Description: It would be hard to imagine stepping into a Smithsonian museum today and not seeing a single camera. Digital cameras and smart phones with cameras are so completely a part of today’s museum-going experience that - unless a flash goes off in your face – you probably wouldn’t notice the camera next to you. However, in 1938, you would have seen a very different sight. On August
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="274" caption="Untitled, 1950/printed 1982, by Roy DeCarava, Gelatin silver print on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Henry L. Milmore, 1992.15.3."][/caption] Last week American photography lost another of its grand masters. Roy DeCarava died at the age of 87 in New York on October 27th. He was an
Description: [caption id="attachment_8083" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="The mysterious cabinet of curiosities with assorted film cameras perched on top, 2010, by Michael Barnes, SIA."][/caption] Last fall a piece of furniture showed up in the Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) reception area. Aside from a few nicks, it is a large, handsome cabinet with drawers and double
Description: In July 2019, the Hungerfords, descendants of James Smithson’s mother’s family visited the Smithsonian and got to see a new Hungerford document.
Description: To commemorate the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary on August 10, 2021, the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is launching a web exhibit that sheds new light on English chemist James Smithson’s gift to found the Smithsonian.
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_12123,size=250,left]It is a simple answer really: We counted. From 1978 to 1983, the Smithsonian undertook a comprehensive inventory of its collections. It was the first time the Smithsonian had ever tried to count each object in its collections and it was a massive task. Over five years, staff from every museum and research center spent thousands of
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_14715,size=250,left] By now you have probably heard of Robert Kennicott, either because of his involvement with the Megatherium Club, or because of the article and blog post on his death that was published last year. I, however, tend to associate him with the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, a collecting mission to Alaska that proved to be his last.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="313" caption="Georgia O'Keefe at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG) with Rene Magritte's sculpture "Delusions of Grandeur," 11 November 1977, by Richard Farrar, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 371 Box 2 Folder December 1977, Negative Number: 92-1789."][/caption] It is always fascinating
Description: Welcome to the newly refreshed Smithsonian Institution Archives website! As our regular visitors may have noticed, we launched a new theme for our site on September 27, 2017. Our previous Drupal theme was first launched in 2011 when we moved our site over to Drupal. Since that time, we have upgraded the backend, made improvements to our searching, and increased the
Description: Did you know that May is National Photography Month? Declared by Congress as a month-long event in 1987, National Photography Month celebrates all aspects of photography. We invite you to see what our photographers were up to a century before this declaration in this behind- the-scenes slideshow of the photographic laboratory spaces, set-ups, and equipment of the United States
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="393" caption="Tennessee v. John T. Scopes Trial: The seven scientists asked to testify for the defense standing in front of the Defense Mansion, 1925, by Watson Davis, Black and white photograph, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Image # SIA2008-1146"][/caption] We are nearing the 2nd anniversary of the Smithsonian launching on the
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