As you’ve likely seen on our social media and blog, back in the spring, we received the Hungerford Deed via a generous donation. It has proven to be a fount of fascinating information about the family of James Smithson, our founding donor (read: family drama worthy of your favorite British period piece!), as well as a source of endless material culture interest—down to the very materials that were used to fabricate the document. Almost immediately upon seeing the deed (first in photographs, then in person), I felt reasonably certain that it was written on parchment. But there are more clues to its identification than just a brief or initial look. 

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What is parchment and how is it made?

Parchment is made from chemically treated animal skins, much like leather. Besides the differences in the chemicals used to treat the hides, after cleaning them of hair and tissue, parchment is stretched onto a frame and dried under tension. This process imparts particular properties to parchment, including a stiff or rigid quality to handling it, a smooth surface (partly from collagen released from the skins during parchmenting, partly from smoothing treatments such as rubbing the skin with pumice), and optical brightness. Parchment is also quite strong and durable, though susceptible to biological attacks. It is extremely sensitive to moisture, expanding and contracting with changes in the relative humidity, and may become hard and transparent (or “gelatinize”) when wetted.

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How do you identify parchment?

Some aspects of identifying parchment (such as the handling characteristics described above) can be assessed by the experienced eye, sometimes referred to in cultural heritage as connoisseurship—because an individual has experience with parchment, it is that much easier to recognize parchment when faced with a new artifact. In handling the deed, I could feel that it was rigid and stiff and had the surface texture and heft I would expect from parchment. In addition, I knew that legal documents were recorded on parchment for centuries.

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There are also many visual clues to parchment’s identity that are visible to the naked eye, or with magnification. Our deed shows the animal origins of the material incredibly clearly, with several of the sheets showing strong hair follicle patterns and irregular edges that may reflect the outer perimeters of the animal’s skin. Evidence of the cleaning process used to create the parchment is also clearly visible; the natural variations in the thickness of the skin resulted in portions being inconsistently scraped. Evidence of wear and deterioration also help confirm that the deed was written on parchment. Areas where water damage occurred have become gelatinized, as described above, and consequently brittle. You can also see where scribes made corrections: when a mistake was made, the surface of the skin was scraped away, removing the ink as well, and then replaced by new writing.

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This evidence was more than sufficient for us to confidently identify the material as parchment. There are, however, additional tests that can be done in cases where it is more difficult to determine. These are mostly destructive tests, relying on examination of cross-sectioned samples via microscopy, or the flame test, in which a sample is burned to see if it gives off the distinctive scent of burning animal protein. Other techniques such as Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), which identifies chemical bonds in a given sample of organic material, can be used to identify proteins in parchment, as opposed to starches in paper.

What happens now that we know it’s parchment?

Knowing that the deed is written on parchment impacts how we choose to treat and store it. As I described in my previous post about the deed, I chose to very gently and slowly humidify the parchment sheets because of how sensitive parchment is to moisture. Too much moisture would be damaging to the document and can result in gelatinization as the photos show. Keeping the deed under tension or weight while drying is also key, given the tendency of parchment to distort. This will be especially important as we undertake the next step in treatment, to mend some of the damage lying along the gelatinized folds of the outer parchment sheet.

We also keep the deed in as stable of an environment as we can within our collections storage space. Fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity are problematic for any of our archival collections, but because parchment is especially sensitive, we will pay extremely close attention to its condition.

