Description: Vicarious research is one of the great joys of the reference desk at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. From our front-row (well, only-row) seat outside the reading room, we catch tantalizing glimpses of our patrons’ manifold research topics.The reference team fields around 6,000 queries per year. Ask us what people have been researching recently, and you’ll get into some
Description: On December 5, 1961, the Smithsonian announced the gift of the Barney House Studio. We have written previously about Alice Pike Barney (1857-1931); artist, actor, playwright, and Washington D.C. socialite at The Bigger Picture. Barney donated her artwork and her D.C. residence which became part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection. In 1999, however, the house
Description: In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Museum Computer Network, this first blog explores the early interactions of MCN with the Smithsonian.