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: On New Years Day 2015, the 44,000 works of art in the Smithsonian’s Freer | Sackler collection will be available online. [via WAMU] Dumpster diving! The National Museum of American History added a copy of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Atari 2600 game found in a landfill to their collection. [via O Say Can You See, National Museum of American History]The grand re-opening of
Description: Though photographs are accepted as subjective but ultimately faithful visual reproductions of reality, in many instances they don’t correspond to our experience. Pupils don’t regularly glint red, and people don’t transform into the streaked, evanescent smears we so often witness in photos. Yet we have no trouble accepting these inconsistencies, knowing that taking a picture of
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="393" caption="The Mall, around 1890, showing the planting and design of the plan by Andrew Jackson Downing, The Mall is covered with trees, with a winding dirt path through them, and a deer standing near it, c. 1890, by Unknown photographer, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 30, Folder 1,
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="405" caption="Larry Hagman, from the television show "Dallas," presented Carl Scheele, Curator of National Museum of American History's Division of Community Life with his hat from the television show in the Cannon House Office Building caucus room, February 28, 1984, by Jeffrey Ploskonka, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="416" caption="Office of Exhibits Central staffers (l-r) Ben Snouffer, Rosemary Regan, and Harold Campbell pose for with the mannequins that were modeled after them in the National Museum of American History's (NMAH) "Engines of Change" exhibit, 1987, by Eric Long, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 371
Description: If the Smithsonian Institution had a hall of fame for Volunteers, then Zoe Martindale would certainly be in line for induction. Martindale started volunteering at the Smithsonian Institution Archives in 1997 immediately after she retired. This past February, Martindale retired again, this time from her volunteer position at the Archvies after over twenty years of service.