The Bigger Picture | Smithsonian Institution Archives

Mr. Rogers at the Zoo

markeym — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Does the jovial fellow riding Ambika the elephant look familiar? It's Fred Rogers, leaving his neighborhood for a visit to the National Zoological Park in the spring of 1982. The host of the children's show Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood met giraffes, tigers, and lions as well as pachyderms Ambika and Shanthi; Keepers Jim Jones and Barbara Bingham were featured guests.

Despite rainy conditions, everything went smoothly until the elephant ride. According to The Torch:

As soon as Mr. Rogers was perched atop Ambika's back, she decided she wanted a bath and lumbered eagerly towards the pool. While zoo keepers headed her off, "little" (4,000 pound) Shanthi's curiousity was piqued by the cameraman and his fascinating equipment. As she set off to investigate, our fleet-of-foot staffers quickly foiled a farcical finale.

The episode filmed at the zoo was titled Mr. Rogers Talks About Pets, broadcast on June 4, 1982. You can a find a synopsis at The Neighborhood Archive.

Shanthi and Ambika still live at the National Zoological Park, enjoying their new home, the Elephant Trails exhibit. Now Shanthi is up to 9,000 pounds!

Related Collections

Record Unit 371 - Office of Public Affairs, The Torch, 1955-1960, 1965-1988, Smithsonian Institution Archives

Sneak Peek 6/17/2013

robym — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:37:55 +0000

Link Love: 6/14/2013

todam — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

On Thursday, the Founders Online project was launched. The website/online tool brings together the papers of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. [via InfoDocket]
At the Bodleian Library staff can call upon a boxed collection of "dated and datable pins" (and paperclips) collected over the years to help identify the date of manuscripts, a veritable "prickly taxonomy." [via Heather Ewing, SIA]
The ephemeral quality of digital artwork is put to the test, after the artwork, The World's First Collaborative Sentence by Douglas Davis needed to be restored. [via Carl Schaefer, SIA]
In the third part of a series on preserving family history, Bertram Lyons, an archivist at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, answers questions about manuscripts, video, and other issues. [via The New York Times]
Before Facebook, there was MySpace; before MySpace there was Friendster; but before all of these were a myriad of online communites that included Usenet, CompuServe, and bulletin board systems among others, that connected people. [via The Signal: Digital Preservation, LOC]
Musical traditions are an integral park of people's cultural history, but in some instances are in danger of being forgotten by newer generations. The Carolina Chocolate Drops are one example of a group that is keeping the sound and tradition of Southern black music from the 1920s and 1930s alive. [via O Say Can You See?, NMAH]

Summertime on the Mall - Smithsonian Folklife Festival

todam — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

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Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife, by Jan Faul. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 80-2634.10.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife, by Jan Faul. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 80-2631.17A.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife.

Ironworkers at 1976 Festival of American Folklife, by Jan Faul. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 80-2629.29A.

At the 1985 Festival of American Folklife, the Hayride String Band performs.

At the 1985 Festival of American Folklife, the Hayride String Band performs, by Jeff Tinsley. Record Unit 371, Box 5, Folder - June 1986, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 85-15097-01.

Good Morning America's Steve Bell and Joan Lunden interview Chief Charles Taylor

Good Morning America anchors Steve Bell (r.) and Joan Lunden interview Chief Charles Taylor at the Festival of American Folklife on July 4, 1985, by Richard K. Hofmeister. Record Unit 371, Box 4, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 85-15023-07.

The crowd at the Festival of American Folklife, 1985.

The crowd at the Festival of American Folklife, 1985, by Jeff Tinsley. Record Unit 371, Box 5, Folder - June 1987, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 85-15131.4.

Festival participants performing a dance associated with Haitian Vodoun ritual

Festival participants performing a dance associated with Haitian Vodoun ritual, 1989, by Rick Vargas. Accession 93-114, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 89-17204.5.

Junior volunteer John McCauley demonstrates marblemaking to onlookers

Junior volunteer John McCauley demonstrates marblemaking to onlookers at the 20th Festival of American Folklife, in the Summer of 1986, by Dale Hrabak. Record Unit 371, Box 5, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 86-7301-15A.

Richard Kurin, Director of the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies

Richard Kurin, Director of the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, working to prepare the Mall for the Festival of American Folklife, 1991, by Jeff Tinsley. Accession 98-015, Box 2, Folder - Torch 1991, July 1991, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 91-7875.19A.

