image. [via InfoDocket]
Categories: Collections in Focus
Tags: Web/Tech, Politics/Government, Photo History, Digitization, Link Love
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