Let’s learn about the history of Smithsonian Gardens’ annual orchid exhibit with a little help from former director Barbara Faust through her 2011 oral history interview.

Jeanne Benas was an Assistant Registrar at the National Museum of Air and Space, 1982–85, and an Assistant Registrar and Registrar at the National Museum of American History, 1985–2015. She is a founding member of the Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists. #Groundbreaker

Whether you have a little downtime or you wish you remembered what downtime was like, the Archives is here for you with a few distance learning activities and preservation tips.

A keeper feeds Asian elephants Hitam and Kechil in the octagonal elephant barn at the National Zoological Park, 1918.

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.

See new collection highlights posted to the Smithsonian Institution Archives website.

Ann M. Shumard has worked to develop the photography collection at the National Portrait Gallery as an Assistant Curator, 1979–2001, and Senior Curator of Photographs, 2001–present. She has curated more than a dozen exhibitions and serves on the Smithsonian’s Collections Advisory Committee. #Groundbreaker

Discover the life and career of an early public health heroine.

Cyanotype, Riker Electric Mail Wagon vehicle for exhibition by Post Office Department at Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, 1901.

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.