This post originally appeared on the Smithsonian Institution Archives’ blog. Nell MacCarty’s internship was part of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives’ 50th Anniversary Internship program, with funding provided by the Secretary more »
Tag: Women’s History
This post first appeared on the Smithsonian Institution Archives’ blog. While Thomas W. Smillie is known as the Smithsonian’s first and chief photographer from 1871 to 1917, it is less known more »
We’ll be busy over the next few months and you’re invited. Interested in Women’s History? Want to get a closer look at our collections? Join us for an upcoming event! more »
Long before Fannie Farmer, Betty Crocker, or Martha Stewart, Lydia Maria Child provided American women with tips and tricks for running a smooth household. Her most successful book, The Frugal more »
The stories of our past are powerful tools. They can be reminders of our successes and cautions of our failures. Entirely too often history has been written by and for the more »
Few who walk past the Bethesda Fountain in New York City’s Central Park know the history behind the angel statue, standing high atop the fountain with wings outstretched. This sculpture, called Angel of the Waters, has been the backdrop for many movies and TV shows. The sculpture was made by a wealthy New York sculptor named Emma Stebbins, an artist featured in an album of cartes-de-visites (small, collectible photo cards) of notable 19th century American artists, located in the American Art and Portrait Gallery Library collection. Little is known about Stebbins, even though Angel of the Waters, as noted recently in the New York Times, was “the first public art commission ever awarded to a woman in New York City.”[i] However, what is known about Stebbins has been gleaned from the letters and press coverage of her relationship with famous American actress Charlotte Cushman.
With Mother’s Day in our recent memory, it’s the perfect to remember one of the most familiar and loved matriarchs in American literature: Marmee, from Little Women. The American Art more »