Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_9273,size=500,center]Have you ever heard of Smithsonian Park? If you are visiting the Smithsonian today, probably not. But if you had visited the Smithsonian in the 1850s, it would have been one of the first things you experienced.Smithsonian Park occupied the area between the Smithsonian Institution Building, or the Castle, and Downtown Washington,
Description: Today on The Bigger Picture, we are highlighting the anniversary of the 1927 Conference on the Future of the Smithsonian which brought together people from across the country – scientists, academics, politicians, and private citizens – to advise on the future role of the Smithsonian. For this, we bring you a piece from Smithsonian Archives Program Assistant Lisa Fthenakis,
Description: Before Congress created the National Zoo, the Smithsonian's Department of Living Animals kept it’s collection of animals behind the Castle.
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_arc_308449,size=250,left]Though Roxie Laybourne may be a well-known topic here in the Smithsonian Institution Archives, there is a good reason she is so popular. From good advice to her pioneering career to modern day inspiration, her work offers new insight each time we turn to it. Laybourne’s interest in natural history began long before she began her
Description: During this Women’s History Month, the Smithsonian Transcription Center has been highlighting projects from women around the Smithsonian. Among these women is Margaret Collins, a pioneering scientist and civil rights activist. While her fieldwork has been written about previously, that is clearly just one part of a full and distinguished career.Collins’ interest in science
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives makes thousands of historic images of the exhibits, events, and happenings at the Smithsonian available online and, as the year comes to a close, we thought this would be a good time to take a look at some of the year’s most popular Smithsonian History images. You can search the History of the Smithsonian catalog at siris.si.edu to find