Description: Smithsonian Online (SOL) was an online platform through AOL that included Smithsonian images, chats, message boards and other features during the 1990s.
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_9592,size=200,left]Did you know the Smithsonian was an early adopter of the telephone? In June of 1878, a system of electronic bells and telephones was installed throughout the Smithsonian Castle. The system connected several workrooms and offices to provide instant communications within the building. At that time, there were only 187 telephone lines
Description: The Smithsonian’s first paid female scientist and full-time curator, Mary Jane Rathbun, spent her life’s work on the classification of decapod Crustacea (shrimps, crabs and their near relatives) and wrote a 4-volume series on the crabs of America. #Groundbreaker
Description: Did you know that before the Smithsonian existed, there were two other institutions created for the promotion of science and diffusion of knowledge? Exploring the fate of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science.
Description: Eliza Scidmore was a lifelong photographer, writer, and world traveler. In addition to facilitating a gift of cherry blossom trees from Japan to the U.S. capital, Scidmore donated her time, photographs, and some artifacts to the Smithsonian’s collections. She also accessed the world through colonial channels that she reinforced with her writings.
Description: Dr. Patricia Gossel, chairman of the Science, Medicine and Society Division, Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, established the history of biology collection at the museum, studied the history of the contraceptive pill, and published more than two dozen scholarly articles before her death. #Groundbreaker