Description: The Hirshhorn and neighboring areas are enveloped in polka dots, and we love it. [via Washington Post]A new African American history treasure trove; digitized post-Civil War 'wanted ads' searching for love ones separated by slavery. [via NPR]11 African American inventors (including the Smithsonian's own Regent, Dr. Shirley Jackson) who changed the world. [via Mental Floss]The
Description: Join us and other archives around the U.S. to ask questions on Twitter Wednesday, 10/5. #AskAnArchivist [via SAA]A new project looking at the role photography plays in science, with an essay from our own, Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette on the credit due to scientist Rosalind Franklin. [via curator Marvin Heiferman]The International Criminal Court has ruled that destroying
Description: It's interesting to look back and see what resonated with you, our readers, this past year. Clearly, we along with many of you were fascinated by the solar eclipse of 2017 that was viewable from many parts of the U.S. Three of the top 10 were about solar eclipses. You also were captivated by our efforts to bring more attention to women in science. Three of the posts have to do
Description: There is a remarkable figure in the Smithsonian’s history that doesn’t get much of the spotlight; Thomas W. Smillie. He served as the Smithsonian’s first official photographer from 1870 until his death in 1917, and additionally became the Smithsonian’s first photography curator in 1896. Smillie amassed a collection of photographic equipment starting with the purchase of the
Description: The history behind the film, Hidden Figures, from Curator Paul Ceruzzi. [via National Air and Space Museum]Umbra Search African American History now has over 500,000 items from more than 1000 libraries, museums and archives. [via OCLC and University of Minnesota Libraries]A Twitter tribute to Holocaust victims who were turned away by the U.S. in 1939. [via Atlantic]Library of
Description: Archaeologist & curator emerita, Dr. Dolores Piperno, Smithsonian Tropical Research Center, greatly expanded the knowledge of pre-Columbian cultures and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2005. #Groundbreaker
Description: Don't miss out on getting your copy of these beautiful NASA space travel posters. [via The Drive]GPS art by bicycle. [via bored panda]448 free art books from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [via Open Culture]Learn how to archive institutional email from two of our own. [via Library of Congress]A new 3D scan of Apollo 11 reveals astronaut graffiti depicting flight plans, a
Description: Apparently black holes are not a one-way vortex we assumed. This image from NASA demonstrates objects projecting out of black holes! [via The Space Academy]The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will acquire records of The Academy of Washington, D.C., an LGBT organization that produced nationally-recognized drag pageants. [via Washington Blade]You can vote on