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.

The papers of caricaturist and illustrator Alfred J. Frueh measure 7.7 linear feet and 3.18 GB and date from circa 1880-2010. These papers consist of biographical information, including a sound recording of reminiscences about Frueh by his children; correspondence that includes many illustrated letters and greeting cards; notes and writings; numerous caricature sketches, cartoons, and 25 sketchbooks by Frueh; printed and digital material; and photographs of Frueh and his artwork. There is a 2.3 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated 2020 that includes bound and unbound scrapbooks and loose newspaper and magazine clippings of caricatures by Frueh from the New Yorker and other publications, circa 1920-1940.

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.

Collection documents the career of noted American jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie, through a donation from his former manager, Charles Fishman.

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 accession consists of records of the Herpetologists' League, a professional society for persons engaged in the study of reptiles and amphibians. These records represent the first effort of the League to pull their records together into one repository, in order to document the history of the organization. The accession includes corresponde...

This collection contains the professional papers of William Curtis Sturtevant and documents his activities as Curator of North American Ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History, his work as the editor-in-chief of the Handbook of North American Indians, his research among the Seminole and Iroquois people, and other professional activities. The collection is comprised of books, sound recordings, research and field notes, realia, artifacts, clippings, microfilm, negatives, slides, photographs, manuscripts, correspondence, memorandums, card files, exhibition catalogs, articles, and bibliographies.

This accession consists of correspondence documenting the research of Diptera (flies), specimen identification and loans, and professional activities of F. Christian Thompson. Some materials predate 1963, when the department was the Division of Insects. Materials include correspondence, notes, drawings, memoranda, agreements, proposals, b...

These papers document much of the career of Wilcomb E. Washburn (WEW), the greater part of it spent on the staff of the Smithsonian Institution as a curator at the National Museum of American History and as director of the Office of American Studies. The papers include correspondence, draft and finished scholarly and popular articles, and...

This accession consists of correspondence created or maintained by Donald R. Davis, Curator, 1961- , and Chair, Department of Entomology, 1976-1981. Topics covered include Lepidoptera (moths, butterflies) research, specimen identification and loans, and professional activities. Some materials predate 1963, when the department was the Divi...