Description: Have a little fun with images from our collections that have been designated as open access. Anyone can now download, transform, share, and reuse millions of images as part of Smithsonian Open Access.
Description: [caption id="attachment_541" align="alignleft" width="144" caption="Inscription inside Lincoln's watch, by Hugh Talman, 2009, National Museum of American History"][/caption] Does photography always report on the past? Recently, as part of the Lincoln Bicentennial celebration, the Smithsonian took a closer look at a rare Lincoln object that possessed a secret message.
Description: Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Description: Geologist Dr. Ursula Marvin studied Moon rocks from the Apollo missions and meteorites in Antarctica. Throughout her career with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Marvin championed women in science. She delivered lectures about her own experiences as a woman in geology and participated in programing to help advance women's careers. She was likely inspired to support
Description: On January 31, 2018, the Archives bid farewell to our Director, Anne Van Camp.Anne started at the Archives in March 2007. During her tenure here, the Archives experienced a tremendous period of growth for staff, programs and facilities. Smithsonian Institution Archives Director, Anne Van Camp, retires.
Description: This blog post was edited in October 2021 for clarification. While surveying and collecting specimens in the Aleutian Islands in 1871-1872 for the United States Coast Survey, later renamed the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, naturalist William Healey Dall befriended George Tsaroff (1858-1880), an Unangan (Aleut) teen from Unalaska Island who had been hired as local
Description: The 19th century was a transformative time for the natural sciences. New discoveries didn't just happen in an armchair. Scientists adventured into unfamiliar territory by land and sea on expeditions, and their new findings fed new theories. Groups like the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences formalized America's place
Description: For Preservation Week, our team answered our burning, often ignorant questions about their biggest challenges, what they consider when treating objects, and beyond.