Related Resources 

• AIC’s Book and Paper Group Wiki, Parchment
• “I.D. This! Solid Inkjet Print,” by Alison Reppert Gerber, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives

The National Audubon Society has launched a complete digital library of John J. Audubon’s Birds of America! [via Society of American Archivists]

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Conservators discuss the challenges posed by very, very big museum objects. [via The Conservators’ Podcast]

Long-neglected recipes from ancient Babylonia have been recently rediscovered, and cooked! [via K. Tempest Bradford]

Hyperallergic highlights flood recovery efforts at cultural heritage sites in Venice. [via Preservation Week]

21st-century technologies have uncovered hidden details beneath a 500-year-old da Vinci painting! [via National Gallery]

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Smithsonian Magazine discusses Paleobiologist’s Best Friend: rats. [via Smithsonian]

The Met shows how an etching is made! [via Metropolitan Museum of Art]

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It’s that time of year again when we get together with our families to celebrate the holiday season. These visits can be full of delicious food, warm company, or sugar-filled children, but they can also be a time to reminisce and look at our family photos and heirlooms. The Archives is always receiving inquiries about the best practices for preserving personal collections, and we want to highlight a few quick tips to keep in mind as you’re weeding through those old, dusty boxes.  

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1. Keep your heirlooms out of the basement and the attic.

It’s hard to find a spot for all of those photographs, books, documents, and home movies, but if you want to extend their lifespans, it’s best to keep them in an environmentally-controlled area at home. Temperature and humidity can do a great deal of damage to your collections if not kept in check. High temperature and humidity can lead to distortions in books, swelling of the emulsion layer in films and photographic prints, and mold on most materials, while low temperature and humidity can cause some materials, such as adhesives and paints, to become brittle. You should always look to maintain the relative humidity around 50%.

2. Rehouse your collections into acid-free, chemically-stable materials.

For paper-based materials, photographic prints, slides, and textiles, you should consider removing them from acidic containers such as cardboard and poor-quality enclosures. Look for new boxes and folders that are “acid-free” and won’t contribute to the deterioration of your collections, and even consider enclosures that are “buffered.” Buffered materials contain an additive that can help to preserve some materials for even longer. For photographic negatives and audiovisual collections, you should stick to acid-free, unbuffered materials. For select suppliers for preservation suppliers, stop by our Storage and Handling webpage.

3. Consider arrangement when rehousing.

It may not make sense to store all of your collections based on medium. Think about how these items relate to one another. Does it makes sense to arrange your heirlooms by subject or by years? Should the negatives be kept with their corresponding prints? Each collection is unique in terms of content and medium and will be accessed in different ways, and its arrangement should reflect that.

4. Curation is not just for cultural heritage institutions.

I’m just going to say it – every item is not worth saving. (Gasps from the crowd.) This can come as a shock and it can be hard to throw away what feels like your family heritage, but you should feel confident to make decisions regarding what to retain in your collection. If you have ten copies of what is seemingly the same photograph, you may want to consider disposing of some of the blurry, over-/underexposed, or duplicate images.

5. Digitization for preservation.

It’s inevitable that many of our family herilooms will degrade to a point that they’re unreadable, unplayable, or unidentifiable. Digitization can be an option to preserve the content on many carriers, such as paper, books, photos, and audiovisual items. If you choose to digitize your collection, be sure to check out our webpage on reformatting to make sure that you’re using the best standards for imaging. Once digitized, you’ll be able to view and share these files with family, thus reducing handling of the originals. It’s a win-win!   

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Managing your family heritage can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Start with one box, one folder, or one scrapbook. Take your time and enjoy getting to know your family either all over again – or for the first time!

Related Resources

• “Thanks(giving) for the memories—a preservation family project,” by Nora Lockshin, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• “Family Memories at Thanksgiving” by Pam Henson, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives

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Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the Archives! As the website and social media content manager, I’m constantly flipping through old issues of Smithsonian’s staff newsletter, The Torch, for research on employees and major anniversaries. And I recently stumbled upon my newest favorite segment: “Point of View.”

Smithsonian staff—they’re just like us! Read about what foods employees couldn’t wait to dig into during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2006.

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But I can’t just stop at Thanksgiving. Here are a few more of my favorite questions and answers from the 2000s. 

Sometimes your secret desk chocolates just get you through. Shout out to exhibits specialist Ralph Logan for identifying as a pack rat, though he’s certainly not the only Smithsonian employee who sported a messy desk.

