Description: The creation and design of the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly known as the “Castle”, is no mystery; however, the stories of some of the early individuals involved in the formation of the Smithsonian’s collection are less commonly known. We need to ask who collected the specimens and produced research on the objects that visitors now see when they enter Smithsonian
Description: Today’s science museums build on the efforts of biologist George Roemmert (1892-1952), whose “Microvivarium” projected images of amoebas and other microscopic creatures.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="405" caption="Elizabeth Tashjiaan, American painter, 1912-2007, Smithsonian American Art Museum"][/caption]Looking at this photo of artist Elizabeth Tashjian in our new set of portraits of women artists at the Smithsonian Commons on Flickr, it seemed obvious to me that I was looking at a professionally-trained artist, who in fact, won
Description: Over 80,000 images from the Met are now on Wikimedia Commons!New to the web—Japanese-American internment camp newspapers from Library of Congress. [via Info Docket]An experiment in applying image recognition software to the Frick Art Reference Library. Magnetic tape obselescence is putting the world's film archives in serious risk. [via IEEE Spectrum]Yikes, Australian
Description: Join us and other archives around the U.S. to ask questions on Twitter Wednesday, 10/5. #AskAnArchivist [via SAA]A new project looking at the role photography plays in science, with an essay from our own, Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette on the credit due to scientist Rosalind Franklin. [via curator Marvin Heiferman]The International Criminal Court has ruled that destroying
Description: [caption id="attachment_7367" align="aligncenter" width="417" caption="Slide from Mike Edson, the Smithsonian's head of Web and New Media Strategy, Slideshare presentation on the Smithsonian Commons."][/caption] Just recently, the Smithsonian released a prototype of the Smithsonian Commons—a new part of the digital plan at the Smithsonian that aims to stimulate “learning,
Description: John Waters’s 1998 movie Pecker is the coming-of-age story about a young man who can’t stop himself from taking pictures. “Man, everything always looks good through here!” Pecker exclaims, squinting through his viewfinder and throughout most of the film, it does. Photography is all about looking, and when it was time to invite someone to address the subject of voyeurism for
Description: On December 19, 1977 the Trees of Christmas exhibition opened at the National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History). This was the first exhibition of the Office of Horticulture (now Smithsonian Gardens) and featured trees with handcrafted ornaments representing a variety of countries and cultural traditions.