The Archives is made up of wonderful, helpful, and hard-working individuals who strive to acquire, preserve, and make accessible records that document the history of the Smithsonian Institution. Some of our staff have been at the Smithsonian for more than thirty years, while others are just beginning their tenure here. There will be some changes in the office as we welcome new staff members coming on board this summer who bring their expertise and new ideas to the Archives. 

Continuing our series on introducing new staff, I’d like to welcome our Digital Curator with the American Women's History Initiative, Dr. Liz Harmon.

What's your educational background?
I have a Ph.D. and M.A. in American studies from the University of Michigan. I focused my research at Michigan on the history of philanthropy. Before attending Michigan and spending time working in philanthropy and technology, I completed my B.A. in American Studies and Spanish at Kenyon College. 

What do you do at the Smithsonian Institution Archives?
I'm the American Women's History Initiative Curator at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, which means that I research and produce digital resources and exhibitions about women working in science at the Smithsonian. It's incredibly interesting and important work, and I'm excited to be a part of this project!

What is the strangest/most interesting thing you have discovered at the Archives so far?
As I begin my work as an AWHI Curator and I spend time in the Archives, I have the opportunity to work with millions of digital records across the Smithsonian. The most interesting challenge I am confronted with in the Archives right now is how to find and share all of the incredible stories about Smithsonian women working in science contained in our records. It’s a big job! Fortunately, I have data scientists, archivists, librarians, digital specialists, and researchers to help me uncover this part of our historical record. 

What is the most unexpected thing you’ve learned about working here?
The Smithsonian is a global research organization with natural and cultural heritage programs in 140 countries worldwide. The number of people the Smithsonian can reach with these programs is remarkable, especially as we develop new digital approaches.

Favorite spot in DC to recommend to visitors? 
I like to take visitors to the National Portrait Gallery. In particular, I love to share the presidential portraits.

If you’re in Austin this weekend for the Society of American Archivists annual meeting, you can take a break from the conference hall for a conversation on archives and racial justice. [via Jarrett M. Drake] 

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (and the public) will be beneficiaries of the sale of Ebony and Jet Magazines’ photo archives! [via Hyperallergic]

Since its launch last year, the Library of Congress’s By the People crowdsourcing project has been continuously uploading newly digitized collections for transcription! [via Smithsonian]

A turtle librarian is interviewed. [via School Library Journal]

The Library of Congress has digitized one of the oldest extant Buddhist manuscripts, a 2,000-year-old scroll from ancient Gandhara! [via infoDOCKET]

A summer-long exhibit at American University highlights three black communities in Montgomery County, Maryland. [via WAMU]

Watch an interview with National Air and Space Museum conservator Lisa Young about the recent restoration of Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit. [via Gizmodo]

Women have been foundational to the creation, management, and upkeep of the Smithsonian since its inception. However, this was seldom visible to the public, as women were rarely hired for upper level positions. When women were hired, they were paid markedly less than their male peers. This was true throughout all echelons of the Smithsonian; from museum curator to the Board of Regents, there was a lack of gender diversity.

Beginning in the 1970s, however, things began to change. In 1977, Lindy Boggs, a senator from Louisiana, became the first woman elected to the Board of Regents. Alongside this historic moment, women throughout the Smithsonian Institution were breaking glass ceilings. They refused to be paid less, and so were passed up for deserved promotions. This summer, as an intern at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, I had the pleasure of processing the collection of one woman who dared to demand change.

Joanna Cohan Scherer worked for the Smithsonian Institution beginning in 1966. She started as a museum technician and, in 1970, transitioned to illustration research for the twenty-volume Handbook of North American Indians in the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology Archives (currently the National Anthropological Archives). During Scherer’s time in the department, she faced numerous instances of gender discrimination. By 1974, the Department of Anthropology had never hired a woman curator, despite the fact that there were thousands of professionally-trained female anthropologists in the discipline. Determined to change the system, Scherer filed a class action and sex discrimination suit against the Department of Anthropology. The complaint was settled in her favor on March 12, 1975.

This was a victory in two tangible ways. Firstly, Scherer received a long overdue promotion and her employment title was changed from Museum Specialist to Anthropologist. Secondly, Adrienne Kaeppler—the first woman hired as a curator of anthropology—was brought on board later that year. 

Perhaps most importantly, however, the case sent a message throughout the Smithsonian: gender discrimination in hiring was quickly becoming unacceptable.

