Description: Helena M. WeissSmithsonian Institution Archives Oral History Collection, SIA009587As Smithsonian’s registrar for more than twenty years, Helena M. Weiss (1909-2004) had the extraordinary responsibility of recording and facilitating everything that came into and out of the United States National Museum (USNM). From bug specimens to the Hope Diamond, Weiss was in charge of
Description: Born in 1829 to free black parents along the border between Maryland and the District of Columbia, Solomon Galleon Brown would become, at age 23, the first black employee of the Smithsonian. Starting out as a laborer in the Exchange Office, he ultimately became the personal assistant of Spencer Baird, the second secretary of the Smithsonian. By the time of his 1904 retirement,