Description: A brief biographical sketch of Roxie Laybourne, an Ornithologist who specialized in feather identification and pioneered the field of forensic ornithology.
Description: In celebration of Preservation Week 2016, here’s a brief overview of surveys and their role in preservation, as well as a look into an audiovisual survey currently taking place right here at the Smithsonian.
Description: The Smithsonian Castle sits just over a mile away from Washington D.C.’s most notable address,1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are more than just a short walk away from the White House, however—we are directly tied to it and its occupants. Not only does the Smithsonian collect the history of United States Presidents (including, yes, Lincoln’s top hat and even the hair of a few
Description: The Castle halls were alive with adventure this summer! From July 7th to August 27th, we piloted a live game for teens, The Mystery of the Meghatherium Club: Mayhem and Mustaches. A look at some of the early feedback received on the Smithsonian's pilot of a history game, "The Mystery of the Meghatherium Club: Mayhem and Mustaches."
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_12123,size=250,left]It is a simple answer really: We counted. From 1978 to 1983, the Smithsonian undertook a comprehensive inventory of its collections. It was the first time the Smithsonian had ever tried to count each object in its collections and it was a massive task. Over five years, staff from every museum and research center spent thousands of
Description: Historian Lonnie Bunch is the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Smithsonian’s 19th museum. Growing up with a love of history and a sense that African Americans deserved “a voice,” his education and early career gave him the research, museum, and management experience that allowed him to successfully develop an idea into a
Description: Today is Giant Panda cub Bao Bao’s third birthday, and yesterday her little brother, Bei Bei, turned one. This marks the first time in the forty-four years of panda conservation at the National Zoo that there have been two healthy cubs in residence at the zoo at the same time, but that’s not for lack of trying.