Results for "Smithsonian Institution. Archives and Special Collections Council"
Walking in the Footsteps of Hungerfords
- Date: September 15, 2022
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: Readers of The Bigger Picture will be familiar with the Hungerford Deed, a 1787 property contract dividing a lucrative land inheritance between the mother and aunt of the Smithsonian’s founding donor, James Smithson. Over the last three years I have been able to take a deep dive into the content of the Deed and strengthen our understanding of Smithson’s choice to leave his
A Close-up with Field Book “Specimens”
- Date: December 26, 2017
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: The Smithsonian’s Field Book Project is a continuous fount of work for both our digitization crew here at the Archives and for me as the conservator in charge of the project’s physical needs. Over the past several weeks I have worked on a variety of field books with different structures and treatment requirements, and will share a few of the most common features I’ve seen in
Field Books Go to Oxford!
- Date: October 23, 2018
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: See how our conservation staff are sharing treatment ideas with colleagues across the world.
- Blog Post
Revisiting the Construction of the Freer Gallery of Art
- Date: September 29, 2016
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: Some new insights from the construction records of the Freer Gallery of Art, celebrating 100 years since groundbreaking.
Coming Soon to the Transcription Center: Department of Invertebrate Zoology
- Date: November 15, 2016
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: See what’s in store for the Transcription Center from the invertebrate zoology collections!
Navigating Treatment of the Dawson Map
- Date: May 7, 2019
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: Our treasures can pose significant—and often unexpected—challenges, like when a map has been attached to a hotel linen. See how our staff tackled a complex intervention in progress!
Decision-making and Digitization: Triaging Mass Treatment Options
- Date: February 18, 2020
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: Choosing the right treatment method can be a challenge—especially when mass interventions are needed on a tight deadline.
Project SEARCH Comes to the Archives
- Date: June 16, 2015
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: This spring, the Archives welcomed Heather Weiss, a Project SEARCH intern, and as her time with us comes to an end, we wanted to highlight her accomplishments.
- Blog Post
Decoding Taxonomic Mysteries in Secretary Baird’s Correspondence
- Date: May 17, 2016
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: The Archives was recently gifted an 1860 letter from Spencer F. Baird, second Secretary of the Smithsonian, to George N. Lawrence, fellow naturalist. The donor requested that, along with a digital version, a transcription be provided, which I undertook alongside a simple treatment. The letter was in overall excellent condition: the thin paper exhibited only a pair of small
Enduring Mysteries of the Hungerford Deed
- Date: December 3, 2020
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: Much has been learned and uncovered about the Hungerford Deed—but what is still out there to learn? Dig in with us to explore a few of these unanswered questions!
- Blog Post
Not Restarting, Starting Over: New Workflows for a New “Normal”
- Date: August 24, 2021
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: Being away from the office for over a year has given us a lot of opportunity to think about what workflows will look like once we are able to return to our collections, especially for conservation and digitization.
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease: A Custom Storage Solution for an Unusual Collection
- Date: February 5, 2015
- Creator: William Bennett
- Description: Unusual sized and shaped items can be a challenge in archives—here’s how our conservation staff dealt with a particularly tricky accession.