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: For a period of time in the early 1990s, the Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries Building played host to an experimental exhibition gallery space.
Description: A look at the Quadrangle complex of the Smithsonian that encompasses the Enid Haupt Garden, the National Museum of African Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.
Description: Today is the first day of winter. Not ready for the cold weather? It could always be worse. Ornithologist (and future tropical biologist) Neal Griffith Smith once wrote in his journal:"Still pensil [sic]. Well, I've got time and temperature to write. Just sharpened the pensil with a snow knife. We are parked smack in the middle of Southampton [Island] in a bloody windstorm. It
Description: [caption id="attachment_3281" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Encouraging Curiosity for Man and Animal, Photograph courtesy of Zac Henderson."][/caption] About a year ago, we asked you to reflect on the ways photography has changed your life. We heard from Ellen Hyatt, an English teacher in South Carolina, who uses photographs to inspire her student’s creative writing
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: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="403" caption="Untitled, 2001, by Susan Watts, Digital photograph, National Museum of American History, Behring Center, Division of Information Technology and Communications, Courtesy of Susan Watts/New York Daily News, Image No. watts012."][/caption] Given how quickly photographs are spread by the news and social media, we’ve come to
Description: In paper conservation, it’s not just about the paper. Here I’ll explain the process in using acrylic paint and adhesive to repair the leather bindings of field books.
Description: [caption id="attachment_3065" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Detail of a vinyl advertisement, Chennai, India, 2004, by Preminda Jacob."][/caption] It’s interesting to think about how shrewdly and often free still photography is used to get us to pay to watch motion pictures. Still photographs—often shot by special photographers on sound stages or on location, just
Description: Link Love: a weekly post with links to interesting videos and stories about archival issues, technology and culture, and Washington D.C. and American history.