Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="414" caption="Three portraits on exhibit by Portuguese artist Henrique Medina in the lobby of the National Gallery of Art, now the National Museum of American Art, in the Natural History Building, April 13 - May 7, 1938, by Unidentified photographer, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 311 Box 36 Folder
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="430" caption="Administrative offices of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon Building, Panama City, This tropical laboratory, called the Canal Zone Biological Area (CZBA), and later renamed the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1946, photo taken December 1965, by
Description: [caption id="attachment_10960" align="aligncenter" width="376" caption="Peter Finkel, volunteer at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. "][/caption] Here at the Archives, we have 25 fulltime staff members, and half as many volunteers and interns at any given moment.
Description: From the point in 1838 when the United States Congress accepted James Smithson’s bequest, it was recognized as a cultural resource, a public trust held by the federal government. Smithson had stipulated that the funds be used for an “establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Being a cultural resource set aside for public use, the government bore the
Description: As Director of the Smithsonian Photography Initiative, I’m often asked what makes the Smithsonian photography collections interesting and unique. For me, the answer is less about size – although, the Smithsonian does have more than 13 million photographs of all types – than about function.
Description: Margaret Simmons Vining was a museum specialist and later curator of armed forces history at the National Museum of American History from 1983 until her death in 2018.In addition to curating major exhibitions and building the division’s collections, she founded and supervised the Smithsonian Archive of Women’s Military History. Together with her longtime collaborator and life
Description: In honor of Women’s History Month and the 50th anniversary of Smithsonian Libraries, let’s learn about Leila Gay Forbes Clark (1887-1964), the second woman to direct the Smithsonian’s library. She was beloved by the researchers she worked with (really loved in one case….) and began the restructuring of the many small libraries across the Smithsonian.
Description: The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (NPG) will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2018. Ahead of next year’s festivities, NPG unveiled an exhibition commemorating its May 1968 opening. The Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) provided several pieces for this gallery, including a photo of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s dedication speech on May 3rd. Check out the full