Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Portrait of Albert Einstein and Others (1879-1955), Physicist, by unidentified photographer, 1931, Smithsonian Institution Libraries."][/caption] This post is second in a series that highlights some of our most popular photos on the Flickr Commons. This photo of Einstein pictured with a group of intellectuals is one of
Description: Formal portrait photographs of scientists tend to preserve the stiffness of the moment, rather than capture the sitter’s personality. Perhaps that is the reason that candid photographs of celebrities like Albert Einstein stick in public memory.A 1931 photograph of three Nobel laureate physicists illustrates why we tend to remember the informal photos of scientists more than
Description: Have you ever wondered how our staff preserves the oversize collections at the Smithsonian Institution Archives? Here is an intern’s perspective on preserving the personal collection of Alexander Dallas Bache.
Description: In mid-19th century America, some believed that world-class discoveries came exclusively from Europe. But early Smithsonian leaders had a sense of urgency to disseminate an authoritative body of knowledge, pursue further discoveries, and provide a deeper understanding to the public at a time when American society was changing.
Description: For Social Media Day, we’re recapping how a Facebook follower solved an archival mystery by giving a name to our most popular “unidentified male model.”
Description: One of the challenges of being a reference archivist is focusing on the inquiries received, while suppressing the bits of information you come across that may be of personal interest (the corner of my desk is occupied by an ever increasing list of topics I aspire to research further on my own time). Recently, however, a colleague who is familiar with my interest in rare and