However, Scherer’s work was not done. In 1975, she filed a reprisal complaint, claiming that after her victory in the sex discrimination suit, the Handbookof North American Indians management had retaliated against her. As her records reveal, various supervisors harassed her, unfairly critiqued her work, and passed her up for other deserved promotions. The case (Scherer v. Ripley, CA 77-1856) was heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, On February 11, 1982, the court ruled in her favor. 

Joanna Cohan Scherer’s trailblazing changed the lives of female anthropologists both within and outside of the Smithsonian. She is one of many women throughout the Smithsonian’s history who helped pave the way for equal employment. It is vital to remember histories like Scherer’s and their vital role in making the Smithsonian what it is today.

Related Collections

• Smithsonian Institution Women's Council, Council Records, 1980-1996, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 18-269
• Joanna Cohan Scherer Papers, 1960-2014, Accession 19-190,

The Smithsonian’s 173^rd anniversary is almost here and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 113^th anniversary has just passed, so when could be a better time to learn a little bit more about Harriet Lane Johnston? Unless you’re an American history buff, you may not recognize the former First Lady’s name. But, Johnston was integral to the foundation of the Smithsonian American Art Museum—though she never saw it come to fruition. 

The Smithsonian Institution was established in 1846, after James Smithson willed his fortune to the United States to create an institution for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.” This legally included a national gallery of art, however, fine art was not the main focus in the organization’s early history. While the Smithsonian initially had a small art collection, much of it was lost in the Castle Fire of 1865. The remnants of the disaster were transferred to the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Library of Congress, thus no distinct national gallery was in existence. This would all change thanks to Harriet Lane Johnston’s will. 

Johnston, born in 1830, was the niece of President James Buchanan. Her parents died when she was young, so Johnston was taken in as a ward of her uncle. When he was elected the first and only bachelor President, Johnston served as the First Lady. Though she was very young, Johnston was very sociable and established a strong relationship with Queen Victoria, who called her “dear Miss Lane,” and the royal family that continued until her death. After her tenure as the First Lady, Johnston married Henry Elliot Johnston. Tragically, both of her sons died very young, and, after eighteen years of marriage, she lost her husband. Despite her misfortune, Johnston traveled to Europe and Egypt extensively in her later years, adding to the art collection that she began with her husband. Her collection was small, but select, containing thirty-four objects that included paintings, sculptures, and historic memorabilia. When determining who she should leave this collection to, she settled on the Corcoran Gallery of Art, with the critical stipulation that should a United States national gallery of art be established, her collection should go there, instead. 

This stipulation reignited the Smithsonian’s interest in art when Johnston passed away in 1903 and the question of whether its collection constituted a national gallery became relevant. This would be settled when the attorney general brought forth a friendly suit to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, where the Smithsonian’s role in American art was affirmed on July 18, 1906. 

The National Gallery of Art, now known as the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), was officially established and continued to grow its collection. Due to her role in the museum’s founding, Johnston was given the nickname “First Lady of the National Collection of Fine Arts”—another previous name of SAAM—by some Smithsonian employees, including Thomas M. Beggs, a former director of the museum. Thanks to her vision of a central national art gallery for the United States, Harriet Lane Johnston ensured the establishment of SAAM.

Related Collections

• 1954 Smithsonian Annual Report, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 98-159, Smithsonian Institution Annual Reports and United States National Museum Annual Reports, 1866-1996

Related Resources

• Early Patrons, Museum History, Smithsonian American Art Museum
• Harriet Lane as First Lady, interactive exhibit, Smithsonian National Museum of American History 
• Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Institution Archives

As a tribute to Toni Morrison, archivist Allison Hughes shares some highlights from her time processing the author’s papers at the Princeton University Library. [via Allison Hughes]

The Science History Institute recounts how a debate about milk in tea (and tea in milk) revolutionized experimental design. [via Science History Institute]

The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. has digitized two collections of D.C. street photography! [via Emily Niekrasz]

If you can't get enough of small appliances, the Hagley Library has digitized the professional papers of a 20^th-century industrial designer. [via Hagley Library]

A web app to speed up your scholarly reading is now in beta! [via the Scholarly Kitchen]

A climate change initiative at the National Museum of Natural History is soliciting ginkgo leaves from the public. [via Smithsonian]

Paleontologists recently identified fossilized bird bones as Heracles inexpectus, or Squawkzilla, a giant parrot. [via NPR]

Why would a fashion video appear on an environmental blog? That’s the question I found myself asking while performing web quality assurance (aka web QA) on the blog for the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), which has more to do with fish than it does with fashion.

As an intern in the Digital Services Division at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, my work in web preservation often involves reviewing crawls (digital captures of a website), using the Wayback QA tool, and running patch crawls (retrieving uncaptured documents). While reviewing the crawl of the SERC blog, a video on river herring conservation is supposed to appear under the article “eDNA emerges as powerful tool for tracking threatened river herring in Chesapeake Bay.” However, in its place is an eighteen-minute video from the Fashion HD Channel. Where did it come from? Where is the original video?

By consulting the list of videos captured in the Archive-It Wayback QA, I found that the video on river herring conservation was not archived. After patching the site and returning to review it once more, the video was finally listed. This means that it is now on the archived blog, even though it is still covered up by the fashion video. Sadly, it is still not visible on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. I suppose the location from where the Fashion HD Channel is being pulled will have to remain a mystery for now.

Embedded videos from YouTube are difficult to crawl. If particular rules on the Archive-It software are not set in place, it is very easy to capture endless content that is not related to the Smithsonian. On the other hand, occasionally we need to capture more, which is why quality assurance must be done. 

Before my internship I was unaware of this troublesome part of the job and just how frustrating it can be. However, now I understand that because the Internet supplies an infinite amount of information and entertainment, web preservation will continue to combat the invasion of unrelated content.

Related Resources

• Searching and Using Web Archives, The Bigger Picture blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Smithsonian Now Using Archive-It to Crawl Websites, The Bigger Picture blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Web and Social Media Preservation: Capturing Today’s Websites for Future Archival Research, The Bigger Picture blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives

The Archives is made up of wonderful, helpful, and hard-working individuals who strive to acquire, preserve, and make accessible records that document the history of the Smithsonian Institution. Some of our staff have been at the Smithsonian for 30 plus years, while others are just beginning their tenure here. There will be some changes in the office as we welcome new staff members coming on board this summer who bring their expertise and new ideas to the Archives. 

Continuing our series on introducing new staff, I’d like to welcome our new Digital Imaging Technician, Jessica Scott.

What's your educational background? 

I have a BS in Imaging and Photographic Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, and I earned my Master of Science in Information from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!), with concentrations in Archives & Records Management and Preservation of Information.

What do you do at the Smithsonian Institution Archives? 

I am a Digital Imaging Technician. My primary focus is responding to requests for digitization of materials in the Archives' collection by Archives staff or external researchers. I also dedicate much of my time to working on longer term digitization efforts such as the Field Book Project and Record Unit 158: United States National Museum Curators Annual Reports.

What is the strangest/most interesting thing you have discovered at the Archives so far?

I have been working on field books about ornithology, and I must admit I do have a number of questions about some of the terms the creators used to describe birds. For example, I'd really like to know what an 'alcoholic' bird is? 

What is the most unexpected thing you're learned about working here? 

The sheer scope and breadth of disciplines that are covered by Smithsonian staff over the centuries. Everything from botany, meteorology, astronomy, art...almost any subject you can think of is likely represented in our collections. It's breathtaking! 

Favorite spot in DC to recommend to visitors? 

Some of my favorite sights include the World War II Memorial on the National Mall and the National Portrait Gallery. One place people may not have heard of but I definitely recommend is Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens. It is off the beaten path, but well worth the visit. It was the DC home of heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, and now serves as a museum specializing in 18th century French decorative arts and Russian imperial art, as well as Post's personal collection of jewelry and accessories. I would recommend going in the spring when the gardens are in full bloom.   

The New York Times reviews the Phillips Collection’s “The Warmth of Other Suns,” an exhibition of art related to refugees. [via the New York Times] 

A newly discovered resident of Washington, DC totally sucks! [via National Museum of Natural History]

In anticipation of a (possible) panda pregnancy at the National Zoo, Smithsonian Magazine shares a list of giant panda facts. [via Smithsonian]

Volunteers with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute discovered a “critically imperiled” orchid in Virginia! [via DCist]

Economist Tim Harford recounts the momentous story of the United Kingdom’s penny postage stamp. [via BBC History Magazine]

A hundred-year-old tree in Harvard Forest has begun tweeting about climate change! [via Harvard OEB]

The Atlantic reports on a newly-detected phony volcano. [via National Museum of Natural History]

This summer, some of our staff packed their bags and headed to the 2019 Joint Annual Meeting of the Council of State Archivists (CoSA) and Society of American Archivists (SAA) in Austin, Texas. This year’s theme was “Transformative!” Presenters and attendees explored power dynamics, transparency, preserving the histories of marginalized communities, and more!

The crew returned energized about everything they learn at the conference. Below, read what Ricc Ferrante, Marguerite Roby, Heidi Stover, and Mitch Toda had to say about their experiences in Texas!

What was the most useful thing you learned that can be applied to your job?

Marguerite: The “Let’s Get Visual: Transformative New Strategies for Implementing Standardized Rights Statements” session was both my favorite and the most useful to me for thinking about how to refine our rights application and review process. Included were several decision trees from different institutions that we will be able to adapt to our own needs in an effort to improve how we communicate both internally and externally about the rights status of our materials and to clarify how our digitized material can be used.

Mitch: The most useful session I attended was "Let's Get Visual: Transformative New Strategies for Implementing Standardized Rights Statements." The session had speakers from universities present on their work/process of creating standardized rights statements for the materials in their collections. The visual tools ranged from spreadsheet based to flowchart styles. As the Smithsonian works towards providing open access to some of its collections, it will be increasingly important not only for our Archives, but other units and museums across the Smithsonian to provide clear and understandable rights information for the materials that we make available to the public. 

Ricc: There was an all day workshop and an additional session on software preservation and emulation that I found extremely promising and quite possibly transformative to how archivists approach the challenge of preserving and providing access to born digital records. The emulation preservation strategy has long been an intimidating prospect because of the difficulty in budgeting for unscheduled access needs years in the future and the potential cost of building an emulation environment a decade or more after the components became extinct. It has been much more manageable to use a strategy of format migration or the bare minimum of bit level preservation. However, the unfortunate reality is that the volume of important digital history archives are taking in is pushing the limits of our available resources. The Emulation as a Service Initiative and the Software Preservation Network efforts currently underway are quite likely to transform how quickly we, large and small archives, can make decades old records accessible and extend the window before interventions like file format migration become absolutely necessary. This is truly an exciting development in digital preservation.

What was the most interesting presentation you attended?

Marguerite: One of the most interesting sessions I attended was “What’s New: Copyright Legislation, Case Law, and Community Practice” because it is always helpful and fascinating to hear from experts about the intricacies of copyright law and how it applies to cultural heritage institutions. 

Heidi: 601 - Rarely Pure and Never Simple: Archivists, Journalists, and the Search for Truth. This presentation was fascinating and honestly changed my mind about how to work with journalist/the media.  Yes, I want to put them in the regular queue for answering their questions, but as one of the presenters pointed out, they are working on insane deadlines. As archivists, we try our best to provide access to materials in timely manner, but the struggle of a “rush” order is very difficult sometimes.  Issues like this really push for increased digitization and public access. Another aspect of this presentation was that archivists can assist in “finding the truth”.  Whatever that may be?

Mitch: The most interesting presentation I attended was called "Beyond Neutrality: Righting Wrongs and Striving Toward Representation" which featured archivists who are actively working to make their collections and practices more diverse. The best example was from Western Carolina University which featured a filing cabinet with a collection that no one in the archives wanted to address, but which contained a historically rich and important collection of a Black Oral History Project conducted by the university.  The Special and Digital Collections Librarian took it upon herself to make the collection known and available by tracking down signed releases and other documentation that would allow the collection to be open and accessible.

Ricc: There was a panel session called “Demystifying the Digital: Providing User Access to Born-Digital Records in Varying Contexts” where three institutions talked about their approaches to this challenge. North Carolina State University Libraries, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Wisconsin Historical Society each presented different aspects of how they were making it possible for researchers to use their archives’ records. NCSU’s use of Named Entity Recognition technology to make the digital content easier to dig into is definitely one that I want to follow-up on. The one I found most intriguing was a presentation by Canadian Centre for Architecture’s Stefana Breitweiser (former SI Archives intern) on how they had updated their finding aids with links to born digital content. With the unique formats many digital archives have to address, finding a meaningful way to make their digital original records discoverable within the finding aid has been a struggle for many of use. I think we’ve go a lot to learn from CCA’s approach. 

What is a topic you'd like to see on next year's schedule?

Ricc: We absolutely need to hear about the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Software Preservation report and other work along these lines. I think it is essential that the archival profession, no, the cultural heritage professions, take a good hard look at the legal issues surrounding software preservation and access. How do the legal concepts of fair use and copyright apply? Should archivists preserve software and the files created differently, such as the Wordstar application versus digital correspondence in the Wordstar document format? There has been important progress made to clarify the issues and create tools to help our professions work through these questions over the past two years.

Mitch: While digitization of collections to make them more accessible is a great thing, it would be of importance to see studies or data about how the usage of digitized collections has increased the use of those collections that were not already highly used to begin with and to what extent digitized collections helped contributed to journal articles and other research. The cost in terms of equipment, storage, software, infrastructure, and staff to digitize and make collections available online is substantial and it would be great to see more hard numbers as to the research impact digitized collections have.

Related Resources

• "Highlights from the 2018 Society of American Archivists Conference," by Kira M. Sobers, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• "Where Are Archives Going? Impressions from SAA 2012," by Ricc Ferrante, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives

Pupper, doggy, hound, bowwow, beastie, pooch. No matter what we call dogs, they have always been man’s best friend.  In honor of writing a second blog for National Dog Day, let’s take a look at the pooches that pop up around the Smithsonian Institution.

PreviousPauseNext

1 of 23

'Pet Wash Laundry - 10 cents a pound!' - Los Angeles has a dog and cat laundry where they scrub 'em in a tub and hang 'em up to dry. Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Photograph of Lee Simmons and her dog, Lady, Photograph by: Hughey J. Battelle, 2013.46.25.235. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Secretary Samuel P. Langley with family and friends in front of an unidentified house. Secretary Langley was the third Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1887-1906). Langley is seen here with six men and women and two dogs in front the house. Smithsonian Institution Archives. Image # 82-3194.

Photograph of Billie Holiday and her dog Mister ca. 1948, Photograph by: David Hawkins, 2013.46.25.89. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Portrait of Willie Sartin, 1970, Photograph by: Martha Olson, 2018.21.100. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Martha Olson, Photograph by Martha Oldon, born Oakridge, Tennessee 1947, © Martha Olson

'Pet Wash Laundry - 10 cents a pound!' - Los Angeles has a dog and cat laundry where they scrub 'em in a tub and hang 'em up to dry. Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Iditarod 2013 patch, 2013.3036.04. Division of Cultural and Community Life, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

2001 Iditarod poster, 2014.0116.24. Division of Cultural and Community Life, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Jacket worn by Lance Mackey during his career as a sled dog musher, 2012.0241.01. Division of Cultural and Community Life, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Theodore Roosevelt with unidentified group of men in field with dogs. Smithsonian Institution Archives. Image # MAH-49700.

Rhodesian Ridgeback at the Salisbury Dog Show, Harare, Zimbabwe, Photograph by Constance Stuart Larrabee, March 1975, EEPA 1998-065621. Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution

Girl and Dog, 1942-43, by Milton Avery, Acc. No. 66.125. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

One-half left front view of Fairchild Model 24 on the ground; Marian F. Florsheim poses standing beside the nose of the aircraft with an Afghan Hound. Hans Groenhoff Photographic Collection, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM HGC-838-B)

“A thrice-told tale”, Two girls and their dog on a Hawaiian beach, undated - from NAA.MS4558, NAA INV 01104500, Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche papers, 1873-1939

Evening Walk, Ghost Ranch (47 of 48)Georgia O’Keeffe, John Loengard National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquired through the generosity of Pat and John Rosenwald © John Loengard

Barbara Bush (with Millie), Diana Walker, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Diana Walker, NPG.2011.50

Glenn Curtiss seated at the controls of an early Curtiss pusher biplane, with a dog in his lap. Three-quarter left front view from slightly low angle. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM 85-18299)

Side view of Shakir Jerwan and his dog Monoplane in the cockpit of an airplane. "The first dog to fly" is written on the back of the photograph. July 31, 1912. Monoplane is smoking a cigar. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM 93-14656)

Woman in Raspberry Costume Holding a Dog, 1901, by Mary Cassatt, Acc. No. 72.60. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Left side view of tail of the Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" (r/n N-X-211); a dog peers at the camera at the left of the frame; circa 1927. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM USAF-118023AC)

From Torch Article: "Walter Page's partner is a 96-pound German shepherd named King. Page and King make up one of 10 K-9 teams patrolling Smithsonian buildings and grounds in Washington. After six years as a guard at the National Portrait Gallery, Page moved to the K-9 force in 1975. His partner, King, the largest dog on the SI force, was donated to the Smithsonian's Office of Protection Services by the Metropolitan Police Department." Smithsonian Institution Archives. Image # 78-7630-29.

