Description: A clause in the last will and testament of English scientist James Smithson eventually led to his estate being left to the United States "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” There was much debate as to what constituted such an establishment, but many of the proposals
Description: Twenty-nine years ago yesterday the National Museum of the American Indian Act was signed and the Museum of the American Indian became part of the Smithsonian family.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Thornewood Estate in Takoma, Washington, by Asahel Curtis, August 1933, Smithsonian Archives of American Gardens."][/caption] Just the other day we received a comment on one of our photos in the new Flickr Commons set of lantern slides from the Archives of American Gardens. A visitor was interested to know whether or not
Description: A daily photo highlight from Smithsonian collections. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="349" caption="Richard Montali, pathology director of the National Zoological Park's Office of Pathology, dedicates the new pathology and autopsy building, August 26, 1977, by Kathy Hammersley, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 371 Box 2 Folder October
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="365" caption="A history exhibit in the Arts and Industries Building of the first typewriter patented in the United States, It was submitted to the United States Patent Office by William Austin Burt in 1829 and called the typographer, Date unknown, by Unidentified photographer, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives,
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="293" caption="A narrow section, done in wood, of the of south front of new National Museum building, the Natural History Building, erected by the superintendent of construction, The Old Post Office is in the background on the left, 1904, by Unidentified photographer, Smithsonian Institution Archives Record Unit 79, Box 9, Folder 4,
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="310" caption="Group of Young Women in Costume During Arrival Reception For Tourists Near Plane at Airport, by Gerald James Holton, 1968, National Museum of Natural History, National Anthropological Archives."][/caption] I came across these photos of tourists on Easter Island on our site and their presence has kind of baffled me.