Happy Smithsonian Day



Pages 1 and 3 of the double-sided handwritten
draft of James Smithson's will.
Courtesy of SIA.



As we all know, each day in the year has a special celebration attached to it. Today you can celebrate, National S’mores Day, Lazy Day, and even National Duran Duran Day! But, just in case you are not hungry like a wolf, here at the Smithsonian we would like to celebrate Smithsonian Day!

 One hundred and sixty-six years ago, by a vote of 26 to 16, the United States Senate passed the act organizing the Smithsonian Institution. This event was the culmination of years of debate that began in 1829 with the death of the English scientist James Smithson. Smithson, who never traveled to America, wrote in his will that, in the event his heir died without any children, his residual estate would be left to the United States to create in the city of Washington, "under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."



Facsimile of the Act to Establish
Smithsonian Institution, 1846.
Courtesy of SIA.



Though the law was passed in 1846, the early Institution was very different from the Smithsonian we know today. In fact, the law, which was signed by President James K. Polk, included only limited requirements of the Institution: a Board of Regents, Chancellor, Secretary; a“suitable” building containing rooms for the “reception and arrangement” of objects of natural history, a chemical laboratory, a library, a gallery of art, and lecture rooms; and that one copy of all publications copyrighted under the United States Congress would be deposited at the Institution. The law also specified that all objects of natural history, art, etc., belonging to the United States in Washington, D.C, must be transferred to the Smithsonian. Finally, the act stated that Smithson’s original legacy of $515,169, plus interest accrued at the rate of 6% on loan to the U.S. Treasury, amounting to $242,129, would be maintained as a trust fund. Further, all expenditures and appropriations must come from interest accrued in this fund.



The Smithsonian Institution Building or "Castle's" south entrance,
viewed from Independence Avenue.
Courtesy of SIA.



The passage of the vague act and establishment of the Smithsonian began yet another debate on what this act meant and how to fulfill its provisions. Since the establishment of the Smithsonian, Congress has passed almost two hundred resolutions relating to the Institution. These variety of laws and legislations have helped the Smithsonian continue to grow and evolve into the world’s largest museum and research complex.

Courtney Esposito, Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives

CONFRONTATIONAL CURATOR, COWARDLY CATALOGUER

Archivists, curators, and librarians often have controversial materials in their collections, and the mere act of presenting them to the public in the form of exhibitions, publications, and online catalogues can be fraught with risks for such professionals and their institutions.  Among the most heated and memorable exhibition controversies in modern Washington history were the Robert Mapplethorpe crisis at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Enola Gay exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum, and "Hide/Seek" at the National Portrait Gallery.  In these cases public relations crises were matched by the almost inevitable accusations of censorship and restriction of free speech and expression which followed.  The well-intentioned organizers of a somewhat less well-remembered Library of Congress exhibition about slavery were astounded when many African American staff members were so offended that they demanded that the exhibition be closed.   One can think of many more famous examples of battles over exhibition content in Brooklyn, Cincinnati, and elsewhere over the years.

To a lesser extent, images and text posted online by institutions can also carry risks of offending segments of the public.  The National Museum of American History Archives Center's collections contain much historical material which reflects blatantly racial and ethnic stereotypes and prejudices of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century.  As our cataloguing editor/coordinator, I often worry about how some of this material, when seen online, conceivably might offend someone so deeply that they could make my life miserable.  While I would welcome the opportunity to educate someone about our motives for presenting "offensive" historical material in our online catalogue or web pages, knowing how difficult it can be to convince offended, emotional people that your heart is in the right place can give one pause.  Call it cowardice if you wish, but I feel that exhibitions can legitimately seek to educate through provocation and confrontation, whereas through cataloguing I try to document and describe without unnecessary provocation.  I try to show and describe culturally offensive and insensitive material in a manner to make it clear that neither I nor my institution supports or endorses it.  We simply present it as historical evidence, sometimes with specific disclaimers.
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Underwood and Underwood, publisher.  "Away down among the cotton and the coons," La.  [Quotation marks in original.]  Glass stereoscopic interpositive, ca. 1900-1910.   Underwood & Underwood Glass Stereograph Collection, NMAH Archives Center.

Above is an example of a stereo-stereotype, as I call them, a stereograph from a so-called "comic" set intended to appeal to white prejudices about African Americans.  Note the caption that accompanies this staged photograph, then follow the link to my catalogue description of it with a disclaimer.  Tell me what you think: is my explanation helpful or unnecessary--or inadequate on one hand, or too "politically correct" on the other?  (Apologies for the poor quality of the image--this will be remedied.)

