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: [caption id="" align="alignright" width="168" caption="Canna indica L., identified by P.J.M. Maas & H. Maas, Cusco, Peru, National Museum of Natural History, Botany Department, Catalog Number: 1998001."][/caption] The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History Botany Department just added over 1,300 images to the Smithsonian Collection Search Center! Some gorgeous
Description: Consider the courage it took for some of the earliest women in science at the Smithsonian to donate their personal papers to the Institution.
Description: The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has acquired the earliest known photograph of U.S. President John Quincy Adams. [via Art Fix Daily]For the last 3 decades, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics has amassed 100 years of protest art from around the world. [via AIGA]Related, how museum curators are collecting history as it happens, including those at our own
Description: As a teenager, Robert Ridgway was tapped by the Smithsonian’s Assistant Secretary to be an expedition zoologist. In 1881, when the US National Museum opened its doors, he was the curator of Birds. Download and reuse some of bird illustrations today through Smithsonian Open Access.
Description: I cannot, I feel, have any regrets about my accomplishments. What comes from art will just come. I don’t feel any need to strive. - John N. Robinson One of my favorite parts of working in an archive is the opportunity to immerse myself in other people’s worlds, to learn more about their stories and experiences. One such person I encountered recently was John N. Robinson, a
Description: You can help the Smithsonian produce a 9 CD Hip Hop & Rap Anthology in a newly launched Kickstarter, and if you kick in $100 or more, you'll get a digital-only track! The material in the anthology was produced with an advisory board comprised of members of the hip-hop community including artists Chuck D, MC Lyte, Questlove and 9th Wonder. [via billboard]The Smithsonian
Description: Snuggle up and pass the popcorn because the Smithsonian American Art Museum and New-York Historical Society teamed up for a #MuseumHolidayMovies marathon. [via SAAM]Five climate experts are giving us hope. [via Earth Optimism][edan-image:id=siris_arc_386150,size=450,center]The New York Times reviews the decade through photographs. [via New York Times]The National Museum of
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="Uncle Beazley being unloaded at the Smithsonian’s Office of Exhibits Central model shop, February 2011, Courtesy of Office of Exhibits Central blog."][/caption] Even dinosaurs need their baths… The Office of Exhibits Central gives a behind-the-scenes peek into the dino maintenance of Uncle Beazley—the Smithsonian’s