Description: Vicarious research is one of the great joys of the reference desk at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. From our front-row (well, only-row) seat outside the reading room, we catch tantalizing glimpses of our patrons’ manifold research topics.The reference team fields around 6,000 queries per year. Ask us what people have been researching recently, and you’ll get into some
Description: Last week, on December 17 and 18, folks from across the Smithsonian and the public gathered to listen, learn, and discuss at "Working Women: The Smithsonian Institution as a Case Study," a two-day symposium, organized by the American Women’s History Initiative. Presenters celebrated women working at the Smithsonian and explored how they represent the broader experience for
Description: With nineteen museums and research centers, the Smithsonian Institution is so much more than just the buildings on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. In fact, if you drive about 33 miles east of the National Mall, you will find the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), located in Edgewater, Maryland, and this year, the site is celebrating its 50th Anniversary.
Description: If you are someone who likes to view our collections, you may have noticed what looks like a slight cosmetic change in our collections pages. Honestly, even if you use our site heavily, you may have missed it. A side-by-side would show all that really changed was a new title bar, a few new buttons on the viewer, and another new button down at the bottom right next to the
Description: Did you know April is Records and Information Management Month? Did you also know that the Smithsonian Institution has over 154 million objects, 10 million digital records, and 156,830 cubic feet of archival materials in its collections? It is mostly thanks to amazing record keeping that we are able to locate, care, and give access to millions of fascinating objects.We look at
Description: A brief biographical sketch of Thomas R. Henry, who served in WWI, was a War Correspondent in the field during WWII, participated in the “Operation High Jump” exploration of Antarctica (1946-1947,) served the Smithsonian as a press writer, and The Washington Evening Star as a science writer.
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives has captured two years of Smithsonian websites using the web tool Archive-It. See how we predict future research.
Description: Posters at the Smithsonian display a wide range of exhibitions and programs, each with a design that is visually intriguing and purposeful in conveying information.