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This question from 2003 really stumped me, but all of the different answers are great. Who would be your dream dinner guest?

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And in the May 2004 issue, museum specialist David Shayt made me seriously consider spending some time looking into the influences behind Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson character.

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This one just made me laugh out loud in the office. In responding to a question about what he loves about living and working in New York, Cooper-Hewitt librarian Stephen Van Dyk had quite the answer. “I love its wonderful skyline and great pastrami.” Ah, the power of deli meats.

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We’re wishing you a safe and warm holiday wherever you’re celebrating!

Learn about the cake-making process of Smithsonian archaeologist Eric Hollinger. [via Smithsonian]

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Philadelphia-area special collections show off their medieval manuscripts in a new online database! [via infoDOCKET]

A journalist shares his top ten favorite illustrations from Biodiversity Heritage Library collections. [via BHL]

The Chandra X-ray Observatory has big black hole news! [via Chandra Observatory]

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Explore a wealth of digital exhibits on local history, including the Anacostia Community Museum’s “A Right to the City”— [via Teaching for Change]

--or take the DC Historic Preservation Office’s new walking tour of 20th-century civil rights sites! [via DCist]

Explore a tiny magazine written by a young Charlotte Brontë. [via Hyperallergic]

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In a previous blog, American Women’s History Initiative Curator Elizabeth Harmon explained our ongoing work at the Archives to capture as many women in science at the Smithsonian as possible, both historic and contemporary, and some of the challenges in conducting this research.

As an intern at the Archives, I have been identifying additional women and collecting information about them. One of the most fascinating leads thus far has been the women of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). It turns out that some of the earliest women employed in science at the Smithsonian were early-twentieth-century “computers,” who did the computations that were vital to analyzing weather and solar data collected by SAO.

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One of the biggest challenges in my research so far has been navigating the Smithsonian Annual Reports. Early-twentieth-century annual reports only listed the staff of SAO with their first initials and last names, which makes it difficult to accurately identify and find out more about these women. Though, generally, women were easily discoverable, because they were denoted with either the title “Miss” or “Mrs.”

Working from compiled staff lists from SAO, I could comb Smithsonian Annual Reports for any mention of these names (a process much simplified thanks to the digitized copies available at the Biodiversity Heritage Library). The Ancestry Library Edition also proved valuable, making it possible to find out more from civil service, census, and marriage records. With these resources, I found leads on many of the computers, often including their full names!

The next step was a search through the Smithsonian’s collections. With full names to search, publications, personnel records, and even photos of some of the earliest women working in science at the Smithsonian were discoverable! 

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Gladys T. Bond was one of the computers with a long career at SAO. She worked her way up from Assistant Computer to Senior Physical Science Aid over a career of more than thirty years. In a 1929 letter, Smithsonian Secretary Charles G. Abbot, previous SAO director, wrote that he was regretful to receive Bond’s resignation as she had “so much experience, enthusiasm, and recollection regarding the work of the Obersevatory.” Bond resigned to spend time with her husband, who was working in the Panama Canal Zone for the U.S. Government, but she did not stay away for long. Abbot offered her another position at SAO only a few months later, and she accepted. 

Nancy McCandlish Prichard worked as a Special Assistant to the Meterologist at SAO for three years before joining the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, where she was stationed in Cairo, Egypt. The lead for this interesting information came from Prichard’s marriage record that listed her as being married in Cairo, which was confirmed in Smithsonian Annual Reports as well as her Washington Post obituary.

Lena Hill, who started at SAO in 1931 and eventually became a research associate, was another computer with a long tenure. At the age of seventy-eight, Hill was working as secretary to Abbot and was described in a Smithsonain Torch article as “at least as spry as her boss,” who was still conducting scientific work at ninety-five. In 1969, Hill and Abbot published “A Long-Range Forecast of Temperature for 19 United States Cities,” the conclusion of an investigation that was ordered by Smithsonian Secretary Samuel P. Langley in 1905.

