Description: Vicarious research is one of the great joys of the reference desk at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. From our front-row (well, only-row) seat outside the reading room, we catch tantalizing glimpses of our patrons’ manifold research topics.The reference team fields around 6,000 queries per year. Ask us what people have been researching recently, and you’ll get into some
Description: Who knew beetle feet could be so beautiful? [via Colossal]The Cooper Hewitt's immersive wallpaper room was featured at the London Biennale! [via Cooper Hewitt Labs]Obselete art pigments...and their strange sources. [via Hyperallergic]NASA-funded research is open to the public! [via Futurism]Newberry Library acquires the world's largest postcard collection, 2.5 million of them.
Description: Celebrating our 300th Link Love since 2010!Macro x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (MA-XRF) reveals ancient manuscripts reused as bookbindings! [via The Guardian]A historic moment - refugees form their own squad for this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. [via NPR]Get your color on with National Parks! [via National Park Foundation]Artist Bill Domonkos' archival remixes.[via
Description: Construction of Angelica Van Buren mannequin for First Ladies Hall exhibition at National Museum of History and Technology, now known as the National Museum of American History, November 1972, SIA Acc. 11-009, 73-1221-25A.
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_10193,size=175,left]Fifty years ago the Smithsonian embarked on a new venture to bring the culture on display in the museum to life with the first Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Then called the Festival of American Folklife, it set out to show that the crafts shown inside museums are also still alive and well across the country.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="424" caption="U.S. National Museum, May 3, 1917, seen from the National Mall, by Unknown photographer, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 45, Box 79, Folder: 10, Neg. SIA2009-2203."][/caption] As part of my work as the historian for the history of the Smithsonian, I’ve been working for the past year on