Description: The Smithsonian’s scientists and naturalists were, and still are, constantly on the move. When they weren’t in the field, they were in the museum studying collected specimens, writing papers, and getting ready for the next series of trips. Dr. Waldo LaSalle Schmitt (1887-1977) was no exception.Logistics is a special skill, an essential one when traveling on scientific
Description: On the evening of October 1, 1847, while using a small telescope on the roof of the family home, Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) spotted a comet where one had not been before. Word of this achievement spread quickly through the scientific community. The American Journal of Science declared her “the first American entitled to the honor of the original discovery of a comet.” Some
Description: For a period of time in the early 1990s, the Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries Building played host to an experimental exhibition gallery space.
Description: Mary Agnes Chase is known for her extensive contributions to the study of grasses, but who was Mary Agnes Chase? Why is her private life so shrouded in mystery, and how can we find out more.
Description: Though a large part of our collections are flat—that is, they are unbound materials as opposed to bound, three-dimensional objects—a significant group of our holdings do live in bindings and book structures (some of my previous blog contributions have dealt with books, but none with as great a degree of intervention). Treating a field book became more complicated—and more
Description: While researching my last blog post on the "mad wolf" who escaped from the National Zoo, I came across an old black-and-white photograph in the Smithsonian Institution Archives that caught my eye. The image is grainy, but appears to show a man and a wolf, separated by a chain-link fence, holding each other's rapt attention while the man operates some sort of recorder. Unable
Description: Ron Vasile teaches AP U.S. History, U.S. History and Anthropology at Lockport Township High School in Lockport, Illinois.We bring to you the story of a dedicated naturalist turned museum pioneer.