Results for "Gifts"
- Blog Post
Looking Smithson’s Gift Horse in the Mouth
- Date: July 28, 2015
- Creator: Pamela M. Henson
- Description: Today, James Smithson’s bequest to found the Smithsonian is considered a wonderful event, but in 1835 when it was announced, many Americans responded negatively. Why did they look his gift horse in the mouth?
- Blog Post
The Star Spangled Banner, an American Icon
- Date: July 4, 2011
- Creator: Pamela M. Henson
- Description: Happy Fourth of July! On Independence Day, flags are flown across the nation. The Smithsonian has many versions of the American flag in its collections, the best known being the Star Spangled Banner. But, do you know its history, and how it came to the Smithsonian? The Star Spangled Banner is a huge 15-star, 15-stripe garrison flag, 30 feet by 42 feet, made in 1813 by Mary
- Blog Post
American History in an Earthenware Teacup
- Date: January 14, 2016
- Creator: Pamela M. Henson
- Description: C. Malcolm Watkins (1911-2001), curator of cultural history at the National Museum of American History, was a pioneer of material culture studies and historic archeology.
- Blog Post
The Smithsonian's 165th Anniversary
- Date: August 10, 2011
- Creator: Pamela M. Henson
- Description: Exactly 165 years ago today, legislation establishing the Smithsonian Institution was passed by the US Congress and signed into law by President James K. Polk. From today’s perspective, it seems like a “no-brainer” to accept a generous bequest from a little-known Englishman named James Smithson and create an institution in his name. But from the perspective of that era, the
Welcoming Smithsonian Secretaries
- Date: November 5, 2019
- Creator: Pamela M. Henson
- Description: Lonnie G. Bunch III was installed as the Fourteenth Secretary of the Smithsonian on November 1, 2019 in the historic Arts and Industries Building. To celebrate this new day in Smithsonian history, let’s take a look back at installations past!