The Oral History Project is part of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. The purpose of the project is to conduct and collect interviews with current and retired members of the Smithsonian staff who have made significant contributions, administrative and scholarly, to the Institution. The project's goal is to supplement the published record ...

These records chiefly document the operations of the Division of Transportation from its creation in 1957, and the operations of the Section of Land Transportation, 1946-1957. Lesser amounts of records relate to the administration of the land transportation collections prior to 1946 and to the marine transportation collections before 1957...

These papers document Jon Breslar's fieldwork on Mayotte, Comoro Islands for his dissertation as well as his work developing a new housing policy for Mayotte. The collection contains his professional correspondence, field notes, research notes, his writings, writings by others, newspaper clippings, teaching materials for his Shimaore language course, photographs, maps, plant specimens, and sound recordings.

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.

This collection documents the design, testing, production and promotion of the first zero-emission electric car produced by a major car company, the General Motors EV1. The materials include photographs, promotional booklets and marketing, press coverage, and publications, as well as design details and specifications, describing the process by which this ambitious and controversial vehicle was produced and released to the public in the mid- to late 1990s. This collection would be of interest to researchers in the areas of innovative design, automobile marketing, environmental initiatives, and the automotive industry.

The J. Scott Odell folk music collection (1945-2016, inclusive) contains AV recordings, photographs, correspondence, writings, and other materials relating to Odell's career at the Smithsonian as a musical instrument conservator and researcher of American music traditions. The collection largely consists of materials relating to Odell's research trips (often combined with personal visits) throughout the Eastern United States. Research strengths of the collection include the history of the Appalachian dulcimer and banjo, the Smithsonian Folkways project "Black Banjo Songsters," musician and poet Burt Porter, and the Bread and Puppet Theater.

The records of nationally renowned Boston, Massachussetts, stained glass design company, Wilbur H. Burnham Studios, measure 38.5 linear feet and date from circa 1904-1991. The majority of the collection consists of project files for the studio's stained glass window contracts throughout the United States from the 1920s-1980s. In addition to project files, records include biographical material for the owners, correspondence relating to personal and studio business, general business and financial records, writings such as published articles by Wilbur H. Burnham, scrapbooks and other printed material documenting the history of the company, artwork including extensive watercolor design studies for stained glass, and photographic material. There is a 2.6 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes includes awards, printed material, passports, biographical material, Christmas cards, photographs, slides and postcards of stained lass windows, posthumous material, a bound ledger, legal papers, invoices and receipts, project files and glass plate negatives. Materials date from circa 1901-1991.

This collection, which dates from 1926-1986, documents the output of Moses Asch through the various record labels he founded and co-founded, and includes some of his personal papers. The Asch collection includes published recordings, master tapes, outtakes, business records, correspondence, photographs, and film.

The collection documents Howard F. Bowker, a coin collector and expert in the coinage of East Asia.

The papers of Alexander Wetmore were received in the Smithsonian Archives in several different accessions between 1978 and 1987. The Archives would like to thank Mrs. Beatrice T. Wetmore for her help in transferring her husband's papers to the Archives. We also appreciate the assistance of the staff of the Division of Birds, National Museum ...