A participant from Hawaii demonstrates the making of an Hawaiian lei

At the Festival of American Folklife in 1989, a participant from Hawaii demonstrates crafts to children while visitors look on, the making of an Hawaiian lei. Record Unit 95, Box 59A, Folder 14, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 89-18479.

A woman participates in the blanket toss, a game in the World Eskimo Olympics.

At the July 3-14, 1974 Festival of American Folklife, Native Americans section, a woman participates in the blanket toss, a game in the World Eskimo Olympics. Record Unit 371, Box 2, Folder - July/August 1974, Smithsonian Institution Archives, Neg. no. 94-13194.

Summertime in Washington, DC usually brings a few things to mind for me: the United States Department of Agriculture farmer's market, tourists, buses, Jazz in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. First started in 1967, this year's festival focuses on the following:

Running from June 24-26 and July 3-7, the schedule of activities, programs, and performances is incredible. So if you'll be in Washington, DC during this time or live nearby, please come out to learn from and experience the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Related Resources

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Women in Science Wednesday: Libbie Henrietta Hyman

kapsalise — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Transcription Beyond Description: Engaging Opportunities and Weaving Webs of Knowledge

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Meghan Ferriter, Research Associate

From crowdsourcing transcription to building Wikipedia articles, opportunities abound to weave webs of knowledge with Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) collections. How can our audience (you!) get involved to help others discover more? Find out with this peek into the ways I'm researching engagement with SIA collections.

I'm fascinated by the ways people communicate while working toward a goal; particularly when that goal is sharing information, from history to science to culture. As a research associate, I'm exploring crowdsourcing for transcription and SIA collections on Wikipedia. I'm using the Field Book Project (FBP) as case study material. I'll gather the best parts of these activities to give our audiences great experiences sharing SIA collections. While transcription and Wikipedia editing demand collaborative audiences, each activity features unique learning curves. So, I shoulder the task of testing them to make navigating those turns easier.

Part of my research, therefore, is evaluating existing transcription projects. I assess elements like narrative, capabilities, and usability on projects:

New York Public Library's What’s on the Menu?
Zooniverse projects like oldWeather and Ancient Lives, and
University of Iowa Libraries' pickings for DIY History

Plus other wiki-based transcription projects. Each project offers excellent features to bring digitized archival collections back into focus. Still, none of these models are "just right" to best tell SIA collections and FBP stories.

We say every collection has a story; indeed, another gripping FBP narrative may be awaiting decryption right now. Recently, I've been poring through SIA digitized collections to root out the compelling stories locked inside. Sometimes the human dimensions of research spill out of tightly scrawled text: the hidden help of assistants, hosts, and companions on expedition. The unique cadences in researcher's field notes are also stories in themselves. Compare Leonard Stejneger's writing with James A. Peters' print. Now see Doris Cochran's travelogue below.

My fieldwork incorporated Smithsonian outreach events. These events linked access to collections with digital approaches to content sharing. My experiences as participant-observer include Wikipedia edit-a-thons with the Archives of American Art (AAA) and the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), a Flickr tagging party with the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), and Tweet Ups with the National Museum of American History. See a Tweet Up scene below; I'm there in research mode, managing to keep my cool while taking notes next to American Music curator John Edward Hasse and Eddie Van Halen's guitar!

I'll pause and invite you to explore those events links. Work remains and your help is always welcome in extending access to SI collections – with SIA, AAA, or BHL.

Analyzing these events, I considered:

audience experiences – chances for "seriously amazing" discoveries
costs to the units and organizers
event program and goals, plus serendipitous results like these
curator passion and insight from subject matter experts, and
the stories behind the collections on display

Have you attended an SI outreach event, perhaps like this berry happy horticultural experience in 1989? Did it change how you think about and share Smithsonian stories?

From observation to action, webs of knowledge remain robust through regular use and delightful discovery. We can draw together SIA and wider SI content by highlighting digital connections; gathering wider audiences through Wikipedia descriptions and transcription activities.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room:

There are challenges with representation and verifying knowledge on Wikipedia. However, we have opportunities to address these issues by improving the pathways to collections content. Think there's no Wiki-point? Consider Michael Szajewski's discussion (2013) of The Hague Sheet Music Collection at Ball State University. Also see my anecdote from the SAAM Civil War Art Wikipedia edit-a-thon.