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While I hit a few dead ends in my research, I was able to fully identify and research many of the earliest women at SAO.

Related Resources 

• “Smithsonian Women in Science,”  by Elizabeth Harmon, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• “The Women Who Mapped the Universe and Still Couldn’t Get Any Respect,” by Natasha Geiling,  Smithsonian Magazine

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In 1967, the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, later renamed the Anacostia Community Museum, was founded by the Smithsonian as an “experimental storefront museum” and located in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Secretary S. Dillon Ripley and other leaders initially hoped the new space would serve as a way to reexamine African American audiences and encourage local communities to visit Smithsonian museums on the National Mall.

But from the start, the Anacostia Community Museum’s first director, John Kinard, recognized the museum as a space, most importantly, for and by the communities of Anacostia. “The focus is on the problems, aspirations, hopes, fears, difficulties, and dreams of its constituents,” Kinard wrote in 1971. “As the museum increases its understanding and awareness of its function and purpose, the community also begins to discover its identity through the museum and to take pride in that identity.”

And Kinard’s objectives were quickly recognized in the museum’s early groundbreaking exhibits and education initiatives.

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Not long after its opening, the Anacostia Community Museum began offering programs related to Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration to honor African heritage in African American culture. Director of Education Zora Martin Felton conducted Kwanzaa workshops for teachers, high school students, girl scouts, and young children. Her records in our collections are littered with positive evaluations from teachers explaining how they would bring the traditions to their classrooms.

In fact, these programs were so popular that even though the museum was closed for the 1980 holiday season, education staff remained available to teach Kwanzaa workshops for school and community groups.

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Agenda for a Kwanzaa workshop, conducted by Zora Martin Felton on December 12, 1987. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 390, Box 16.

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A handout used in the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum’s Kwanzaa workshops in 1987. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 390, Box 16.

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A handout used in the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum’s Kwanzaa workshops in 1987. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 390, Box 16.

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A Kwanzaa Poem, written by Schroeder Cherry, used at the museum’s Kwanzaa workshops in 1987. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 390, Box 16.

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Pre-Kwanzaa Activities at the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, December 14-18, 1987. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 390, Box 16.

But just because the workshops were successful did not mean that all leaders at the Smithsonian approved. In 1974, a member of Smithsonian’s Board of Regents accused the museum of attacking Christmas by celebrating Kwanzaa. Secretary Ripley, however, quickly defended the Anacostia Community Museum’s programming. He wrote, “One of the primary goals of the museum has always been to develop those exhibits and programs that speak to the needs, aspirations, and interests of the people who live in this community.”

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Ripley intervenes to defend Kinard against a skeptical Regent. Smithsonian Institutional Archives, RU349, Box 1, General Correspondence 1974.

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Ripley intervenes to defend Kinard against a skeptical Regent. Smithsonian Institutional Archives, RU349, Box 1, General Correspondence 1974.

Each December, the Anacostia Community Museum continues to be a space where Washingtonians gather to celebrate Kwanzaa. In 2008, the celebration was included in the museum’s exhibit Jubilee: African American Celebration.

Related Resources

• DC Living Heritage Network (DCLHN), Zora Martin Felton Keynote, June 2017, HumanitiesDC YouTube
• John Kinard webpage, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• “Intermediaries between the Museum and the Community,” by John Kinard, 1971 
• "Building a Community-Based Identity at Anacostia Museum,” by Portia James, The Museum Journal, 1996

An audio preservation engineer recounts a typical day at the Northeast Document Conservation Center, including sticking tapes in the oven. [via NEDCC]

The Library of Congress has released its first-ever LGBTQ+ digital collections! [via Meg Metcalf] 

DCist highlights NMAAHC’s new exhibit of black film posters. [via DCist] 

The Massachusetts Historical Society has launched a digital exhibit on the suffrage movement (and anti-suffrage anti-movement). [via Allison K. Lange]

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has returned some brilliant new findings on the sun. [via National Air and Space Museum]

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Machine learning helps solve the mystery of who wrote Henry VIII! [via the Guardian]

The skull of a mean, long-dead zebra helps Smithsonian researchers uncover the history of domestication. [via Smithsonian]

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Collecting isn’t easy, especially when the desired specimens are slippery, scaly, and wriggling fish. Turn back the clock 150 years and the task becomes even more difficult as less and less is known about some of the most common and studied species today. Such was the challenge that faced early directors of the U.S. National Museum (USNM). Spencer F. Baird and his successor, George Brown Goode, solicited donations, visited fish markets, and even caught a few specimens to fill cabinets in the Arts and Industries Building.

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Baird and Goode also relied on an extensive network of contacts to acquire fish for study and display. They met hundreds of academics, fishermen, passionate amateurs, and salesmen through their participation in the U.S. Fish Commission. In addition to serving as the USNM’s first director—and soon after, second Secretary of the Smithsonian—Baird acted as the first Commissioner of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. The Commission’s goals, which were largely economic, dovetailed with the Smithsonian’s academic mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. By investigating “whether any and what diminution in the number of the food-fishes of the coast and the lakes of the United States has taken place,” Baird researched the diverse ecosystems of North American fish and shared his findings in Smithsonian publications and exhibits. When he chose Goode as his assistant in 1872, the young ichthyologist entered, and expanded, his mentor’s network while also contributing new scholarship and fishes to the Smithsonian’s collections.

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A brief examination of some letters between Baird, Goode, and their contacts illustrates the often informal—and sometimes precarious—nature of collecting fish for research and exhibit. In July 1880, a W. N. Lockington from San Francisco promised to “procure any rare fish I may find in the [local] markets.” He asked Baird and Goode to forward him “rather a big” list of Smithsonian publications in return for his services. The Smithsonian sent free copies of its publications to anyone who solicited them, but Baird and Goode readily offered the documents to individuals who helped gather information or specimens for the Commission and USNM.

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Not all requests were honored, however. Throughout the 1870s and 80s, Goode remained in regular contact with Fred Mather, a naturalist-turned-profiteer who owned and operated a fishpond in Buffalo, New York. Periodically he mailed fish to the Smithsonian, often “alive in a small box of wet moss by Express.” He enjoyed supporting the scholarship conducted by the Smithsonian, but, as he explained to Goode in 1874, “most of my time has to be devoted to procuring the requisite amount of ‘hash’ to sustain nature.” The hash in question was money, and Mather made his by selling fish raised in his ponds and tickets to self-curated exhibits at shows and fairs. Once, he asked Goode for a skate fish to pass off as “a mermaid…at the Poultry Show at Buffalo.” He implored Goode that he “need[ed] a ‘mermaid’ to astonish the natives” and increase admissions; the spiny skate fish was strange enough to wow onlookers. Mather planned to plead ignorance of the creature’s origins, and “call it Japanese or something else” to exoticize (and sell) the display. While there is no evidence to the contrary, it is doubtful that Goode sent Mather the ‘mermaid’ he desired. Afterall, the second director of the USNM sought to foster the Smithsonian’s reputation as a public repository for accurate and trusted information. Nonetheless, doing business with hucksters was not beneath Goode or Baird (within limits), especially if the specimens they procured could assist in the increase and diffusion of knowledge.

Related Collections

• Spencer F. Baird, Report on the Condition of the Sea Fisheries of the South Coast of New England in 1871 and 1872, Part 1 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1873). Available via the Biodiversity Heritage Library:
• George Brown Goode Papers, Record Unit 7050, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Spencer F. Baird Papers, Record Unit 7002, Smithsonian Institution Archives

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A year ago, the Smithsonian launched its Institution-wide American Women's History Initiative (AWHI). The initiative calls attention to extensive and impressive amounts of research, work, documents, and stories by and about American women. Women have been placed on the back burner for ages, but now the Smithsonian is ensuring that a diversity of women’s stories is being widely told. Don't get it twisted, though. Just because AWHI is an initiative, does not mean it is a temporary affair. The intent is to raise awareness of women's past, present, and future for years to come.

