Posts tagged with: American History
Link Love: 6/23/2017
![Tojin ja-odori no zu / Chinese dragon dance, [between 1850-1900], Chadbourne Collection of Japanese](https://siarchives.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/body-image-450/public/blog-attached-images/3g10363v.jpg?itok=VOuKXz6N "Tojin ja-odori no zu / Chinese dragon dance, [between 1850-1900], Chadbourne Collection of Japanese Prints, Library of Congress [LC-USZC4-10363].")
- Now available for download - Images of more than 2500 Japanese woodblock prints and drawings at the Library of Congress. [via This is Colossal]
- Moving to Washington! - The Arhoolie Records make their way to the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. [via The Mercury News]
- The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center goes to Hawai'i with ʻAe Kai: A Culture Lab on Convergence and which will feature the works of more than 50 artists, scholars and performers and will host an array of art installations, live performances and interactive maker spaces from July 7-9, 2017. [via Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center]
- More online goodies - 70,000 archival materials from the Brooklyn Academy of Music. [via The New York Times]
- The British Library hosts the launch of The Copyright Cortex, a new online, open access, resource dedicated to copyright and digital cultural heritage. [via europeana pro]
- Mark your calendars - The National Museum of American History's newly renovated west wing will open on June 28, 2017 with the exhibitions: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith; Many Voices, One Nation; Religion in Early America; and Within These Walls. [via National Museum of American History]
Sidedoor Podcast: Megatherium Club
A staff-favorite story in the Smithsonian’s history is that of the Megatherium Club — a revolving group of young naturalists who made the Castle their temporary home in between expeditions to the outer reaches of the United States. Who could not be intrigued by this photo of the Club where they look to be sharing a joke, or a plan? They were absolutely up to something; sack races, beer-drinking, and serenading the daughters of the Smithsonian’s Secretary, Joseph Henry. They coined themselves after the extinct giant sloth, the Megatherium, which was the latest paleontological discovery of the day.
Lately, the club’s notoriety has grown. The Washington Post did a story on one of the founding members, Robert Kennicott, who died tragically at the age of 30 while on expedition to Alaska in 1866. Smithsonian forensic anthropologists and an archivist came up with a new theory for his death which had previously been thought to be suicide. Now Kennicott’s bones are on display in the National Museum of Natural History’s “Objects of Wonder” exhibit along with assorted specimen he collected; a red fox, a Northwest territory headdress, brachiopod fossils, and more.
Sidedoor, a podcast which the public behind-the-scenes at the Smithsonian, is featuring the Megatherium Club in the first episode of season two. Tune in to hear our own Pamela Henson, Smithsonian historian, share what we know about this fascinating bunch.
Before you wander off, I’ll leave you with Kennicott’s description of the Megatherium Club which can be found in Richard Stamm’s wonderful book on their home, The Castle: An Illustrated History:
"It is at five o’clock, when the Megatherium takes up its pretty, that the most interesting character of the animal are seen – Then it roars with delight and makes up for the hard work of the day by much fun and conduction…Vulgar outsiders who think the Megatheria must be rather dry sticks…are caused to open their eyes very wide when they are allow to see the Megatheria taking its prey or on a frolic..."
Related Resources
- Sidedoor Podcast
- "Partying Like It's 1855," Smithsonian Mobile
- "Robert Kennicott (1835-1866): Early Smithsonian Scientific Explorer and Collector," National Museum of Natural History
Link Love: 6/02/2017
- Animated gifs showing how city subway maps compare to real geography. [via Open Culture]
- We’ll let the headline from our friends at the National Museum of American History speak for itself: “The Smithsonian and the 19th century guano trade: This poop is crap.” [via the O Say Can You See? blog]
- Thanks to new laser technology, archaeologists have unearthed a set of 1,600 year-old frescoes in one of Rome’s oldest catacombs [via The Telegraph]
- Proof that cats haven’t changed much in 2,000 years: a paw print from a cat that walked on a wet clay roof was found during an archaeological dig in England. [via Atlas Obscura]
- 30,000 Getty Museum images are now viewable using IIIF, letting you zoom in, annotate, and compare artwork side by side. [via The Getty blog]
- How Edith Wharton enlisted artists like Henry James, Claude Monet, and William Butler Yeats to help fundraise for World War I refugees. [via Smithsonian Magazine]
- It’s been 50 years since The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonley Hearts Club Band” was released. Listen to the band’s first take of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” [via NPR]
- Fascinating: a video of the British Museum conserving the 16th century “Triumphal Arch,” one of the largest prints ever made. [via Hyperallergic]
Link Love: 5/26/2017
- Entertaining "Page Not Found' 404's from museums. [via Hyperallergic]
- Paleontologist Nick Pyenson, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, used museum collections to determine the reason baleen whales became gigantic. Plus you can help transcribe specimen labels from our Fossil Marine Invertebrates collection! [via NY Times]
- Harvard archivists found what they believe is the earlies known recording of John F. Kennedy. [via Harvard Gazette]
- Pharo aims to make available millions of images from art historical photo archives online. [via Hyperallergic]
- NOAA now lets you virtually dive into 5 national marine sanctuaries. [via Verge]
- Smithsonian panda in heat alert! [via DCist]
- Knight Foundation just announced $1.87 million in funding to support new uses of technology to connect people with art. [via AAM blog]
- The slo-mo of ladybug wings unfolding is mesmerizing. [via NPR]
Link Love: 5/19/2017
- An early infographic explaining Earth in case of chance alien encounters, from 1972! [via Co.Design]
- A peek at the the 1st weather dataset collected by the Smithsonian in the late 19th century, and what it means about archival practices around data. [via Process History]
- How Chuck Berry's bright red Cadillac almost didn't make it to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. [via WAPO]
- An incredibly well-preserved dinosaur found in Canada. [via National Geographic]
- The Library of Congress dropped 25 million for free bulk download! [via LOC]
- A new library of over 40 hours of open science videos from the Dutch Institute for Sound and Vision, funded by UNESCO. [via Mind of the Universe]
- A fascinating profile of Frances Oldham Kelsey, an FDA pharmacologist who helped prevent an epidemic of birth defects in the 1960s. [via Smithsonian Magazine]
- Suffering from Kusama withdrawal? Watch a time lapse of the Obliteration Room from the Hirshhorn. [via WAPO]
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