Description: Lucy Hunter Baird did not shy away from her father’s towering legacy in American science, she embraced it. As the only child of Spencer Fullerton Baird, second Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Lucy Baird developed a passion for her father’s discipline of ornithology (the study of birds) and strove to chronicle his extraordinary life in a biography. Although she was
Description: This is post is part of our series on career advice for the aspiring archives professional. Each edition features information and career advice from a different member of the Smithsonian Institution Archives team, regarding what they do, how they got here, and how you can too. Don’t be afraid to let us know who you might like to hear from next!What is preservation? This is a
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_14760,size=200,left] On July 1, 2016, the current National Air and Space Museum (NASM) building, covered with a Tenessee pink marble façade and recessed glass bays, celebrated its 40th anniversary. For this, NASM reopened its central exhibition, the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, and hosted various events including greetings from Mars and from
Description: There is a remarkable figure in the Smithsonian’s history that doesn’t get much of the spotlight; Thomas W. Smillie. He served as the Smithsonian’s first official photographer from 1870 until his death in 1917, and additionally became the Smithsonian’s first photography curator in 1896. Smillie amassed a collection of photographic equipment starting with the purchase of the
Description: In honor of National Scrapbooking Month, the Archives highlights the scrapbook of William and Lucile Mann from their trip to Argentina in 1939.
Description: While teleworking for the last year, the Archives has been busy capturing web content that documents the Smithsonian’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.