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Fine Art of Flower Arrangement and Description
Spring is a popular time for flower shows and a major feature of these shows is flower arranging. The Archives of American Gardens recently acquired a collection of photographic slides belonging to...
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Zithers, Moscow Mules, and Bucky's Dome
As you might gather from readingmypastpostson Emory Cook and his record label, Cook Labs, I am exceedingly fond of the man behind such recordings as Kilts on Parade and Torchy Lullabies my Mother Sang...
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Edith Wharton on Italian Villas and their Gardens
Front cover of the 1904 edition of Italian Villas and Their GardensNow that spring has finally arrived in the Washington, D.C. area after a very cold and snowy winter, it’s not surprising to have a...
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No Such Animal
No such animal, 193-?. Charles Green Shaw papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.As an item-level cataloger who toes the line between archivist and librarian I sometimes feel like a...
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The Many Faces of Abraham Walkowitz
In 1944, the Brooklyn Museum exhibited the aptly titled show One Hundred Artists and Walkowitz, an exhibition featuring portraits of the artist Abraham Walkowitz created by (naturally!) one hundred of...
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Lazy Research
Photograph by Robert S. Scurlock. Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial, probably 1951 or later.Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.Among the most popular...
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Donors in the Archives
The Dale/Patterson Family papers is a recent acquisition in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives. The materials were donated by Dianne Dale—an author, artist, and community historian, whose family...
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Trail Tradition: When Hikers Shun Innovation
For generations of Americans who have hiked and camped outdoors, spring days in the city mean time to stop daydreaming about where to travel and start packing. Outdoor equipment advertisers are eager...
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This Ticket and 10c Will Admit You!
Frank Kenjockety and Louis Belmont Newell Native American Entertainers collection, Box 2, Folder 3. National Museum of the American Indian, Archive Center.At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of...
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Secret Gardens: Private Gardens of Paradise
The secret garden, also known by its Italian name, giardino segreto, has a long history that can be traced back to Roman peristyle houses which featured a garden located within a central courtyard....
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Surf, Sand, and Easels: Artists at the Beach
As Memorial Day turns the corner, your thoughts may be straying to boardwalk fries, sandcastles, and swimming. I know mine are. But did you know that beaches have also been a highly productive place...
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Resourceful Researcher
Alert reader Christine Windheuser (also an Archives Center reference volunteer) handily solved the conundrum I presented in my previous blog, “Lazy Researcher.” She discovered that the “other” Marian...
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Spending the Summer with Uncle Lee
Since we've wrapped up scanning the Cook Labs Records, we've moved on to digitizing another gem of a collection: the Lee Hays Papers. This collection represents a small departure from our past...
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Hats Off To You!
Susan Hyde, a benefactor of ARROW, Inc., 1951. National Congress of American Indian records, Photo folder 138, National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.This image...
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Happy Birthday to the Smithsonian’s Transcription Center!
As the nation’s premier museum system, the Smithsonian has an enormous collection of historical documents, many of which remain largely unstudied. To allow the public to aid us in the analysis and...
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On Becoming a National Museum – 50th Anniversary of the National Museum of...
NMAfA Pavilion , 1987, by Jeff Tinsley, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 87-7812-36.The National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Although it did not join...
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Under the Privilege of the Fifth Amendment
“I don’t think I have ever felt so damned alone as on that day” Lee Hays on his experience testifying before the House of Un-American Activities CommitteeSubpoena received by Hays, 1955. Lee Hays...
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In the Good Old Watermelon Time
Pollock family eating watermelon in Arizona, ca. 1914 / unidentified photographer. Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.Now that summer is fully...
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ARCHIVES PRIDE: LGBT-Related Collections at the Archives Center, National...
President Obama has proclaimed June 2014 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month, and many cities and towns throughout the United States will celebrate LGBT Pride. An outgrowth...
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Roses for Hershey
Milton Hershey did more than just make chocolate, the famed chocolatier founded the Hershey Rose Gardens. The idea to establish a rose garden arose out of conversations with J. Horace McFarland, an...
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