Description: Alcione M. Amos, Curator at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum since 2009, researches the history of post-slavery societies and Afro-Brazilians from West Africa in the nineteenth century. She curated major exhibitions at the museum, such as Word, Shout, Song (2010–2011) and How the Civil War Changed Washington (2015). #Groundbreaker
Description: Priscilla L. Strain has worked for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies since 1974 as a Research Assistant, 1974-79, Geologist, 1979-87, and Program Manager, 1987–present. She is currently the curator of the museum’s lunar rock collection and manages the center’s exhibits and programs. #Groundbreaker
Description: Dr. Joan W. Nowicke, Curator, Department of Botany, was an internationally recognized palynologist specializing in pollen morphology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, 1972–99. Nowicke earned special recognition in the 1980s for her work studying “Yellow Rain,” which some governments alleged was a form of chemical biological warfare. #Groundbreaker
Description: Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Description: In November of 1996, the electric guitar, its history and its makers, were the focus of attention at the National Museum of American History.
Description: Gretchen Gayle Ellsworth was a Fellow and later Co-Director, Office of Academic Programs, 1968–78; Director, Office of Fellowships and Grants, 1978–84; Deputy Director, Directorate of International Activities, 1985–88; and Associate Director, National Zoological Park, 1988–93. Ellsworth was also instrumental in planning for better childcare at the Smithsonian. #Groundbreaker
Description: Jane Rosen Glaser was Director of the Office of Museum Programs (1976–89), Special Assistant in the offices of the Assistant Secretary for the Arts and Humanities (1989-94), Assistant Provost (1994-96), and Provost (1996). During her long career with Smithsonian, Glaser organized seminars and conferences for museum professionals and published numerous books and articles about
Description: Marion Stirling Pugh began her career with the Smithsonian in 1931 as a secretary for her future husband, Matthew Stirling, Chief of the Bureau of Ethnology. For the next 40 years, the couple studied Olmec culture and the connection to greater Mesoamerica and South America. Pugh served as the president of the Society of Women Geographers from 1960 to 1963 and from 1969 to