Description: Reminiscences of Frank A. Taylor, founding director of the National Museum of American History which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
Description: To commemorate the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary on August 10, 2021, the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is launching a web exhibit that sheds new light on English chemist James Smithson’s gift to found the Smithsonian.
Description: Oral history interviews sometimes reveal the central role that a mentor can play in the life of a young person, changing the road taken in that person’s life.
Description: We thought our work was done when a social media follower helped us identify our popular “unidentified male model” as German naturalist Emil Bessels. Then we discovered he may have murdered his captain during the 1871–73 Polaris Expedition.
Description: The AIDS Memorial Quilt has a long history with the National Mall and the Smithsonian Institution starting with its first appearance on the Mall in 1987.
Description: Let’s learn about the history of Smithsonian Gardens’ annual orchid exhibit with a little help from former director Barbara Faust through her 2011 oral history interview.