Description: Collections here at the Archives span over 171 years of Smithsonian history and include personal papers of the many notable people who have been part of its work in science and culture. Cryptic and coded content is not unusual here. One would expect special vocabulary in the accessions of scientific observations. For example, notations of depth, temperature, and sounding and
Description: The creation and design of the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly known as the “Castle”, is no mystery; however, the stories of some of the early individuals involved in the formation of the Smithsonian’s collection are less commonly known. We need to ask who collected the specimens and produced research on the objects that visitors now see when they enter Smithsonian
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_308449,size=250,left]Though Roxie Laybourne may be a well-known topic here in the Smithsonian Institution Archives, there is a good reason she is so popular. From good advice to her pioneering career to modern day inspiration, her work offers new insight each time we turn to it. Laybourne’s interest in natural history began long before she began her
Description: This Path We Travel: Celebrations of Contemporary Native American Creativity, was one of the inaugural exhibitions at the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center in New York City. The exhibition was a collaboration of fifteen Native American painters, sculptors, writers, musicians, and dancers. The exhibition featured sculpture, performance, poetry,
Description: Barry Hampton played an important role in Division of Reptiles and Amphibians in the Natural History Museum for decades, but recognition was slow to come.