Description: Link Love: a weekly blog feature with links to interesting videos and stories regarding archival issues, the Smithsonian, and Washington D.C & American history.
Description: An inside peek at the "Belle of the Mall" (aka our Arts & Industries building) which just received its new director. [via NPR]Less than 30 days until our new African American History and Culture Museum opens and its director, Lonnie Bunch, gives us some perspective on this historic event. [via WAMU]Sketch your way to finding the image you're searching for! [via The Verge]One
Description: While responding to a digitization request, I uncovered the story of how the Smithsonian International Exchange Service (1849-1992) helped rebuild the library collections of Chinese cultural heritage institutions during the Second World War.
Description: Collections here at the Archives span over 171 years of Smithsonian history and include personal papers of the many notable people who have been part of its work in science and culture. Cryptic and coded content is not unusual here. One would expect special vocabulary in the accessions of scientific observations. For example, notations of depth, temperature, and sounding and
Description: Starting tomorrow through next week, we will be digging into the life of entomologist Harrison Gray Dyar (1866-1929). Dyar was honorary custodian of the Smithsonian's United States National Museum's collection of Lepidoptera (butterflies, moths, etc.) for more than thirty years. As a scientist, Dyar was noted for his work concerning mosquito-borne diseases. He also developed a
Description: What Not to Wear: The National Portrait Gallery has a dramatic before/after makeover of James Monroe. Check out this great profile of our photograph archivist, Marguerite Roby. The NY Times Opinionator weighs in on in what exactly constitutes an “heirloom,” what this means in a throw-away culture, and the reasons why we save (or try and get rid of) so many dusty old things
Description: The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has acquired the earliest known photograph of U.S. President John Quincy Adams. [via Art Fix Daily]For the last 3 decades, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics has amassed 100 years of protest art from around the world. [via AIGA]Related, how museum curators are collecting history as it happens, including those at our own