Hoffeld and Co., advertising card, 1888.  Soap series, Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, NMAH Archives Center

African Americans are not the only ethnic group represented in our visual materials who are subject to bias, ridicule, stereotyping, and "hate speech."  Our advertising collections contain thousands of captioned images which depict virtually every imaginable ethnic group in despicable ways.  Above is a comparatively rare example referring to Gypsies--or a "Gipsy camp."  It seems to represent a vaguely anti-Gypsy sentiment, but I frankly can't interpret it, and I would love to have someone explain it to me.

Carlos de Wendler-Funaro.  Rom woman
(Pupa Kaslov?), New York City, ca. 1939-1942.
  Carlos de Wendler-Funaro Gypsy Research Collection,
NMAH Archives Center

We have several collections containing photographs of Gypsies, especially the Carlos de Wendler-Funaro [aka Carl Funaro] Gypsy Research Collection.  In a later post I'll show a Funaro photograph which appears to demean Gypsies as thieves, reinforcing that particular stereotype, and which I hesitated to include in my exhibition of his work years ago.  Since the person having his pocket picked is actually the photographer himself, it is clear that it's a staged photograph with the participation of one of Funaro's Gypsy subjects.  I assumed, therefore, that the photograph was intended as a joking acknowledgement of that particular stereotype or assumption, and labeled it as such in an exhibition, since our advisor on Gypsy culture was wary and tried to talk me out of displaying it.
I would enjoy comparing notes with other cataloguers and archivists about strategies for the "objective" presentation of racially and culturally insensitive visual materials.

David Haberstich, Curator of Photography
Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Sneak Peek from the Stacks: Summer Games Edition

As Olympics participants and the City of London prepare for the opening ceremony this weekend, a few sporty images from our photo archives:   

                                                                                 

Take Him Out, George Bellows, 1906

L. Waterbury at Polo, George Luks, 1913

And a bit of Olympic trivia…since its inaugural year in 1896, at least 14 sports have been officially dropped from the Summer Games; among them a few surprising, given their popularity outside of the Olympic Games (baseball, rugby and polo), and a few amusing (tug-of-war, tandem bicycle). Sporting events that have been eliminated from the Games can often be reinstated though, following an appeal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). For fans of rugby and golf, both will be making reappearances in the 2016 Games (they were first eliminated in 1924 and 1904, respectively), and there are plans for a proposal that could revive baseball for summer 2020. Sadly, to date, there have been no proposals filed with the IOC to bring back tug-of-war.

Enjoy the Games!

Rachel Brooks, American Art Museum, Research and Scholars Center

Sneak Peek from the Stacks: George Tooker's Morning Commute

Study for The Subway, 1949. George Tooker papers

The Archives of American Art primarily collects documents surrounding art (artists' and galleries' correspondence, notes, ephemera, etc.), and not art itself, but this study by George Tooker for his 1950 painting "The Subway" comes awfully close to being an art object in its own right. Tooker was a social realist painter in the same vein as Edward Hopper, and "The Subway", now at the Whitney Museum, is one of his best-known works. The finished painting shows a prison-like subway station with grim-faced and anxious commuters. In the study, Tooker was clearly hashing out his color scheme, which seems to have changed very little in the finished work. The documentary evidence that can be gleaned from this sketch is fantastic for scholars of his work, and the visual appeal is just the cherry on top.

For more on George Tooker in the Smithsonian collections, click here.

- Bettina Smith, Librarian for Digital Projects, Archives of American Art.

Diana Davies and the Poor People's Campaign

Diana Jo Davies is a well-known photographer and photojournalist, best known for her images of folk performers, festivals, and social justice and peace movements during the 1960s and 1970s. The Social Justice Series of the Davies Collection holds some of her most powerful images, a number of which document the Poor People’s March on Washington. 

The Poor People’s March on Washington, also known as the Poor People’s Campaign, was a socio-economic movement primarily concerned with gaining economic justice and housing for the American poor. It united races and cultures under one social justice movement. The march began in Marks, Mississippi in May 1968, shortly after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The campaign was to champion King’s final cause: to urge the federal government to pass the “Economic Bill of Rights.” This bill of rights would make assisting the poor a priority, providing employment, income, and housing to all Americans. Once in Washington, D.C., the protesters rallied at government buildings and built an encampment, dubbed “Resurrection City,” around the Washington Monument. Though the Economic Bill of Rights was never passed, the campaign’s goal of making poverty visible and impossible to ignore was certainly accomplished, as Diana Davies' photographs of the movement show. By placing herself inside the action and joining the Poor People’s March, she was able to more intimately capture the movement from the perspective of its participants.

