Description: It was, most likely, a foggy day in Oakland in 1882 when Miss Adelia Gates crossed the intersection of 12th and Washington streets and approached the Lemmon Herbarium.At 57, Adelia Gates was an accomplished artist and well-accustomed to new situations. She’d traveled alone to Scandinavia, Mallorca, Italy, and Algeria, and she’d lived in Switzerland while studying watercolor
Description: A rare meeting of the scientific minds at the 92nd Annual British Association Conference in 1924, captured by Science Service journalist Watson Davis.
Description: Link Love: a biweekly post with links to interesting videos and stories about archival issues, technology and culture, and Washington D.C. and American history.
Description: To celebrate International Migratory Bird Day on May 9th, we will be releasing recently digitized specimen drawings by ornithologist Robert Ridgway (1850-1929.) Ridgway's career with the Smithsonian began in 1864 when he wrote asking for help identifying a bird. As they say, the rest is history. Starting in 1869, Ridgway became curator at the Smithsonian's United States
Description: Apparently black holes are not a one-way vortex we assumed. This image from NASA demonstrates objects projecting out of black holes! [via The Space Academy]The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will acquire records of The Academy of Washington, D.C., an LGBT organization that produced nationally-recognized drag pageants. [via Washington Blade]You can vote on
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives Reference Team handles an average of around 6,000 queries per year, and if you us what people have been researching at the Archives recently, you'll get some pretty interesting responses. Although not comprehensive, here's a snapshot of the diverse range of information encompassed by the history of the world's largest museum complex!
Description: Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Description: The 19th century was a transformative time for the natural sciences. New discoveries didn't just happen in an armchair. Scientists adventured into unfamiliar territory by land and sea on expeditions, and their new findings fed new theories. Groups like the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences formalized America's place