Description: A file in the Smithsonian Institution Archives’ accession records tells the story of an historic piece of Lincoln memorabilia that didn't wind up in the Smithsonian’s collections.
Description: What was the Saint Augustine Monster? According to Wikipedia, it was a globster—“an unidentified organic mass that washes up on the shoreline of an ocean or other body of water.” This great-grandaddy of globsters kept cryptozoologists speculating and scientists testing for a century—and a piece of it lives at the Smithsonian. The St. Augustine monster was discovered by two
Description: In celebration of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, this is the second in a series of installments from Smithsonian Institution Archives staff highlighting women in science photographs. We will post portraits of women science here throughout the month. In a 1930s movie about hotshot newspaper reporters, you might hear the star (Jimmy Cagney, probably) yell
Description: You know the old cliché—“A picture is worth a thousand words.” But is it true in every case? A simple portrait from 60 years ago may give some clues to period hairstyle and dress, but none to where the photo was taken or why the person was noteworthy. Sources now available on the internet, such as the Historic newspaper database, Proquest, and even YouTube—give Smithsonian