Biographical Information File
The Biographical Information File contains biographies of individuals associated with the Smithsonian as either administrative officers, curators, collectors, donors, regents, or research associates. Occasionally biographies of individuals less closely associated with the Institution are included.
Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art records
bulk 1885-1962
The records of the Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art measure 265.8 linear feet and date from 1883-1962, with the bulk of the material dating from 1885-1940. The collection includes extensive correspondence between the museum's founding director, John Beatty, and his successor, Homer Saint-Gaudens, with artists, dealers, galleries, collectors, museum directors, representatives abroad, shipping and insurance agents, and museum trustees. The collection also includes Department of Fine Arts interoffice memoranda and reports; loan exhibition files; Carnegie International planning, jury, shipping, and sale records; Department of Fine Arts letterpress copy books, and a copy of the original card catalog index to these records.
Records
The bulk of this collection was processed by Jane Livermore, a devoted and tireless volunteer in the Smithsonian Institution Archives between 1995 and 2004. Livermore is a former Science Service employee. She worked in the organization's library, oversaw the educational project "THINGS of Science," and served as Assistant to the Director. The …
Downtown Gallery records
bulk 1926-1969
The records of the Downtown Gallery date from 1824 to 1974 (bulk 1926-1969) and measure 109.56 linear feet. The records present a comprehensive portrait of a significant commercial gallery that operated as a successful business for more than forty years, representing major contemporary American artists and engendering appreciation for early American folk art. There is an unprocessed addition to this collection dating circa 1970 of a single financial/legal document.
Records
This collection consists of correspondence of the Division of Birds, most of which was conducted by the three curators listed above. There is a lesser amount of correspondence of Associate Curators. Also included is material concerning the history of the Division and distribution and destruction of specimens.
Samuel P. Langley Collection
bulk 1891-1900
This collection includes information about Samuel P. Langley and his colleagues, as well as documentation of Langley's work. The collection includes biographies of Langley and his assistant Charles Manly, newspaper clippings, correspondence, manuscripts regarding Langley's aircraft, photographs and drawings, work requisitions for the Aerodromes, a sketchbook, specifications and measurements for Langley's experiments, the Langley Memoirs on Mechanical Flight and the Langley "Waste Books."
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1972 Festival of American Folklife
The Smithsonian Institution Festival of American Folklife, held annually since 1967 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was renamed the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998. The materials collected here document the planning, production, and execution of the annual Festival, produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (1999-present) and its predecessor offices (1967-1999). An overview of the entire Festival records group is available here: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records.
Central Administrative Records
This accession consists of records that document the activities of the Administrative Office of the National Portrait Gallery. Topics include finance, procurement, and grant management. Records were created and maintained by Barbara A. Hart, Associate Director of Administration, and Carolyn Kinder Carr, Deputy Director. Boxes 1-2 are arranged topically by department …
Program Records
These records consist of materials regarding the National Survey of Accessibility in Museums in the United States, carried out by the Office of Museum Programs. Some exhibition records are also included, most notably More Than Land or Sky: Art from Appalachia. Other records relating to the National Survey of Accessibility …
Curatorial Records
This accession consists of records documenting the activities of the Division of Vertebrate Paleontology. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, administrative records regarding collections and the A. Remington Kellogg Library, research notes and proposals, exhibition files, photographs of specimens, and professional activity files. Curators represented in these records include Clayton Edward Ray …
