Description: Roxie Collie Laybourne pioneered the field of forensic ornithology through her study of bird feathers, which has meant improved aviation safety.
Description: In November, Smithsonian Institution Archives moved over 3 million photographic negatives to a new state of the art facility at the Smithsonian Institution Support Center (SISC) in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Description: It is too hard to know everything that lives inside an archival collection. Join us in opening up some of our miscellaneous folders and discover what is inside!
Description: When curators at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History looked at seven radiometers in storage, they learned the instruments had been at the Smithsonian for nearly one hundred fifty years.
Description: The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) has undergone many name changes over the years. One of these – the National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA) – was in use from 1937 to 1980. During this time, the NCFA underwent several exciting changes. After years of being housed in multiple locations and several failed attempts to build a permanent building, the collection moved to
Description: Opening on April 6, 2018, A box of ten photographs highlights the portfolio of Diane Arbus, an American photographer known for her black-and-white images of marginalized individuals, including the mentally ill, circus performers, and transgender people. The exhibition, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) until January 21, 2019, traces the history of Arbus's
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: This blog piece is about summer weather in Washington, DC, the Alice Pike Barney collections here at SIA, and the Barney’s “summer cottage” in Bar Harbor, ME, “Ban-y-Bryn.”
Description: Uta C. Merzbach was the Smithsonian's first curator of mathematical instruments. She brought her field to life with unique presentations of mathematical concepts and computer history.