Description: In 1956, Helena M. Weiss received a letter asking for information about “how to capture them, also how to raise them… what to put them in, also what to feed them.” Interestingly, the letter-writer neglected to specify what he or she meant by “them,” leaving Weiss only to guess what exactly the inquiry was referring to. From 1948 to 1956, Weiss was Chief of the Office of
Description: Not only did the Smithsonian research in Washington, D.C., inform the course of World War II, the war also shaped the collections and research of the Smithsonian. Military medical staff sent thousands of specimens of disease carrying insects to the museum for identification. Soldiers stationed in far-flung locations provided the Smithsonian with collecting opportunities that
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_8804,size=350,right]Louise Daniel Hutchinson set out on the path of her life’s work from a young age, growing up among DC’s African American intellectual elite in a family that imbued her with a passion for justice and a love of community. Those connections and commitments accompanied her throughout a long and influential career at the Smithsonian.
Description: For forty years, Miss Helena Weiss kept the Smithsonian running smoothly as a clerk, stenographer, director of the Office of Correspondence and Documents, and Registrar. When she retired, her position was divided into seven separate jobs.