Vacations are Forever: Archival Records of Leisure in Smithsonian Collections

We're at the peak of  a beautiful summer here in Washington, DC, but like many of you, we're still dreaming about escaping the daily grind to see something new. The people whose lives are represented in our stacks are no different: we think everyone can agree that vacation rules. Perhaps you've just gotten back from your own little adventure, or maybe you're counting down the days 'till the next one--wherever you are, take a break and dive in for a tour of vacation-themed objects in our collections.

Above: Landscape architect and photographer Thomas Warren Sears on a boat trip to England in 1906, after graduating from Harvard to visit many gardens and landscapes in Europe. Below: Possibly Helena Beatrice Cowburn, a woman Sears met aboard ship. Thomas Warren Sears Photographic Collection, Archives of American Gardens, Smithsonian Institution.

Peter A. Juley and family on a road trip, undated. Peter A. Juley & Son Collection, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Photograph Archives.

 

Scurlock Family Negs Russell Cox etc. [from enclosure]. Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905-1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Paul Bransom letter to Kicki Hays, 1947 Oct. 17. Helen Ireland Hays papers concerning Paul Bransom, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Walcott Family Enjoy a Meal in the Grand Canyon, May 1903. George P. Merrill Collection, Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Vacation portrait of Mrs. Catherine Bryan and friends, circa 1944. Percival Bryan Collection, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Carter Harman [?], relaxing on a beach in Trinidad during a recording trip with Emory Cook, circa 1956 [?]. Cook Labs Records, Cook-051-13-n20. Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Come, take a trip in my air ship by Geo. Evans and Ren Shields. Bella C. Landauer Collection of Aeronautical Sheet Music, National Air and Space Museum Library, Smithsonian Institution Libraries.

Cecilia Peterson and Rachel Menyuk, Blog Coordinators