Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="A visitor to the National Portrait Gallery takes a picture of a friend next to the newly-installed, temporary portrait of comedian Stephen Colbert, by Andrew Deci, Creative Commons: Attribution 2.0."][/caption] To judge from a walk I just took across the Smithsonian Mall, visitors to our Nation’s capitol are doing nothing
Description: 1903 Oldsmobile gasoline automobile in front of the Army Medical Museum and Library at Independence Avenue and 7th Street, SW, Washington, D.C., 1940s, SIA Acc. 11-006, MAH-44002A.
Description: Memorable animated gifs for the directionally-challenged! [via Atlas Obscura]Can't wait for Spring 2019 to see the next GoT? A neural network has written the first chapter. [via Motherboard]The history of toys that have enduring popularity (think Slinky and time will tell on the fidget spinner). [via Inc.]The British Library is considering a single digital portal. [via
Description: Ever heard of The Impossible Project? When Polaroid announced they would stop production of instant film, these folks saved the last Polaroid production plant in the Netherlands, and started to develop new instant film with a small team of former Polaroid employees. Check out some shots of Smithsonian museums taken by Aaron Dunn and created with the fruits of their labor. What
Description: Each Smithsonian Institution Archives collection has a life story. That narrative, much like the biography of a person, can explain how a collection's photographs, letters, and documents relate to each other. Closer inspection may also reveal hidden connections to other archival materials and can help in identifying photographers and writers. This new blog series will turn a
Description: Elvira Clain-Stefanelli worked with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s National Numismatics Collection between 1957 and 2000. Although she initially arrived at the Smithsonian as an assistant to her husband, chief curator Vladmir Clain-Stefanelli, she eventually became the department’s first executive director in 1984. In 1973, both Elvira and Vladmir
Description: LaVerne M. Love, Women's Program Manager with the Office of Equal Opportunity, 1973–1980, was the executive officer of the Smithsonian Women's Council and wrote the organization's first bylaws. In 1976–77, she chaired the Civil Service Commission task force on minority women. At the time, she was the highest ranking African American woman at the Smithsonian. #Groundbreaker
Description: A secret trash archive in New York City's Sanitation Department? [via Atlas Obscura]MoMA released 65,000 works of early 20th century modernists online. [via Open Culture]NOT for lunchtime browsing; the Mütter museum's new website gives you a close look at diseased bodies and "terrifying surgical instruments." [via Mental Floss]The Library of Congress is focusing on preserving