Description: As I write this crossover Preservation Week/MayDay post so close to Earth Day 2020 (the fiftieth anniversary), stunning news continues to break across the globe due to the coronavirus. Shining through the fog of worry, there have been surprising gains in a period of forced inactivity due to reduced emissions, such as record-breaking solar energy capture in Germany, and cleaner
Description: Link Love: a weekly post with links to interesting videos and stories about archival issues, technology and culture, and Washington D.C. and American history.
Description: Preservation intern discusses working with oversize materials in the Archives collection, including information on the creation of custom enclosures, surface cleaning of blueprints, and humidification.
Description: Link Love: a weekly post with links to interesting videos and stories about archival issues, technology and culture, and Washington D.C. and American history.
Description: November is here and the leaves seem to finally be changing, which heralds the end of October is American Archives Month. Our 31-day Blogathon was a smashing success, garnering about 10,000 visits, and even though Archives month has come to a close, we will continue to post about our profession, our stories, and our wonderfully unique treasures. [caption id="attachment_9907"
Description: A couple of months ago, a few members of the Archives staff went out to the Smithsonian Conversation Biology Institute (SCBI) in Front Royal, Virginia, to collect some records that are being accessioned into our collections. One of the items we were given on this trip was a book detailing the facilities located on the property in Front Royal prior to it being used by the
Description: [caption id="" align="alignright" width="210" caption="Portrait of a City Marshal by Barr & Wright, 1870-1880, National Museum of American History, Catalog number 77.43.1678."][/caption] Help the Smithsonian ID a Houston city marshal from the 1870s in the picture on the right. The extremely flammable nitrocellulose film used before 1951 led to an estimated 80 percent of silent