Description: [caption id="attachment_7450" align="aligncenter" width="379" caption="A broken glass plate negative, Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives."][/caption] We are in the throes of summer here in Washington DC, and that means three things: heat, more heat, and interns. Interns not only allow us to share expertise and experience with newcomers to the field, but also allow
Description: It would be hard to imagine stepping into a Smithsonian museum today and not seeing a single camera. Digital cameras and smart phones with cameras are so completely a part of today’s museum-going experience that - unless a flash goes off in your face – you probably wouldn’t notice the camera next to you. However, in 1938, you would have seen a very different sight. On August
Description: Alphonso Lorenzo Jones joined the Smithsonian in 1924 as a mechanic. He retired 41 years later as the chief of the Institution’s duplicating office.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="366" caption="Heads and Fragments of Heads of Humeri, from the Photographic Catalogue of the Surgical Section, 1865, by William Bell, Albumen print on paper mounted on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase from the Charles Isaacs Collection made possible in part by the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen
Description: Sometimes the research process reveals more than an answer to a single question. This is the story of the Smithsonian bison that inspired the “Buffalo Bill.”
Description: August is National Parks Month, but the Smithsonian has celebrated the National Park Service for decades! Enjoy a selection of national parks images from the Archives' collection.
Description: Did you know that before the Smithsonian existed, there were two other institutions created for the promotion of science and diffusion of knowledge? Exploring the fate of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science.
Description: In the spring of 1846, after years of debate, the legislative logjam over what the Smithsonian would be was finally broken with compromise legislation by New York Congressman, William Jervis Hough.