Ivan Karp (1943-2011) was a curator of African Ethnology at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) from 1984 to 1993. He was also a professor at Emory University from 1993 to 2011. He conducted fieldwork among the Iteso (Teso) of Kenya and made significant contributions to the areas of African systems of thought, social theory, museum studies, and public scholarship. His collection contains his research on the Iteso of Kenya; his work at Emory University and the Smithsonian Institution; his reviews of manuscripts and books; recommendations that he wrote for his colleagues and students; his published articles and papers presented at conferences; and his project files on various topics including museum studies, African philosophy, public scholarship, agency and personhood, and the history of social anthropology.

The records of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) provide researchers with a complete set of documentation focusing on the founding and history of the organization from its inception through the 1960s. The collection measures 79.8 linear feet, and dates from 1895 through 1993, although the bulk of the material falls between 1909 and 1969. Valuable for its coverage of twentieth-century American art history, the collection also provides researchers with fairly comprehensive documentation of the many exhibitions and programs supported and implemented by the AFA to promote and study contemporary American art, both nationally and abroad.

Both Henry John Drewal and Margaret Drewal traveled to Nigeria, Ghana and Togo (West Africa) for extended periods from 1967-1986. During their trips to Nigeria they conducted research into the ritual performance, masking traditions, and traditional sacred rites of the Yoruba people as well as Mami Wata devotes of Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. They are the co-authors of Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba (1993).Both Henry John Drewal and Margaret Drewal traveled to Nigeria, Ghana and Togo (West Africa) for extended periods from 1967-1986. During their trips to Nigeria they conducted research into the ritual performance, masking traditions, and traditional sacred rites of the Yoruba people as well as Mami Wata devotes of Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. They are the co-authors of Gelede: Art and Female Power among the Yoruba (1993). Photographs taken by Henry John and Margaret Thompson Drewal during the 1970s and 1980s of Yoruba and Ewe art and culture.

This accession includes records documenting the production Smithsonian World, an educational television series that explored people, ideas, and events shaping world culture and blending art, science, history, and the humanities to create a harmony among disciplines. The production was narrated by historian David G. McCullough and co-produced ...

This record unit consists of curatorial and staff correspondence and memoranda pertaining to the Tower Concert series, exhibitions at the Hall of Musical Instruments, staff research and publications, organ building, acquisition of musical instruments, and funding for seminars and musical performance recordings. Also included are inquiries ...

These records consist of administrative files from the Department of Astronautics and the Department of Space Science and Exploration. Materials include correspondence, budget materials, exhibit scripts, annual reports, files of former curator Richard Hallion, correspondence of Durant concerning the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astron...

These records document the history and development of the American Society of Mammalogists from the time of its inception through the year 1994. The collection includes a number of early documents, some in the handwriting of the originators, and correspondence, minutes, reports, financial records, audiocassettes, photographs, and other memorab...

These records include administrative files of the Division of Mathematics and its predecessors; Merzbach correspondence with computer industries, university professors, and pioneers or experts in the field of computing science; exhibition scripts, research material, and blueprints for the Hall of Mathematics; Computer History Project research ...

The papers of William Louis Abbott consist of letters to Smithsonian curators and specimen lists, 1892-1917; letters to his mother and sister, 1887-1923; photographs taken by Abbott in the field, 1890-1923; and some miscellaneous material. In describing the individual pieces of this collection, particular attention was paid to material relati...

The papers of art historian E. P. Richardson measure 28.7 linear feet and date from 1814-1996, with the bulk of the materials dating from 1921-1996. Within the papers are scattered biographical materials; acquisition files for Richardson's personal art collection; professional and personal correspondence with colleagues, art historians and critics, artists, museums, galleries, and dealers; numerous writings, including manuscripts and research files for his published books, articles, and lectures; general research notebooks and files compiled by Richardson on a wide variety of art-related topics and artists; professional and committee files; as well as a smaller amount of Constance C. Richardson's papers.