Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_9592,size=200,left]Did you know the Smithsonian was an early adopter of the telephone? In June of 1878, a system of electronic bells and telephones was installed throughout the Smithsonian Castle. The system connected several workrooms and offices to provide instant communications within the building. At that time, there were only 187 telephone lines
Description: Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Description: When it comes to the Smithsonian Transcription Center, there’s always more to discover, more material with which to engage. It can be easy to lose track of just how much our crowd of #volunpeers accomplished and why it is so important to us. We’re not done yet, but after four years, it’s a good time to take a step back and see what has been accomplished through the effort of
Description: Eliza Scidmore was a lifelong photographer, writer, and world traveler. In addition to facilitating a gift of cherry blossom trees from Japan to the U.S. capital, Scidmore donated her time, photographs, and some artifacts to the Smithsonian’s collections. She also accessed the world through colonial channels that she reinforced with her writings.
Description: [caption id="attachment_2239" align="aligncenter" width="324" caption="881. View of the cliff of Mount Burgess from the west slope of Mount Field, three (3) miles north of Field on the Canadian Pacific Railway (British Columbia, Canada). By C.D. Walcott, 1910. 4 x 5" kodak film. Digital image taken directly from nitrate negative.
Description: “Watching Oprah: The Oprah Winfrey Show and American Culture," a new exhibit highlighting celebrity activist, Oprah Winfrey, opened at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. [via WAPO]Archivists with The Obsidian Collection are digitizing and publishing newspapers that document the Great Migration, Civil Rights, and Jim Crow eras. [via Info
Description: Exhibit case filled with West African knives, shields and axes from an exhibition of the Herbert Ward African Collection in the Museum of Natural History, MNH-26819H.
Description: Librarians at the White House Historical Association have digitized 25,000 previously uncatalogued slides! [via CNN]In case you missed it, the blog, Missing Scientists' Faces, shared 28 days of African American female scientists during Black History Month. [via @MissingSciFaces]Check out some of the Digital Public Library of America's primary source sets for Women's History
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_306419,size=200,left]During World War II, Science Service correspondent Emma Reh (1896-1982) spent several years living and working in Paraguay. Her letters home, like the ones written when she worked in Mexico and the American West, typically combined personal and professional news with her colorful descriptions of the countryside and people.Emma had