Description: This summer witnessed an exciting find by interns Shereen Choudhury and Rachel Midura, who identified Teddy Roosevelt in one of the broken glass plate negatives they were inventorying. This glass plate comes from a collection of images that have all been numbered, but have minimal descriptive records indicating what they may represent.
Description: As I wrap up my first year with the Smithsonian Institution Archives, I’d like to take a moment to pay homage to some of my favorite images. While the title “Photograph Archivist” might suggest I spend a lot of time looking at pictures, the truth of the matter is that I spend a lot of time manipulating and creating data that will make these pictures discoverable and accessible
Description: A closer look at staff member Henry Horan (1838-1896), who held several positions at the Smithsonian, including janitor, watchman, and superintendent of buildings, during his long career at the Institution.
Description: [caption id="attachment_13094" align="aligncenter" width="404" caption="Jefferson Memorial Cherry Blossoms at the Tidal Basin, 1983, by Jeff Tinsley, Color slide, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Negative Number 83-4105."][/caption] Today, we’re starting a new weekly feature that highlights images from the Archives’ historic Smithsonian Photographic Services collection.
Description: While the Smithsonian Institution is perhaps better known for its museums that pepper the landscape of the National Mall in Washington DC, its devotion to scientific research easily matches its dedication to collecting, preserving, and displaying artifacts of cultural and historical importance. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) started off as a small field
Description: [caption id="attachment_11206" align="aligncenter" width="219" caption="Bells Rock Lighthouse, Chesapeake Bay, c. 1880s, by Unidentified photographer, Photographic negative, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Negative number: MAH-48182H."][/caption] We recently digitized a series of lighthouse images that led me on a surprising research path.
Description: Did you know that May is National Photography Month? Declared by Congress as a month-long event in 1987, National Photography Month celebrates all aspects of photography. We invite you to see what our photographers were up to a century before this declaration in this behind- the-scenes slideshow of the photographic laboratory spaces, set-ups, and equipment of the United States