Sisters Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt founded the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, which would later become Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. These Gilded Age sisters traveled extensively, documenting their journeys in a series of journals. Recently digitized, a few of the diaries are now available for you to read and transcribe from home.
Fannie Farmer joined the staff of the Boston Cooking School shortly after graduating. Just 2 years later, she became its principal. Her "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" is a classic, combining recipes and simplified science. Plus, a whole chapter on pies
Grass expert Dr. Cleofé E. Calderón worked with the Smithsonian for most of her career. She collected species, published descriptions of rare and unusual plants, and led workshops that helped shape the field of bamboo taxonomy. She also rediscovered a rare grass species not seen by scientists for nearly a century.
"Sports suits" and "suspender skirts" might not be the focus of New York Fashion Week but we're enjoying the vintage charm found in a Smithsonian Trade Literature Collection from the early 20th century
Pulling from digitized collections, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives has just released ten free, downloadable coloring pages as part of the Color Our Collections campaign. Whether you want to bring polychromatic glory to old black-and-white photos or scribble in vintage fashion plates, you’ll find a little something for everyone in this new packet.
We recently sat down with the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Director Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty to get to know her better. From favorite foods to the future of libraries and archives, find out more about the new leader of our organization.
Thanks to a generous gift, over a hundred titles from Arion Press will soon be added to the American Art and Portrait Gallery Library. With the gift, the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives has one of the most complete public collections of Arion’s work in the Washington D.C. area.
Join Smithsonian Libraries and Archives for a special program on February 15th. We'll explore lesser-known histories of women at the Smithsonian and discuss current issues with leading women in STEAM.
Form meets function with these decorative storage options found in a Lazier Brothers trade catalog from the 19th century. Discover the possibilities of interior decorating with cloverleaf stands, corner whatnots, and more.
We recently added Wikidata profiles about 100 women in science, and we need your help to write and strengthen their Wikipedia articles! Join us for our edit-a-thon January 20th at 1 p.m. ET to learn more about these women in science in Smithsonian history. Beginners and experts are welcome.
History is full of narratives and even those narratives have a history. As a high school history teacher, I went into my Neville-Pribram Mid-Career Educator fellowship with a motivation to help my students better understand where popular history narratives come from so they can better predict where they are going. Look to the past to predict the future? Easy peasy, right?
Care for some pigeons au poir? Or maybe pickled walnuts? Explore 18th century English cuisine with a popular book of the time: "The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy" (1770) by Hannah Glasse. This Smithsonian Libraries and Archives' copy was owned by Smithsonian founder James Smithson.
Tissue paper can be used for more than just gift wrapping. Flip through this Dennison Mfg. Co. trade catalog from over a century ago to learn the possibilities of making paper flowers and even landscape scenes out of crepe and tissue paper.
A forerunner of today’s efforts to decolonize and Indigenize American museums, Tichkematse was one of the first Native American employees at the Smithsonian Institution. His work with natural history and anthropological collections continues to inspire Native and non-Native museum professionals nearly 150 years later.
Ahead of a lecture on James Smithson's science on December 1st, author Steven Turner shares his experience testing the Smithsonian founder's own coffee-making method.
Take a trip back to the 19th Century for a glimpse into kitchens. Burdett, Paris & Co. manufactured stoves such as "Our Old Home" and other household items like the Dial iron heater in this 1868 trade catalog.
Artist Georgia O’Keeffe had a friendly relationship with Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden founding donor Joseph Hirshhorn. Recently digitized letters reveal how the two almost negotiated a deal to create a room at the museum dedicated to her work.
On December 1st, join Smithsonian Libraries and Archives for a free virtual event exploring lesser-known stories of the work of our founder James Smithson, with Steven Turner, author of The Science of James Smithson.
We receive dozens of inquiries every year from students and recent graduates about the archives. In honor of American Archives Month, archivist Jennifer Wright answers a few of the most commonly-asked questions.
A remarkable Mexican American scholar, Zelia Nuttall she helped change the conversation around pre-Columbian cultures. Researchers can trace her work through publications held in the collections of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives and repositories around the Institution.
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