When tragedy struck during the space shuttle era, mourners found a place to honor the fallen astronauts of the tragic Challenger and Columbia flights at Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

Cyanotype, Marine Hospital Service Laboratory exhibit - equipped with apparatus for investigating subjects pertaining to sanitary science - at World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.

Link Love: a weekly post with links to interesting videos and stories about archival issues, technology and culture, and Washington D.C. and American history.

Here is a look into how the mixed media project of preserving The World Is Yours got its start.

Mary A. Huffer led Smithsonian Libraries as Acting Director, 1964–67, and Assistant Director, 1968–72. During her tenure, she welcomed automation for cataloging and purchasing in the newly-formed central library system. #Groundbreaker

While squirrels get their own special day, the Smithsonian did have an expert about these familiar creatures.

Transportation exhibit featuring automobiles in the United States National Museum, now known as the Arts and Industries Building, circa 1894.

Link Love: a weekly post with links to interesting videos and stories about archival issues, technology and culture, and Washington D.C. and American history.

On January 16, 1907, a man entered the U.S. National Museum and asked a carpenter for directions to a former colleague's office. Minutes later, that man pulled a rifle out of a package and murdered an illustrator working for the Smithsonian.

Elvira Clain-Stefanelli worked with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s National Numismatics Collection between 1957 and 2000. Although she initially arrived at the Smithsonian as an assistant to her husband, she eventually became the department’s first executive director in 1984.#Groundbreaker