Description: SIA just launched a new web resources dedicated to Joseph Henry, the first Smithsonian Secretary, his scientific career and his work at the Smithsonian.
Description: [caption id="" align="alignright" width="234" caption="Mary Henry, October 20, 1882, by Unidentified photographer, Card Photograph, Smithsonian Institution Archives, RU 95, Box 12, Folder 5, Negative Number: 82-3258. "][/caption] As we enter into the holiday season, the Smithsonian Institution Archive’s blog will be exploring memories: what they mean, how to capture them, and
Description: On June 14, 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the national flag and on the same day one hundred years later, the first observance of the Flag was held. However, it was not celebrated again on such a scale until 1916, in the midst of World War I, when President Woodrow Wilson pronounced the day Flag Day. Though not officially adopted by Congress as
Description: On June 14, 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the national flag and on the same day one hundred years later, the first observance of the Flag was held. However, it was not celebrated again on such a scale until 1916, in the midst of World War I, when President Woodrow Wilson pronounced the day Flag Day. Though not officially adopted by Congress as
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives will be celebrating African American History Month throughout February with a series of related posts on THE BIGGER PICTURE. “I have engaged in almost Every Branch of work that is usual and unusual about S.I.”[edan-image:id=siris_sic_5597,size=150,left] These words, written by Solomon G. Brown to Secretary Spencer F. Baird on August 12,
Description: Here at the Smithsonian we love to observe. So of course on August 23, 2011, at 1:51 PM, when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the Washington, DC region and many of us with it, we immediately started to observe what happened and how we could document it. As the Institution's historians, inevitably we needed to know, had this happened before and what were the effects? After
Description: While in graduate school, I read that museum professionals wear many hats in one day. This could not be truer at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. [caption id="attachment_7424" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Climbing the Plank to the Top, May 27, 2010, by Lauren Dare, Digital photograph."][/caption] I’ve worn many hats working in the Institutional History Division