Description: When you think of the National Museum of Natural History, what comes to mind are probably inanimate things—rocks and dinosaur bones, cultural objects, and stuffed animals. But did you know that the museum has a collection of live insects? Today is the 35th anniversary of the opening of the permanent installation of the Insect Zoo, though the Zoo actually began as a temporary
Description: “Are you arty or hearty?” As family legend has it, this hilarious question was asked of one of our family’s old friends upon his arrival at Jesus College, Oxford University in 1932 as a Rhodes Scholar. Well, as the story goes, it turns out that he was hearty and intellectually gifted (physics). And, the same can be said of lots of Smithsonian employees.
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_12022,size=250,left]Volunteers have been an integral part of the Smithsonian since its earliest years. The Institution has always been “dependent on the kindness of strangers.” Volunteers make tremendous contributions to Smithsonian operations every day in virtually every corner of the globe. The Smithsonian's paid staff of some 6,000 employees is
Description: The Smithsonian African American Association was formed in 1989 and was an assembly of the Institution's employees who have organized to project a united voice, to have an impact upon pan-institutional policies that affect African Americans, and to convey these concerns to the Smithsonian Administration.
Description: Late 2015, the beta version of the Smithsonian’s Learning Lab, a new digital platform providing access to digital resources across the Smithsonian alongside tools for teachers and students, launched. I was delighted to see a related social media update hinting at some of the discoveries to be had with the Learning Lab, one of which showed Saul Steinberg drawings on Smithsonian
Description: In 2019, the Smithsonian faced the repercussions of the nation’s longest-ever government shutdown, but the institution is no stranger to the dreaded furlough.