During my fall semester internship with Smithsonian historian Pamela M. Henson, I primarily focused on launching a collection of oral history webpages dedicated to women of the Smithsonian to support the Initiative. Before my time with the Archives, I had little experience with oral histories. Initially, I understood them as akin to journalistic interviews. I quickly learned that oral histories are far more in-depth and carefully researched. They also emphasize personal memories and reminiscences spanning a person’s life as opposed to highly-focused questions on a specific event or time. 

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I became familiar with interviews from Olga H. Hirshhorn, Margaret B. Klapthor, Mary E. Rice, Liza Kirwin, Anna K. "Kay" Behrensmeyer, Lorena "Rena" Selim, Kara Blond, and Sally Love Connell—to name a few. For some of these women, I pieced together webpage outlines to highlight each individual and her accomplishments. The webpages will feature audio clips from the interviews paired with the most exciting quotes, a biography of their lives and careers at the Smithsonian, and a slideshow of archival photos. Each oral history truly captures individual personalities. The interviews are filled with revealing anecdotes from each woman's life and her career at the Smithsonian. I encourage you to take the time to learn more about these wonderful women and others.

As a "woman for the world" from Smith College, shedding light on women who were overshadowed in the past is something I am passionate about. Working in support of the American Women's History Initiative has been fulfilling, knowing that I've helped these women gain the acknowledgment they deserve.           

Outside of the work for AWHI, I have spent time learning about other facets of the Archives. I completed audit checks for transcripts and composed a finding aid for an oral history collection. I took a deep dive into planning records, memorabilia, and annual reports from the Smithsonian's 150th Anniversary in 1996, which taught me that sometimes archival research results in a wild goose chase. I drafted summaries and accompanying term lists to prepare an oral history collection for transcription. And the tail end of my internship was spent searching for updated pop culture references to the Smithsonian. There's more content out there than just the second installment of Night at the Museum, folks.

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The past three months opened my eyes to the endless possibilities of working in the Archives. In a place filled to the brim with a multitude of complexities and quirky personalities, there are always stories to be told at the Smithsonian.

Related Resources 

• The Smithsonian in Pop Culture, Smithsonian Institution Archives.
• “Uncovering Hidden Stories,” Because of Her Story, Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.

Related Collections

• Oral history interviews with Olga C. Hirshhorn, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9566.

It’s like a dating app only better, because it matches you with books. It’s NPR’s 2019 Book Concierge! [via NPR Books]

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The Library of Congress announced its newest twenty-five additions to the National Film Registry, and, in case you didn’t already know, women rule. [via Carla Hayden] 

The New York Timeseavesdropped on visitors exploring the expanded, new MoMa. The comments will make you laugh and give you the warm and fuzzies. Oh, and it’s illustrated! [via New York Times]

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The singular nonbinary pronoun “they” is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year. [via Hyperallergic]

While cleaning ivy on a wall at the Ricci Oddi art gallery, a gardener may have stumbled upon a stolen Gustav Klimt portrait, hidden in the wall. [via Artsy]

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The people have spoken—meet Quilliam. [via Smithsonian]

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We receive a lot of inquiries at the Archives; more than 7,000 during the past calendar year.  Commonly posed questions we can answer “off the cuff” and questions forwarded to another Smithsonian unit are often not “logged” in our annual statistics.  Thus, the 7,000 number is not necessarily comprehensive.  Five reference archivists address the majority of the inquiries, which may involve up to an hour of research, although we regularly exceed this policy. And, frankly, we become curious as well, and are dogged in unearthing an answer or solution to the matter at hand.  Furthermore, we strive to offer a reply of some measure within five business days, which may seem like an eternity in today’s digital age.  We are constantly refining our processes, enhancing our digital assets and web presence, and streamlining policies and procedures that have become archaic and undesirable (who wants a photocopy when a PDF sent via email has become the standard, for the time being….)

