Description: In alignment with SI's newly launched Smithsonian Open Access, Smithsonian Institution Archives has designated over 2000 items as open access!
Description: It turns out that a series of mysterious tunnels discovered in the early 1900s underneath Washington, DC’s Dupont Circle, were the makings of former Smithsonian employee and entomologist, Harrison G. Dyar (whose papers happen to be in our collections). Read more about this fascinating story and character at "the location" blog [via The e-Torch]. The Internet Archive explains
Description: An intimate look at the painting conservation studio at the National Gallery of Art. [via NPR]A newly discovered species of wasp was named in honor of David Bowie. [via Mashable]The Smithsonian is just one of the organizations banning drinking straws due to the environmental harm they cause. [via Washington Post]Can real coral reefs be saved by artificial ones? [via Fusion
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.
Description: Librarians at the White House Historical Association have digitized 25,000 previously uncatalogued slides! [via CNN]In case you missed it, the blog, Missing Scientists' Faces, shared 28 days of African American female scientists during Black History Month. [via @MissingSciFaces]Check out some of the Digital Public Library of America's primary source sets for Women's History
Description: It was July 1880 in Washington, DC and Smithsonian Secretary, Spencer Baird, had fled the city with his family for cool ocean breezes and to study the fishing grounds off the New England coast at Woods Hole on Cape Cod. For those left behind minding the Smithsonian Castle, it was probably hot, humid, and hellish in town and they were in need of relief. Luckily, the proprietors
Description: Smithsonian Magazine shares reflections on John Lewis’s legacy at the Smithsonian and beyond. [via Smithsonian Magazine] The newly renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library awaits its first patrons! [via Washington Post][edan-image:id=siris_arc_389626,size=450,center]Paleontologist Lee Hall offers a handy (claw-y) guide to digging up dinosaur bones. [via Mateusz
Description: When the names of certain cities are mentioned, photographic images of them pop into your head almost immediately. Washington = buildings on or near the mall. New York = skyscrapers of one sort or another. Paris = the Eiffel Tower. Tokyo = the Ginza shopping and entertainment district. With that thought in mind—and considering the multiple roles photography plays in shaping,
Description: For Draw a Bird Day, Smithsonian Libraries highlights the work of some of the Smithsonian’s youngest scientific illustrators. [via Smithsonian Libraries] [edan-image:id=siris_arc_369082,size=450,center]THE CITY features the archives and museums working to collect documentation of New Yorkers’ experiences during the pandemic. [via THE CITY]The latest in movie recs: historical