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: As one of the first women to work in scientific illustration at the Smithsonian, Violet Dandridge made her mark at the United States National Museum.
Description: Biographical information can be found throughout the Archives’ holdings. These collections are especially rich in material documenting Smithsonian staff and scientific collaborators. Accession 05-123, Smithsonian Institution, Personnel Records, 1892–1952 This accession consists of early personnel records. Notable staff include: C.G. (Charles Greeley) Abbot, Carl Whiting
Description: Readers of The Bigger Picture will be familiar with the Hungerford Deed, a 1787 property contract dividing a lucrative land inheritance between the mother and aunt of the Smithsonian’s founding donor, James Smithson. Over the last three years I have been able to take a deep dive into the content of the Deed and strengthen our understanding of Smithson’s choice to leave his