Description: Long ago and far away, before gray hairs and creaky knees, before history became my passion, I was an undergraduate physics major. Physics seemed fascinating and beautiful, if difficult. Later, after career paths led into history and science policy, I learned that physics, however elegant, did not reside in a cultural vacuum. Its people and discoveries coexisted with
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives recently acquired and accessioned digital records from Smithsonian Exhibits. Smithsonian Exhibits, Exhibition Records, circa 2000-2016, SIA 18-150 is an exciting collection that documents the design of exhibitions for Smithsonian museums and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). SITES offers exhibitions to other
Description: Did you know that the Smithsonian Institution has been collecting “specimens” related to the history of photography since photography was still considered a new technology? Learn about the evolution of our photography collection!
Description: Have you ever wondered why museums choose the exhibition topics they do? These are the kinds of questions that the Smithsonian Institution Archives’ historic records of exhibitions can sometimes help us answer. An idea could stem from the personal interest of a curator, reflect an institution’s holdings, be inspired by comments from a visitor, or be designed around a specific
Description: This summer, 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.