Description: Nancy J. Bechtol has supervised all facilities engineering and management needs across the Smithsonian as director of Smithsonian Facilities since 2012. Previously, Bechtol was the director of Smithsonian Gardens, 1995–2002, and director of the Office of Facilities Management and Reliability, 2002–2012. #Groundbreaker
Description: It is with sadness that I report that Mitch Toda is stepping down as the blog coordinator. Since 2011, Mitch Toda has been the man behind-the-scenes making sure everything runs smoothly. As a staff archivist, he works daily with the records he takes in from Smithsonian museums and offices such as the new National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Office of
Description: Sheryl Kolasinski, Director, Office of Planning and Project Management, 1995–2011, and Deputy Director, Office of Facilities Engineering and Operations, 2011–2012, managed major capital projects and helped maintain safety and security across the Smithsonian. #Groundbreaker
Description: Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Description: When Dr. Ted Reed became director of the National Zoological Park in 1959, he committed himself to carrying out the zoo’s complete set of mandates that included research, education, and conservation of endangered species. All these came together in a new non-public facility, the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, founded in 1975 in Front Royal, Virginia.
Description: Many of us read, write and send emails every day, but when did it all start at the Smithsonian? In 1980 Smithsonian staff had typewriters and telephones on their desk, with one or two FAX machines per office. The Smithsonian operated a single general purpose computer, the Honeywell mainframe, for all Smithsonian data processing applications and which did not include an email
Description: Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Description: Masks and endless sanitizing again? What has the Smithsonian done during past pandemics? We’ll look back to the public health emergency in 1918.
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives manages the cold storage vault at the National Museum of American History where approximately 3 million negatives are stored.