Flashback Friday: Farewell to American Archives Month

Blogs across the Smithsonian will give an inside look at the Institution’s archival collections and practices during a month long blog-a-thon in celebration of October’s American Archives Month. See additional posts from our other participating blogs, as well as related events and resources, on the Smithsonian’s Archives Month website.

Mary Ann Belardo working in the Archives of American Art area in the Fine Arts and Portrait Galleries, now the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. Smithsonian Institution Archives. Neg. #SIA2011-1134. 

On this final day of American Archives Month, let’s take a moment to look back at the many hidden connections we have celebrated. We hope these stories have connected you to the treasures held within our repositories and uncovered the exciting worlds they represent. We explored popular culture with baseball, photography, and Halloween; Smithsonian history with the first Smithsonian computer; and national memory with Dia de los Muertos and the anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

We hope these posts have given you a glimpse into the hidden stories that can be found behind the scenes and in our collections. With 9.3 million records across most Smithsonian major collections, the Collections Search Center creates a not so hidden connection across the Smithsonian.  Efforts like SOVA, the Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives, highlight the hidden connections within our materials and across our many diverse collections. We work to make these resources available so that you can keep exploring the Smithsonian’s collections year-round and find hidden connections of your own!

Lisa Fthenakis, Program Assistant

Smithsonian Institution Archives