Description: [view:sia_slideshow==75408]Scientific research has been integral to the Smithsonian, from its founding to today. The Smithsonian's founder, Englishman James Smithson, saw in the U.S. (according to his biographer, Heather Ewing) "a place of the future" that could support "science and progress for humanity." He believed that scientists were "citizens of the world" and that the
Description: [view in Spanish][edan-image:id=siris_sic_9227,size=200,left]The foremost grass specialist of her time ended her formal education after grammar school. She began collecting and illustrating plants in her twenties, and was hired by Chicago's Field Museum in 1901 and later as a botanical illustrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Scientific illustration was a way for
Description: A forerunner of today’s efforts to decolonize and Indigenize American museums, Tichkematse was one of the first Native American employees at the Smithsonian Institution. His work with natural history and anthropological collections continue to inspire Native and non-Native museum professionals nearly 150 years later.