One of the earliest collections of videos I digitized at the Archives was a series called Here At The Smithsonian. Its short features, produced from 1982 to 1989, were designed to be aired during commercial newscasts in order to circulate information about Smithsonian exhibitions and research activities to the public. During its eight-year run, 160 episodes were aired, including a few repeats, and the topics covered everything from art to science to nature to music.
Ever since these shows were digitized, I have wanted to find a way to present this piece of Smithsonian history to the public. Now I am happy to report that today we are kicking off a monthly blog series. On the last Tuesday of every month, we are going to feature two or three episodes from Here At The Smithsonian. Enjoy!
Celebrations ‘Round the World, from Volume 1 Edition 3.
It’s the time of year when people are celebrating all over the world, and so it’s only appropriate that we kickoff our blog series with an episode featuring an exhibition about celebrations around the world that appeared at the Renwick Gallery in 1982.
Advertising: Yesterday and Today, from Volume 4, Edition 4.
Over the last few months leading up to the holidays, I feel like I have been inundated with advertisements of every kind. In this episode about the National Museum of American History’s Collection of Advertising History, which aired in 1985, archivist John Fleckner discussed how historic advertisements can provide more than just product information to researchers, and historian Spencer Crew talks about how advertising documentation changed when campaigns started being broadcast on television.
Check back in next month for more episodes from Here At The Smithsonian!
Related Collections
- Office of Telecommunications, Accession 00-132, Smithsonian Institution Archives
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