Description: In honor of Women’s History Month and the 50th anniversary of Smithsonian Libraries, let’s learn about Leila Gay Forbes Clark (1887-1964), the second woman to direct the Smithsonian’s library. She was beloved by the researchers she worked with (really loved in one case….) and began the restructuring of the many small libraries across the Smithsonian.
Description: This summer Visiting Professional Laura Wahl had the chance to learn more about how to respond to the problem of mold residues found on archival materials. The Smithsonian Affiliations’ Visiting Professionals Program allowed her to spend time at the Smithsonian Institution Archives’ conservation lab researching this topic.
Description: A 1936 exchange of letters about the prickly porcupine preserves both a contemporary scientific debate and the wit and wisdom of a young Utah girl with a beloved pet.
Description: Meredith Smith Diggs was employed at the Smithsonian in different capacities and was closely associated with the second Secretary of the Smithsonian, Spencer Fullerton Baird. Through Diggs' correspondence we can get a small glimpse of his life and work at the Smithsonian.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="317" caption="John Estes, operations director, Smithsonian's International Exchange Service, holding up the pay records of his great-grandfather, who worked at the Exchange from 1890-1898, 1977, by Richard K. Hofmeister, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 371 Box 2, Negative Number:
Description: Within the dynamic field of digital preservation, identifying the possibilities to maximize workflow is paramount to ensuring the greatest level of efficiency in digital asset management.
Description: Naval Captain and computer scientist Grace Murray Hopper and mathematician Jeanne LaDuke attend "Women Pioneers in Mathematics" meeting at National Museum of American History, SIA Acc. 11-009, 81-11284-06.
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_12123,size=250,left]It is a simple answer really: We counted. From 1978 to 1983, the Smithsonian undertook a comprehensive inventory of its collections. It was the first time the Smithsonian had ever tried to count each object in its collections and it was a massive task. Over five years, staff from every museum and research center spent thousands of