Description: Folklife presentation, education, and research began at the Smithsonian Institution in 1967 with the first annual Festival of American Folklife held on the National Mall. To this day, the festival features performers, crafts people, and community groups from the United States and foreign countries. The festival was started by folklorist Ralph C. Rinzler (1934-1994). Originally
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Untitled, by Thomas Smillie, c. 1890, Smithsonian Institution Archives."][/caption] One of the things people often want to know about photography at the Smithsonian is, “How many photographs do you have?” with the quick follow-up, “Have you counted all of them?” No one knows for certain, but statistical sampling suggests
Description: This philanthropist’s passion for research and adventure inspired him to join a series of collecting expeditions with the Smithsonian in the 1950s.
Description: Holiday family traditions are some of the things that people look forward to throughout the year. For my family, that would be the annual Christmas party. This is an unusual tradition in a Jewish family that emigrated from Russia at the turn of the 20th century.That's my Grandmother, Sally, on the lower left, her 4 brothers and sisters and her mother. It was her younger
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Taxes, by Mat Honan, Creative Commons: Attribution 2.0 Generic."][/caption] Chances are that, if you live in the United States, you've recently filed your taxes. For most, filing tax returns is a dreaded task, even when you expect a refund. Doing taxes requires a lot of time and energy, and often results in some
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