Description: An examination of logbooks in the Smithsonian Institution Archives reveals the multiple ways that the Division of Inquiry in the United States Commission of Fish performed scientific work at marine laboratories in the early 20th century to fulfill their expansive mission statement.
Description: This is the first of two posts on the Archives' conservators’ work with the Smithsonian’s Haiti Cultural Recovery project, which works to rescue and safeguard objects damaged by the 2010 earthquake.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="229" caption="Mary Alice McWhinnie (1922-1980) was a professor of biology at DePaul University and a world-renowned authority on krill when she began working on research ships off-shore in 1962, when this photograph was taken, by Unidentified photographer, Black and white photographic print, Smithsonian Institution Archives, cc. 90-105
Description: An important part of the museum story that we often forget: how the objects got there in the first place. Donors’ stories often reveal the fascinating and complicated path that object take before they come into the Smithsonian’s collections. Here’s a great read on a family who collected celluloid (plastic) souvenirs, jewelry, products, and knick-knacks, that now reside at the
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_12035,size=350,center]June is National Camping Month, and to celebrate we are recognizing one of the Smithsonian’s original outdoorsmen: Alexander Wetmore. The Smithsonian’s sixth Secretary thrived outside. Annually for 20 years Wetmore would make the trip south to Panama, to the same spot, Isla Iguana. There he would conduct his observations, record