About SI Archives

The Smithsonian Institution Archives consists of four Divisions. They are:

• Archives Division - Collects and maintains the official records of the Smithsonian, and the papers of associated individuals and organizations. Its holdings constitute the official memory of the Smithsonian and document the development of American science, art, and technology, and the growth of museums in the United States.
• The Digital Services Division - Addresses the Archives’s digital preservation, digital curation, electronic records management and online collection accessibility needs. Concentrations of the division are the Electronic Records Program, the Web and New Media group, and Digitization Services.
• Institutional History Division - Is responsible for research, public programs, publications, and exhibits on the history of the Smithsonian Institution. The Oral History Program documents the careers of Smithsonian staff, and the Smithsonian Videohistory Collection provides visual information about the history of science and technology.
• Technical Services Division- Supports preservation activities within the Smithsonian Institution Archives, and offers preservation services to other units within the Smithsonian. The Preservation Team ensures the long-term preservation of materials that the Smithsonian Institution Archives holds in public trust. The team’s primary responsibilities include preservation services, consultations, and outreach.

A Brief History of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Although the first Smithsonian Secretary, Joseph Henry, had seen the need for an archives to preserve the records of the Institution, the Smithsonian Institution Archives had its real origins in 1891, when William Jones Rhees, who had been Chief Clerk since 1852, was given the title Keeper of the Archives. Rhees served in the post until his death in 1907.

For the first half of the twentieth century, the administrative staff of the Office of the Secretary cared for the historical records while maintaining the current files. In 1958 John F. Jameson III was hired by the Secretary's Office to maintain the archives while also working with the current files. In 1960 Jameson was succeeded as Archivist by John DeGurse, Jr., who remained in the position until 1964.

The mission of the Archives became more research-oriented in 1965, when Samuel T. Suratt was appointed Smithsonian Archivist. His hiring was accompanied by the charge to engage in the "development of the Archives as a facility for historical research in American Science" by making the Archives' resources more readily accessible to historians through better identification, preservation, and cataloging of Smithsonian documents. Within two years the Smithsonian Institution Archives was no longer funded by the Office of the Secretary and became a separate line item in the Institution's budget. The Archives moved into new quarters within the Smithsonian Castle during Suratt's tenure.

Suratt served until April 1969 and was replaced by Nathan Reingold (who was also editor of the Joseph Henry Papers Project). Reingold remained Acting Archivist until the appointment of Richard H. Lytle in January 1970. The Archives, under Lytle's direction, entered an era of tremendous growth. Records survey and acquisition programs were initiated in most Smithsonian museums and central administrative units and the volume of holdings increased accordingly; expanded repository guides were published in 1971, 1978, and 1983; an oral history program to supplement the written record was established in 1973; and the Archives moved into a new home in the Arts and Industries Building (A&I) in 1976. Lytle left the Archives in 1981 to head the Smithsonian's computer services. William A. Deiss served as Acting Archivist until 1983, when William W. Moss was appointed Director of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

By the late-1980s, shelf space in the Archives' A&I stack range had been completely filled. As a result, in FY 1988 the Archives leased around 6,000 square feet of warehouse space at Fullerton Industrial Park in South Springfield, Virginia. Over 5,000 cubic feet of records were initially transferred to the new facility from A&I, with new accessions sent to Fullerton on a regular basis thereafter. Other highlights of the Moss years included the establishment of the Smithsonian Archives and Special Collections Council, which he led during its formative period; an exhaustive survey of photographic resources in many Smithsonian museums and offices; and the creation of the Smithsonian Videohistory Program, organized in 1987, to conduct videotaped interviews documenting American science.

In 1993 a reorganization resulted in the creation of the Office of Smithsonian Institution Archives with Moss as Director. The new Office consisted of an Archives Division, directed by Alan L. Bain, and an Institutional History Division, directed by Pamela M. Henson. Also included in the new office was the National Collections Program, headed by William Tompkins, which had taken over some of the duties of the former Office of the Registrar. In 1993 Moss retired and was succeeded by Henson as Acting Director, 1993, and John F. Jameson III, who served as Acting Director in 1994. Edie Hedlin was appointed Director in 1994. Hedlin retired in 2005. Thomas Soapes served as Acting Director until 2007. Anne Van Camp is the current Director.

The Archives under Hedlin's direction entered the era of electronic information - establishing an electronic records program and creating an Archives web site. In 1996, to commemorate the Smithsonian's sesquicentennial, the Archives published its fourth (and last) printed Guide to the Smithsonian Archives which described over 1,100 record units comprising some 15,500 cubic feet of archival material. In FY 1997, the Archives began a program to store the records of many archives around the Smithsonian at Iron Mountain (formerly National Underground Storage) of Boyers, Pennsylvania.

In FY 1998, the name of the organization reverted back to Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA). At this time, the Archives Division adopted a team-based staffing structure and the Technical Services Division was created.

The Archives Division was comprised of three teams until FY 2007. The Records Management (RM) Team is responsible for the appraisal and acquisition of all permanent and temporary records into the Archives and its Records Center. The Team also provides records management guidance and advice to offices, and creates records disposition schedules for institutional records. The Arrangement and Description Team created descriptive tools for SIA collections, including finding aids, bibliographic records, and agency histories. The Reference Team receives visiting researchers into the Archives and answers other inquiries from remote researchers. In 2007 the Arrangement and Description Team was disbanded, and the RM Team has assumed those responsibilities. Tammy Peters is the current Director of the division.

The Technical Services Division supports administrative and preservation activities within SIA. Its Preservation Team ensures the long-term preservation of the materials that the Smithsonian Institution Archives holds in public trust. The team's primary responsibilities include preservation services, consultations, and outreach. In 2003 SIA's preservation program, like its offsite storage program in Boyers, PA, extended services to other archival repositories. Through the creation of the Smithsonian Center for Archives Conservation (SCAC), the services of a paper conservator are available to all Smithsonian repositories at a highly concessionary fee. The Center was established through the support of Eleanor McMillan, who donated $100,000 to SIA for initial support of the conservator's salary. Alan L. Bain is the current Director of the division.

The Institutional History Division has greatly increased the amount of historical information and images available on-line, producing 3,000 digital images and creating a combined history of the Smithsonian on the web. In 2007, the Joseph Henry Papers Project completed a twelve volume documentary edition on the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Electronic Records Division addresses the threefold challenge of digital records: risk management, preservation, and conservation. SIA has accessioned digital records since the mid 1990s, records which are often over two decades old. In addition, to its work with the now obsolete data and media formats of these early records, the division assists other teams in the Archives as more accessions that are fully digital are transferred. Two special projects highlight the work of the division: preserving and archiving the Smithsonian websites and a joint research project with Rockefeller Archives Center to address email record preservation.

In August 2006 SIA moved out of the Arts & Industries and into its new quarters in the Capital Gallery Building. SIA's new space includes a state-of-the-art storage facility; a reading room; several special viewing/listening rooms; processing and preservation space; digital imaging and audiovisual processing facilities; an oral history interview studio; and a conservation lab.

Revised 1/11/2008