Description: Have a little fun with images from our collections that have been designated as open access. Anyone can now download, transform, share, and reuse millions of images as part of Smithsonian Open Access.
Description: On New Years Day 2015, the 44,000 works of art in the Smithsonian’s Freer | Sackler collection will be available online. [via WAMU] Dumpster diving! The National Museum of American History added a copy of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Atari 2600 game found in a landfill to their collection. [via O Say Can You See, National Museum of American History]The grand re-opening of
Description: In the past, we’ve talked about how families of Smithsonian researchers helped out with research, and some have even lived in the Smithsonian itself. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, it seems like love, too, has brought many couples together both at the Smithsonian and out in the field. Love, as you’ll see in the photos below, enabled some women to travel the world and get
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="384" caption="Construction of the Pension Building, Designed by Montgomery Meigs, c. 1883, by Unknown photographer, Albumen print, National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center, Image ID: AFS 182."][/caption] One of the first collections that I encountered during my travels through the photography collections of the
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: 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: In celebration of over a century of volunteer contributions at the Smithsonian, explore the work of some stellar volunteers from our collection.
Description: The Freer Sackler Gallery’s efforts to make their large collection of squeezes (paper molds that capture the inscriptions of ancient monuments) into an easy-to-use Web resource received a nice write-up on The Atlantic’s Tech blog [originally posted on the Smithsonian Collections Blog]. David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, talks about “balancing access and
Description: …in which a member of the Archives staff turns her passion for sloths into a mission to research their history at the Smithsonian Institution.
Description: The theme of this year’s International Migratory Bird Day is unity. The Smithsonian has a longstanding history of commitment to the natural world. No figure in the Institution’s history better exemplifies the theme of unity surrounding migratory species than sixth Smithsonian Secretary and ornithologist Alexander Wetmore. He knew the importance of the role that birds play in
Description: For forty years, Miss Helena Weiss kept the Smithsonian running smoothly as a clerk, stenographer, director of the Office of Correspondence and Documents, and Registrar. When she retired, her position was divided into seven separate jobs.