Nancy E. Gwinn, director of Smithsonian Libraries, and Martin R. Kalfatovic, associate director for Digital Services at Smithsonian Libraries, have been appointed to new positions within the global Biodiversity Heritage Library.
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Has a red, white, and blue pole near a store ever caught your eye? It’s happened to me. I see the red, white, and blue pole but I don’t need to look at the sign. I know it means there must be a barber shop behind that window.
We might be familiar with how barber shops looked later in the twentieth century. But what were they like in the first decade of the twentieth century? What did barber shop furniture look like over a hundred years ago? This trade catalog by Theo. A. Kochs Co. gives us the chance to go back to 1903 for a glimpse into barber shops of the past.
Hi! I am Tatum – the Smithsonian Libraries Office of Advancement summer intern. I am originally from North Carolina (Asheville area) but I recently graduated from a two-year liberal-arts college for women, Cottey College, in Nevada, Missouri.
Sometimes the treatment performed on an item is minimal but the item being treated is fascinating! This was the case with this recently acquired letter from State Assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt to the prominent ornithologist Elliott Coues. The letter, dated April 21, 1882, outlines Roosevelt’s interest in shrews and his desire to donate his collection of shrew skins to the Smithsonian.
Charles Loring Elliott (born Scipio, NY, 1812; died Albany, NY, 1868)
At the time of his death, Charles Loring Elliott was one of the most well-known American portrait painters of the mid-19th century. The artist vertical file at the Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery (AAPG) Library contains several contemporaneous multi-page eulogies and/or reminiscences on Elliott’s life and career. In 1867, Henry Tuckerman claimed that Elliott had painted almost 700 portraits – a truly prolific life’s work if indeed true.
Greetings! This month, we have a look at a real gem in the Smithsonian History, Art, and Culture digital collection. Two volumes of a turn-of-the-century serial devoted to all things related to the human body and its maintenance: Physical Culture. At turns laughable and insightful, this title is a hoot to page through. It features everything from workout tips to fad diets, diets meant to add pounds, mind you. For example, judging by the amount of ink it gets, the milk diet was very popular back in 1908. When adhering to a milk diet, the publishers warn, it’s important to consume milk only. No solid food of any kind! So, don’t add cheese, for example! It’s kind of like a phlegmy protein shake diet!
Smithsonian Libraries Director Dr. Nancy E. Gwinn has been awarded the District of Columbia Library Association’s Ainsworth Rand Spofford President’s Award 2012. This award, named for the first president of DCLA and former Librarian of Congress, recognizes outstanding contributions to the development or improvement of library and information services.