Description: The Archives was recently gifted an 1860 letter from Spencer F. Baird, second Secretary of the Smithsonian, to George N. Lawrence, fellow naturalist. The donor requested that, along with a digital version, a transcription be provided, which I undertook alongside a simple treatment. The letter was in overall excellent condition: the thin paper exhibited only a pair of small
Description: [caption id="attachment_1872" align="aligncenter" width="263" caption="Eyeball 1, by loonyhiker, 2009."][/caption] At some point, everyday, I scan the Internet for stories about photography’s role and impact in culture. It turns out that in addition to all the images that are out there to be seen, there are surprising numbers of reports circulating about the power of those
Description: Pupper, doggy, hound, bowwow, beastie, pooch. No matter what we call dogs, they have always been our best friends. In honor of writing the third National Dog Day post, let’s take a look at the pooches from the Archives' staff (both past and present). Some of these doggos are home helping Archives' staff while we continue working remotely. Can we get an all around "Goooooood
Description: They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that’s true, some of Dr. Waldo LaSalle Schmitts field books are worth tens of thousands of words.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Bus Seats, by Adam Gerard, Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License"][/caption] I took a stroll at lunch today since it’s that time of year again when the magnolia trees bloom in the Smithsonian Castle’s Enid Haupt Garden. It’s important to catch it before a rain or a big breeze snatches
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives has been spending a lot of time looking at our audiovisual preservation practices. Check out the results from our recent assessment!