Description: People use postcards to correspond with each other, but the way they have used postcards to communicate has changed over time. The postcards in this gallery show how postcards began as a quick way to send short communications between individuals, but have since evolved to be used for longer communications and for requests between academics. While the typical use for a postcard
Description: [view in Spanish]International exchange has always been a major part of the Smithsonian's mission. To acquire publications from leading scientific societies, Secretary Henry offered in exchange the journal, Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Henry and assistant secretary Baird also distributed publications from U.S. colleges, museums, scientific societies, and scientists
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