Description: Although initially skeptical about the effectiveness of the hypsometer, Secretary Joseph Henry soon recognized the value of the instrument, which he discovered from his colleagues in the scientific field.
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.
Description: Even with help from the dedicated Flickr Commons community, there are still many more images to identify in the Ruel Pardee Tolman Flickr set.
Description: As the Smithsonian geared up to celebrate its 175th anniversary, the Libraries and Archives decided to revisit the online exhibition From Smithsonian to Smithsonian, created a quarter of a century ago. Today, on the Smithsonian’s birthday, we are pleased to celebrate the launch of a new, refreshed and greatly expanded web exhibition, Smithson to Smithsonian.
Description: When James Smithson wrote his will on October 23, 1826, he made several bequests to people before adding the contingent clause that created the Smithsonian Institution. One bequest was to a resident of London’s notorious East End.
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: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="448" caption="Portrait of Dorothy Catherine Draper, copy of the original photo by John Draper, created by Daniel Draper, 1893, National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center, Division of Information Technology and Communications."][/caption] Imagine that you are the first person to take a photograph. What would you