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: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="172" caption="The Steiner Ambrotype, June 18, 1857, by Unidentified photographer, Ambrotype, National Air and Space Museum, Image ID: 2001-5358. "] [/caption] [caption id="" align="alignright" width="190" caption="First Launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, July 24, 1950, by U.S. Air Force, Gelatin silver print, National Air and Space
Description: LaVerne M. Love, Women's Program Manager with the Office of Equal Opportunity, 1973–1980, was the executive officer of the Smithsonian Women's Council and wrote the organization's first bylaws. In 1976–77, she chaired the Civil Service Commission task force on minority women. At the time, she was the highest ranking African American woman at the Smithsonian. #Groundbreaker
Description: Carmen Turner, Under Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1990–1992, was the Smithsonian’s chief operating officer. She led a comprehensive reorganizational study of the Smithsonian, and prioritized equal employment opportunities, welcoming more diverse audiences, and creating spaces for teenagers. #Groundbreaker
Description: A file in the Smithsonian Institution Archives’ accession records tells the story of an historic piece of Lincoln memorabilia that didn't wind up in the Smithsonian’s collections.
Description: Wonder Woman 1984 features fictional Smithsonian women in science trying to change the world. Let’s examine how real-life women pushed for change at the Smithsonian in the 1970s and created new opportunities for women at work.
Description: Carolyn E. Jones was the director of the Smithsonian’s Office of Human Resources between 1996 until her retirement in 2003. She initially joined the Institution in 1983 as a financial analyst and at various periods worked as the director of parking and as the chief financial officer for the Smithsonian’s mail order distribution division. Jones served as the chair of the
Description: The Smithsonian Castle sits just over a mile away from Washington D.C.’s most notable address,1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We are more than just a short walk away from the White House, however—we are directly tied to it and its occupants. Not only does the Smithsonian collect the history of United States Presidents (including, yes, Lincoln’s top hat and even the hair of a few
Description: I was recently given the opportunity to work as a Collections Care Intern at the Smithsonian Institution Archives for the months of November and December 2015, under the supervision and partnership of the Archives’ Collections Care Team. During my short time here, I worked on two parallel projects focused on surveying, preserving, and treating oversized archival collections: