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Category: Exhibitions

New Online Exhibitions! Notable Women and Latinos in Natural History

Erin Rushing
December 10, 2014
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This post was written by Grace Costantino, Outreach and Communications Manager for the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL).

We are pleased to announce the release of two new BHL online exhibitions: Early Women in Science and Latino Natural History.

Earlier this year, the Smithsonian Women’s Committee awarded a one-year grant to Smithsonian Libraries (SIL) to build online exhibitions to showcase the scientific and historical contributions of Women and Latino naturalists and illustrators. The project, entitled Notable Women and Latinos in Natural History, draws from content in BHL and uses the Biodiversity Library Exhibition (BLE) platform developed by BHL Europe.

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The Lost Bird Project: A Wonderful Collaboration

Liz O'Brien
November 20, 2014
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This post was submitted by Susan Frampton, program coordinator, Smithsonian Libraries.

Serendipity: happy chance; lucky chance; happenstance; and good fortune.

Any and all of those words could be used to describe my encounter, collaboration and friendship with Andy Stern, executive director, and Todd McGrain, artist, sculptor and creative director, of The Lost Bird Project. My good luck began during an online image search for the Smithsonian Libraries’ exhibition Once There Were Billions: Vanished Birds of North America in September 2013; little did I know then that the exhibition would take on a very big dimension.

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The Lost Bird Project (and a free film and lecture event!)

Liz O'Brien
November 14, 2014
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The Smithsonian Libraries and Smithsonian Gardens present The Lost Bird Project, an exhibition by artist Todd McGrain, open through May 2015. This project recognizes the tragedy of modern extinction by immortalizing North American birds that have been driven to extinction. It features large-scale bronze sculptures of the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck, the great auk, the heath hen, and the passenger pigeon. Four of the sculptures are located in the Enid A. Haupt Garden, a 4.2-acre public rooftop garden between the Smithsonian Castle and Independence Avenue. The fifth sculpture, the passenger pigeon, is in the Urban Habitat Garden at the National Museum of Natural History. This post is written by Todd McGrain, Author, Sculptor, and Creative Director of The Lost Bird Project. Hear Todd speak at our free event on November 20th!

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A Chat with the Libraries’ Exhibitions Guru

Liz O'Brien
November 5, 2014
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When asked about her role as the Smithsonian Libraries’ program coordinator, Susan Frampton retorts, “Well, this week I’ve chased down old photos of women with dead birds on their hats.” The truth is, there is no ordinary day for Susan; she’s like a cook who has many pots on the burner at once, and it’s a lucky day when there are no stray fires to extinguish. She regularly collaborates with Libraries staff, as well as with colleagues around the Institution and beyond.

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“Fantastic Worlds” shirts available through TFund

Erin Rushing
October 8, 2014
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In July 2015, the Smithsonian Libraries will debut an exciting new exhibit in our Exhibition Gallery in the National Museum of American History. “Fantastic Worlds: Science and Fiction, 1780-1910” will explore the relationship between emerging scientific theories and fiction writers of the period. Although the “Fantastic Worlds” is many months away, we’ve recently launched a t-shirt campaign through TFund so that you can own an awesome piece of imagery from the exhibit and support programming for it!

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Remembering Martha: A recap of our Twitterchat

Erin Rushing
September 8, 2014
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On September 2nd, 2014, the day after the 100th anniversary of the death of Martha, the last passenger pigeon, the Smithsonian Libraries , National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) hosted a twitterchat in honor of the beloved bird. The chat featured Helen James, Curator in Charge of the Division of Birds at NMNH and Martin Kalfatovic, program director of BHL, who contributed for their respective organizations.

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