For the past three months I have had the pleasure of delving deep into the Diana Davies Photograph Collection, which is housed in the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives. Poring over countless negatives, contact sheets, and prints from the Social Justice Series has been a slow process, but also a rewarding and fascinating one. In search of the most striking photographs from the Poor People’s March on Washington, I have selected, scanned, and edited a number of these amazing images, and would like to share some of the most powerful.

Songleaders, activists, and participants gather in Resurrection City at the Poor People's March on Washington, June 1968.

People gather on the Mall in Washington, D.C. for the Solidarity Day "Juneteenth" Rally, June 19, 1968.

Cops run people out of Resurrection City during the Poor People's March on Washington, June 25, 1968.

Seeing Davies’ photographs of the Poor People’s March on Washington is like looking through a window to the past. Through her photographs, Davies not only documents the people, places, and actions of the Poor People’s March; the emotions and desires behind this important civil rights movement are captured as well. These powerful images hold great historical significance and allow for a more thorough understanding of the movement and what it meant for so many people. I have certainly learned a lot from these photographs, and am so glad to have had the wonderful opportunity of working with them.

To see more photographs from the Diana Davies Social Justice Series, click here.

-Charlotte Krohn, Intern, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

Cool Stiles



William F. Stiles, Self-portrait, Quebec, Canada, 1958.
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian (S02131).

 Before joining the staff of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in May 1938, William F. Stiles (1912–1980) was George G. Heye's personal driver. An employee of the Museum for almost forty years, Stiles retired in March 1978 as the Curator of Collections. Although Stiles published very little, he was an active field collector and participated in numerous archaeological expeditions. During his collecting trips on behalf of the Museum, Stiles made hundreds of photographs among the Attikamekw, Innu, Miccosukee, Mohawk, Mushuaunnuat, Narragansett, Niantic, and Seminole peoples. All are housed in the William F. Stiles collection of negatives, slides and photographic prints, 1938-1974 at the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center.

More than half of the collection consists of photographs made among the Innu in Quebec, Canada, in 1952, 1958, 1959, and 1964. In addition to informal outdoor portraits, the photographs depict Innu men, women, and children undertaking a variety of activities, including preparing food, constructing dwellings, fishing, making and repairing canoes, preparing animal skins for the production of clothing, and knitting. For some of these photographs, Stiles recorded the names of the individuals who appear in them. Fortunately, descendants who have visited the NMAI Photo Archives have subsequently identified or re-identified pictured family members. It appears that in 1958 and 1959 he accompanied an Innu band on a fishing trip and that he formed personal relationships with several individuals.



William F. Stiles, Tommy Mastokacho (Innu) playing the guitar,
Mingan, Quebec, Canada, 1958. Smithsonian Institution,
National Museum of the American Indian (S02178).

In fact, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation records (also housed at the NMAI Archive Center) contain letters written to Stiles from the young Tommy Mastokacho. In the letters written from 1964 to 1968, Mastokacho informs Stiles of his health, his plans for hunting trips into the woods, and various building projects taking place in Mingan, his village. He also makes requests of Stiles. Of concern to most any young man, guitar strings were primary among them. Here, in a photograph from 1958, the fashionable Mastokacho—pompadour and all—strums his guitar and allows his gaze to drift away from Stiles’s camera. Not in the least camera shy, this rural Canadian youth presents himself as the embodiment of American cool.

Of the hundreds of photographs in the collection, five are posted to the National Museum of the American Indian’s Collections Search site. For access the entire William F. Stiles collection of negatives, slides and photographic prints, 1938-1974, please contact the NMAI Photo Archives.

 --Heather Shannon, Photo Archivist, NMAI Archive Center

Sneak Peek from the Stacks: A Summer Photo Identification Project

An intern at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens has spent the summer identifying hand-painted glass lantern slides that were photographed by Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) in the Garden Club of America Collection utilizing the Library of Congress' Prints and Photographs online catalog.

Some of the photographs identified in the Garden Club of America Collection depict private estates documented by Johnston for her 1930s Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South, a project funded by the Carnegie Corporation and coordinated by the Library of Congress. 

The Library of Congress is the primary repository of Johnston’s photography collection including her earlier garden photography work of the 1910s-1920s and is explained in more detail here: "Lantern Slides for Garden and Historic House Lectures."

Below is a 'sneak peek' of one of the lantern slides now attributed to Johnston in the Archives of American Gardens.

Hand-painted glass lantern slide, Woodberry Forest, Louisa County, VA, 1932. Frances Benjamin Johnston, photographer. Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Garden Club of America Collection

Safety film negative, Woodberry Forest, Louisa County, VA, 1932. Frances Benjamin Johnston, photographer. Courtesy Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-J7-VA-2120

 

Kelly Crawford

Museum Specialist

Archives of American Gardens

Smithsonian Gardens