Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Untitled, by Thomas Smillie, c. 1890, Smithsonian Institution Archives."][/caption] One of the things people often want to know about photography at the Smithsonian is, “How many photographs do you have?” with the quick follow-up, “Have you counted all of them?” No one knows for certain, but statistical sampling suggests
Description: Artist Georgia O’Keeffe and the Hirshhorns had a friendly relationship. Read about how the two almost negotiated a deal to create a room dedicated to her work at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
Description: Though a large part of our collections are flat—that is, they are unbound materials as opposed to bound, three-dimensional objects—a significant group of our holdings do live in bindings and book structures (some of my previous blog contributions have dealt with books, but none with as great a degree of intervention). Treating a field book became more complicated—and more
Description: Roxie Collie Laybourne pioneered the field of forensic ornithology through her study of bird feathers, which has meant improved aviation safety.
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_392769,size=450,center]The Smithsonian Institution Archives continually strives to add more collection information to its website.See new collection highlights posted to the Smithsonian Institution Archives website.
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives will be celebrating African American History Month throughout February with a series of related posts on THE BIGGER PICTURE.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="442" caption="View of Canyon, 1873, by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, Black and white photoprint on cardboard mount, National Anthropological Archives, SPC Sw Gen NM 113605 01861700, Local Number: NAA INV 01861700."][/caption] I paid another visit to the Timothy O’Sullivan exhibition now on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and a
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives continually strives to add more collections to its website. This is a periodic post highlighting new acquisitions and individual collection items.New Finding Aids Online: A group of collections documenting the field work of scientists who worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology:
Description: In a world drowning in images, where we swipe past photos of friends, relatives, and selves in mere seconds, a set of remarkable portraits taken in the 1910s and 1920s by Julian Papin Scott (1877-1961) deserve more considered attention. Sometimes, his subjects appear immersed in work, surrounded by microscopes, beakers, or stacks of books, as if unaware of the photographer.
Description: Rube Goldberg, the subject of a 1970 exhibition at the National Museum of American History, produced thousands of drawings and comic strips, as well as, films, photographs, and over-the-top machines. A true celebrity in his time, Goldberg set standards in political cartooning and contributed to the development of thousands of extravagant and entertaining contraptions that have
Description: Long ago and far away, before gray hairs and creaky knees, before history became my passion, I was an undergraduate physics major. Physics seemed fascinating and beautiful, if difficult. Later, after career paths led into history and science policy, I learned that physics, however elegant, did not reside in a cultural vacuum. Its people and discoveries coexisted with