Caption from Torch: "Shown here at graduation ceremonies held September 24 for the Smithsonian's K-9 Corps Class No. 2 are (front to back) John Krob with his dog Heinz, Harold Jamerson with Willie, David Miller with Lobo, and Dee Proctor with Sabath. Watching the dogs put through their paces are Jay Chambers, chief, Protection Division; Julian Euell, assistant secretary for public service; Charles Blitzer, assistant secretary for history and art; and Richard Ault, director of support activities. The graduation ceremony held at the Metropolitan Police Training Academy, included a field demonstration by the graduating class and the presentation of Certificates of Appreciation to the donors of the dogs." Smithsonian Institution Archives. Image # 76-14922-24A.

Avington Stover (author's pupper), in her native habitat, yelling "HAPPY NATIONAL DOG DAY, HOOMANS". Image courtesy of author.

Related Resources

• "Gone But Not Forgotten: Former Animals at the National Zoo," The Bigger Picture
• "Me and You and a Dog Named....," The Bigger Picture
• National Dog Day
• More dogs from around Smithsonian Institution!!

On Sunday, August 25, historic sites throughout the D.C. area will host bell ringings to mark the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in colonial America. [via DCist]

Also in commemoration of the 400th year of African American history, the 1619 Project has published a digital exhibit on slavery by Smithsonian curator Mary Elliott. [via NMAAHC]

The University of Virginia’s Carter G. Woodson Institute has crowdsourced transcription efforts for the papers of civil rights activist Julian Bond! [via Niya Bates]

Can you identify all fifty states pictured in a quiz from the New York Times’ photo morgue? [via New York Times]

The University of Arkansas has been mapping Carlsbad Caverns in 3D. [via Carlsbad Current-Argus]

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology has digitized early 20th-century photos of everyday life in Norway—and Chicago, Illinois!? [via Chicago Sun Times]

The Guardian explores researchers’ attempts to recreate ancient foods; don't miss the first-century recipe for starter dough. [via the Guardian]

On June 10 and 11, 2019, the Hungerford Family visited the Smithsonian for the first time.  Who are the Hungerfords, you ask?  They are descendants of the family of Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie (1728-1800), the mother of British scientist and Smithsonian founding donor James Smithson (1765-1829).  Smithson was born James Louis Macie in 1765 to Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie, a wealthy widow from the region near Bath, England. Hugh Smithson (1714-1786), later known as Sir Hugh Percy, Duke of Northumberland, was James Macie’s father, though Smithson never acknowledged his son. Still, in 1800, after the death of his mother, James Macie took his father’s family name, becoming James Smithson.

Smithson’s father’s family, the Northumberlands, had been in touch with the Smithsonian regularly and had visited several times, but the Hungerfords had not.  It was assumed that James Smithson’s money came from his father, and little attention was paid to his mother’s family.  A recent Smithson biography by Heather P. Ewing demonstrated that it was Hungerford money, not Smithson money, that founded the Smithsonian Institution. James Smithson had inherited a piece of the Hungerford family estate and, as a shrewd investor, had parlayed it into a much larger fortune that he left to found an institution for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

A Northumberland family member suggested to a Hungerford family member that they read the Ewing book, and it got passed around the family. Delighted to learn about a relative’s role in creating the Smithsonian, the Hungerfords were determined to visit.

Periodically the Hungerfords take family reunion trips to interesting locations, and in 2019 it was to James Smithson’s institution.  Some thirty-one family members, from England, Canada, and other locations, met at the Smithsonian for a two-day whirlwind visit to eight separate Smithsonian facilities, including the Castle, National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, National Portrait Gallery, National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Air and Space Museum, Mitsami Café at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Libraries and, most importantly (at least to us!) the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Coincidentally, shortly before their visit, a Smithsonian American Art Museum board member had purchased a historic document, and donated it to Smithsonian Archives. It is an “Indenture” tripartite, or three-way contract, that documented the transfer of lands through generations of the Hungerford family.  Our talented conservator, William Bennett, displayed this very large multipage parchment document and discussed its meaning and history.  The Hungerfords (and our staff) were quite excited at this first viewing of the document and it was a highlight of the trip. We’d like to think the Hungerfords were quite impressed with our collections, and we were certainly happy to have them visit the Archives!

Want to learn even more about the indenture tripartite? Tune in for a blog post on Thursday, September 5 by conservator William Bennett, who has become our resident expert on the document.

Related Resources

• James Smithson, Founding Donor, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• The Lost World of James Smithson, by Heather P. Ewing, Smithsonian Magazine
• Smithson’s Library, Smithsonian Institution Libraries