Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="367" caption="A diorama of Andrew Ellicott and his assistant Benjamin Banneker taking a break from surveying the boundaries of Washington, D.C., in "Laying out the Nation's Capital" in the Hall of Physical Sciences, 1966, by Unidentified photographer, Black and white photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95,
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: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="425" caption="Six children play on the sculpture "Uncle Beazley," the 25 foot long replica of a triceratops, placed on the Mall in front of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), 1976, by Unidentified photographer, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 33, Folder: 23, Negative Number:
Description: The Conference on the Future of the Smithsonian took place on February 11, 1927, raising awareness of the activities of the Smithsonian and at the same time served as a venue to raise money.
Description: An overview of the history of Martha the passenger pigeon, the last of her species, who was donated to the National Museum of Natural History 100 years ago.
Description: I was intrigued to receive a tweet from a digital colleague over at the NY Times pertaining to a family story that could very well be solved at the Archives. I’m continuously surprised at the variety of papers we hold here, but by now, I shouldn’t be given how far-reaching and varied the scope of the Smithsonian has been through history. Back to the story. THE elephant that
Description: Before you head to “Deep Time,” opening this weekend at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, learn about how Smithsonian’s fossil collection was initially formed and exhibited.