It should be noted that the Smithsonian Institution Archives is merely one unit under the Smithsonian umbrella.  Many of the museums have their own internal archives devoted to the collection scope and holdings of the respective museum.  While the size of the Smithsonian may appear intimidating, our staff is welcoming, encouraging, knowledgeable, and well-prepared to investigate whatever your curiosity may be. 

Perhaps the most direct way to contact us is to send us an email at OSIAREF@si.edu, or via our web form.  Below are a few tips for posing an inquiry.

• Introduce yourself; provide your name, and the preferred method through which we may offer a reply.
• Bear in mind the five W’s + H (who, what, where, when, why and how) and provide us with as much information you have in this regard.

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• Try to complete some preliminary research using the resources at your disposal. The Smithsonian has several web-based search engines, including the Collections Search Center, which searches across the Smithsonian’s libraries, archives, art inventories, and research units.  This search engine offers several ways to refine your initial search on the left side of the page. Note the information included in the “Data Source” field, as this highlights the Smithsonian unit that holds the particular item.
• The holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) are included in a keyword search in the aforementioned Collections Search Center. You may, however, search just the holdings of SIA using the magnifying glass in the top right corner of our home page (the words “About, “Blog,” “Press,” and “Donate” appear to the left of the magnifying glass.  Click on the symbol to reveal a clean search space.) A search of the SIA website will include digital assets and pertinent finding aids (more on this in a bit) if we hold materials related to your search term.  Similar to the Collections Search Center, you may refine a search of the SIA website using the options that appear on the left side of the page once a keyword search has been conducted.

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• When conducting a keyword search, whether of a Smithsonian website, or your preferred web browser, I suggest placing your keyword search in quotation marks (example, “Joseph Henry”) as doing so will refine the search.
• A finding aid is essentially an index to a collection, often including a collection overview, a historical note and/or descriptive entry, and physical characteristics of the collection, followed by a box and folder list for the collection. The box and folder lists are the primary indexes and detail the contents of the collection.
• The contents of the folder, in most instances, have not been digitized and therefore cannot be viewed online.  We have begun to digitize folder contents for some collections; if you see a PDF or page symbol to the left of or below the folder name/number, you are in luck!  Click on the symbol to view the contents of the folder.
• Our finding aids are individually keyword searchable. Simply hold the “Ctrl” and “F” keys on your keyboard.  Doing so will create a keyword search space limited to the respective finding aid.  Enter your keyword(s) of choice and review the results.  This is much more efficient than reviewing the entire finding aid line-by-line.
• It is always better to include more information in your inquiry than less. Explaining why you are contacting us, and in particular, what you may have read or saw online that led you to contact us, can enhance our ability to address your request. We welcome receiving hyperlinks to materials of interest.  If you see something on a Smithsonian website and are seeking further information, copy the link and include in in your request.  This enables us to see what drew your attention, and the links often include clues that perhaps may only be relevant to Smithsonian staff.  Furthermore, more detail may enable us to refer you to additional resources that may be of interest.
• Be fearless. We enjoy the challenge of unraveling a mystery and take pride in offering a positive reply.  If we cannot address your request, we strive to offer a pathway through which an answer may be obtained, whether through another Smithsonian unit or elsewhere.

Some of the above suggestions apply specifically to Smithsonian collections and/or contacting the Smithsonian.  Some of the tips are intended to be universal.  Communication is often the curiosity key which unlocks the vault of knowledge, and a well-crafted, thoughtful question may unearth resources beyond expectation. 

Related Resources

• Smithsonian Collections Search Center
• What We Do: Reference, Smithsonian Institution Archives

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