Ready to spin webs of knowledge? You can join SIA and NMNH for our Expeditions & Explorers Wikipedia edit-a-thon on June 21, 2013 . In addition to editing articles, you'll get the opportunity to preview and test the soon-to-be launched transcription service. It will include our digitized field books and other Smithsonian Institution collections. Sign up here, then preview featured materials. We look forward to your help in telling our collections stories.

One last note: did you notice the variety of resources I linked through this post? Have any of these links added strands to your own webs of knowledge?

Related Resources

The Field Book Project: Uncovering Hidden Gems at the Smithsonian, The Bigger Picture blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives
A behaviorist in Panama, Field Book Project blog, The Field Book Project
Preserving Her Legacy: Coming Together to Preserve the Legacy of Women Scientists on Wikipedia, The Bigger Picture blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives

Related Collections

Record Unit 7151 - Doris M. Cochran Papers, circa 1891-1968, Smithsonian Institution Archives

Sneak Peek 6/10/2013

robym — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:35:34 +0000

Link Love: 6/7/2013

todam — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Around the Washington, DC area it is definitely feeling like summer and one of the awesome parts of the summer experience are the fireflies that come out in the evening. Photographer Yume Cyan takes some amazing long exposures of fireflies in the forests arouns Nagoya City, Japan. [via Colossal]
Recently, the National Museum of American History acquired the guitar of Hawaiian slack key guitarist Reverend Dennis Kamakahi.
Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire staff of photographers. Al Podgorski, one of the photographers, decided to capture the moment he and his colleagues got the news. [via PetaPixel]
Familiar to archivists everywhere: The despised paper fastener gets its day in the spotlight at the National Archives. [via Prologue: Pieces of History, NARA]
In part 2 of a series on preserving family history, Bertram Lyons, an archivist at the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, answers questions about preserving film and photographs. [via The New York Times]
Celebrate archives! This coming Sunday, June 9 is the 6th Annual International Archives Day! [via Jennifer Wright, SIA]
To promote its summer reading program the Seattle Public Library set up a record breaking domino chain of 2131 books. [via InfoDocket]

See Here: 6/7/2013

cherrixk — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

The Smithsonian and South Carolina in the Civil War

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 11:00:00 +0000

Heather Ewing, Research Associate

I was visiting South Carolina recently, and passed through Beaufort. It turns out this beautiful southern town has a surprising connection to the Smithsonian.

In November 1861, when Union troops occupied Beaufort, one of the principal treasures of the town was its outstanding library - which had been incorporated in 1807 and encompassed several thousand books, many having been brought back from Europe by wealthy Carolinians. With the arrival of the troops, landed Beaufort-area residents had fled and the town was in the hands of those left behind: enslaved people from the Sea Islands plantations.

General Isaac Stevens, the Union commanding officer, ordered that the library, called "the pride of the town," be arranged for the use of the troops. Within a few months, however, a treasury agent appeared, demanding the books be confiscated as war booty. The books were sent to New York, where they were put up for auction.

This caused an immediate outcry. The New York Times editorialized against it; and a letter to the editor urged them to continue the fight (or as the writer wonderfully put it, "ventilate" the subject!). Within a day, Salmon Chase, Lincoln's Treasury Secretary, allegedly declared "the Union does not make war on books," and put a halt to the proceedings. The books were then deposited for safe keeping at the Smithsonian. They were to be returned at the conclusion of the war. (Salmon Chase became a Smithsonian Regent in 1864, after Lincoln successfully nominated him to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and he continued in that role until his death in 1873.)

Saved from auction, the books were placed in the fifth floor of the South Tower of the Smithsonian Building (the Castle - then the Smithsonian's only building). The war dragged on; in 1864, two years after the seizure of the books, newspapers reassured the South that the library remained safe and sound.

Tragically, on January 24, 1865, fire ripped through the Castle building. The Beaufort Library collection was completely destroyed, along with many other collections and papers - including almost all of the relics of the Smithsonian's founder, James Smithson, which were being kept a few floors below in the Regents Room.

Beaufort eventually received some token compensation for their loss. Today the Beaufort County Library is a thriving place. Happily, the book collection lost in the 1865 fire wasn't the last connection between Beaufort and the Smithsonian. The library hosted a Smithsonian traveling exhibition in early 2012.

Related Resources

Smokin' Smithsonian, The Bigger Picture blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives