Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="367" caption="A diorama of Andrew Ellicott and his assistant Benjamin Banneker taking a break from surveying the boundaries of Washington, D.C., in "Laying out the Nation's Capital" in the Hall of Physical Sciences, 1966, by Unidentified photographer, Black and white photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95,
Description: While digitizing the collection of Smithsonian entomologist Doris Holmes Blake, I discovered a treasure trove of correspondence that sheds light about growing up as a young woman in the mid-20th century and the story of an intimate mother-daughter relationship.
Description: Whoa!!! Google Streetview and Google Books now come in 3D (if you have 3D glasses stashed in your desk, like I do!). Click the dude with the 3D glasses above to check out a view of the Smithsonian Castle in 3D. Grand Paris! La Tour Eiffel under construction, and a giant 26-Gigapixel panorama of the city [via Room 26 Cabinet of Curiosities and Effie Kapsalis, SPI]. A “Ghandi
Description: Did you know that the first beaver came to the National Zoological Park in 1894? Or that the first animals on the official zoo grounds were two Indian Elephants, Dunk and Gold Dust? Surely, you knew that the Dusit Zoo in Bangkok donated an albino Asiatic turtle to the National Zoo in 1966? You didn’t know that? Well, thanks to the work of Sybil Hamlet in 1985, you can now
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="Uncle Beazley being unloaded at the Smithsonian’s Office of Exhibits Central model shop, February 2011, Courtesy of Office of Exhibits Central blog."][/caption] Even dinosaurs need their baths… The Office of Exhibits Central gives a behind-the-scenes peek into the dino maintenance of Uncle Beazley—the Smithsonian’s
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="408" caption="Aerial photo from the Washington Monument showing the newly completed Museum of History and Technology, now the National Museum of American History, the construction of the West Wing of the Natural History Building, The National Mall, Constitution Avenue, the Capitol in the distance, and the Smithsonian Institution
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.