This collection contains over 37,000 35mm slides, 3,000 glass lantern slides and garden files that may include descriptive information, photocopied articles (from journals, newspapers, or books), planting lists, correspondence, brochures, landscape plans and drawings. Garden files were compiled by Garden Club of America (GCA) members for most of the gardens included in the collection. Some gardens have been photographed over the course of several decades; others only have images from a single point in time. In addition to images of American gardens, there are glass lantern slides of the New York Flower Show (1941-1951) and trips that GCA members took to other countries, including Mexico (1937), Italy, Spain, Japan (1935), France (1936), England (1929), and Scotland. A number of the slides are copies of historic images from outside repositories including horticultural and historical societies or from horticultural books and publications. The GCA made a concerted effort in the mid-1980s to acquire these images in order to increase its documentation of American garden history. Because of copyright considerations, use of these particular images may be restricted.

The collection is the result of research conducted by Dr. Alixa Naff (1920-2013) relating to the study of the early Arab immigrant experience in the United States from about 1880-World War II. The study began with oral history interviews in 1962 and became a major project in 1980 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It documents the assimilation of Arabic speaking immigrants in the United States.

This accession consists of records documenting the program activities of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (SAPAC) in regard to public outreach initiatives such as literary events, historical presentations, contemporary discussions, cultural performances, exhibitions, symposiums, commemorations, special events, and committees. ...

The collection documents Duke Ellington's career primarily through orchestrations (scores and parts), music manuscripts, lead sheets, transcriptions, and sheet music. It also includes concert posters, concert programs, television, radio, motion picture and musical theater scripts, business records, correspondence, awards, as well as audiotapes, audiodiscs, photographs, tour itineraries, newspaper clippings, magazines, caricatures, paintings, and scrapbooks.

This accession consists of records that document the acquisition of a bell to be hung in the north tower of the Smithsonian Building in 1996 during the 1996 celebration of the Smithsonian Institution sesquicentennial. The bell was manufactured by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London, England. David Shayt, a Museum Specialist in the Division ...

This accession consists of the curatorial records of Carl H. Scheele during his tenure as Associate Curator in Charge and Curator in the Division of Postal History, 1964-1977; Curator in the Division of Community Life, 1978-1987; and as Curator Emeritus, 1987-1989. Materials primarily include correspondence, memoranda, and notes documenting ...

This accession consists of records that document arrangements for the exhibition George Washington: A Figure Upon the Stage, in celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the birth of George Washington, which took place at the National Museum of American History in 1982. Materials consist of correspondence and memoranda pertaining to proposals ...

This accession consists of records that document the administrative and professional activities of Virginia Beets, Registrar, 1973-1983; Martha Morris, Assistant Registrar, 1973-1983, Registrar, 1984-1990, and Assistant Director for Collections Management, 1990-1993; and Katherine P. Spiess, Deputy Registrar, 1985-1992, and Acting Assistant Di...

Films vary in subject, production source, and intended audience. Includes both silent and sound black-and-white, and color films with sound.

Photographs and a lithograph probably collected by W J McGee during the first decade of the 20th century. The photographs were probably made by Bailey Willis during his 1903 expedition to China and were collected by W. J. McGee for his US Department of Agriculture bulletin on Soil Erosion (1911). Photos document terraced rice fields in China. The l...