Description: In honor of Women’s History Month and the 50th anniversary of Smithsonian Libraries, let’s learn about Leila Gay Forbes Clark (1887-1964), the second woman to direct the Smithsonian’s library. She was beloved by the researchers she worked with (really loved in one case….) and began the restructuring of the many small libraries across the Smithsonian.
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: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_9592,size=200,left]Did you know the Smithsonian was an early adopter of the telephone? In June of 1878, a system of electronic bells and telephones was installed throughout the Smithsonian Castle. The system connected several workrooms and offices to provide instant communications within the building. At that time, there were only 187 telephone lines