Description: The Smithsonian Folklife Festival will be held from June 30 to July 4 and July 7 to 11, 2011 on the National Mall. Read more about the history of the Folklife Festival here. At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival this year, the Peace Corps is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed an Executive Order authorizing the Peace Corps to
Description: Looking at a recently acquired collection records created and maintained by former National Air and Space Museum director, Martin Harwit, that relate to the Enola Gay, its exhibition, and the controversy that ensued.
Description: Happy National Trivia Day! January 4th is the perfect day to break out all those endless bits of knowledge stored in your noggin and share them with others. As for the history of National Trivia Day, it's thought that the creation of the game Trivial Pursuit in 1979 sparked the beginning of our fascination with trivia, and everythinge else is history, as they say. To feed our
Description: Cyanotype, disassembled mannequins in Post Office Department exhibit at Cotton States Exposition, Atlanta, 1895, SIA RU000095, USNM No. 12659.
Description: Cyanotype, Riker Electric Mail Wagon vehicle for exhibition by Post Office Department at Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, 1901, USNM No. 13751.
Description: Halloween is over, but you can prepare for next year’s festivities with these costume ideas from the Archives of American Art. [via Smithsonian Magazine]The National Zoo’s naked mole-rat colony is still in anarchy! [via DCist]See sixty of this year’s top wildlife photographs submitted to the Windland Smith Rice Awards either online or in person at the National Museum of
Description: On January 16, 1907, a man carrying packages asked a carpenter for directions to a former colleague's office in the U.S. National Museum. Minutes later, that man pulled a rifle out of one of the packages and murdered an illustrator working for the Smithsonian.
Description: "Kin and Communities: The Peopling of America" seminar with Wilton S. Dillon, Dr. Margaret Mead, and Lucille Dawson, by Richard Hofmeister, SIA Acc. 11-009, 76-7580-17.
Description: After extensive renovations of the Old Patent Office Building that houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture held a grand opening July 1, 2006.
Description: Although fun and easy to use, post-it notes are often harmful to archival records, as seen with the conservation of Cordelia Rose’s recently acquired scroll.