Smithsonian

Bern Dibner: Electrical Engineer, Industrialist, and Historian of Science

March 23, 2026 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

In 1903, Ashkenazi Jews in Ukraine suffered systemic discrimination and severe poverty. Brutally enforcing residency laws, officers conducted nighttime raids and expelled those who lacked proper paperwork. A wave of (state-sanctioned) antisemitic attacks throughout the Russian Empire caused panic and displacement.

This persecution preceded the terrifying pogrom in Kyiv (Kiev) in October 1905. By that time, the Dibner family, like many fellow Jews, had fled from repression to New York City and settled in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. [Read more…] about Bern Dibner: Electrical Engineer, Industrialist, and Historian of Science

Carol Kammen: Like It Or Not, History Isn’t Rosy

September 4, 2025 by Carol Kammen 2 Comments

The White House has issued complaints about the history on display in our national museums, complaining that it is too negative, that it portrays the past as a place of hurt.

Yet, I would argue that historians, those in the academic world, museum directors, and local historians have been doing their job — and doing it well. [Read more…] about Carol Kammen: Like It Or Not, History Isn’t Rosy

Gideon Hawley: Advocate for Common Schools in New York State

November 11, 2024 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Although born in Connecticut in 1785, Gideon Hawley’s family moved to the Town of Ballston in Saratoga County, NY, in 1794 and four years later relocated to a farm in the nearby Town of Charlton.

Gideon worked on the family farm until 1804 when in his own words “too infirm in health for farming,” he entered the newly established Ballston Academy to prepare for college. [Read more…] about Gideon Hawley: Advocate for Common Schools in New York State

1776 Gunboat Philadelphia: A Revolutionary War Roadside Attraction

October 14, 2024 by Anthony F. Hall 1 Comment

In 2026, the US will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. That year, the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History will unveil a new display interpreting the 54-foot 1776 gunboat Philadelphia, built for Benedict Arnold at Whitehall and the oldest surviving ship of the US Navy. [Read more…] about 1776 Gunboat Philadelphia: A Revolutionary War Roadside Attraction

Joseph Henry’s Summer Respite in Saratoga County

July 27, 2024 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Some people may recognize Albany native Joseph Henry as that of an imminent scientist of the 19th century, who helped establish the fledgling United States as having experimental and theoretical scientists just as skilled and serious as those in Europe.

Others may know he was the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, the Washington, D.C. organization that oversees the nation’s federal museums and research centers. His scientific work was so important that a measurement of electromagnetic induction – the Henry – is named for him. [Read more…] about Joseph Henry’s Summer Respite in Saratoga County

Smithsonian Institution’s ‘Voices and Votes’ Traveling Exhibition Now In New York

April 5, 2024 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Preservation Long Island is the first venue in New York State to host “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America,” a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition that offers a broad look at the nearly 250-year-old American experiment of a government “of, by and for the people.” The exhibition includes art and artifacts drawn from Preservation Long Island and other local collections. [Read more…] about Smithsonian Institution’s ‘Voices and Votes’ Traveling Exhibition Now In New York

Treaties Between the US & American Indian Nations

July 26, 2023 by Dr. Liz Covart Leave a Comment

In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, David Penney, Associate Director of Museum Scholarship, Exhibitions, and Public Engagement at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), joins Liz Covart to talk about the NMAI’s exhibit called Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States & American Indian Nations. [Read more…] about Treaties Between the US & American Indian Nations

Cremona to Central Park: Stradivari & Nahan Franko’s Legacy

March 28, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 2 Comments

Musician Nicola Matteis arrived in London in the early 1670s. Describing himself as “Napolitano,” he was the first Baroque violinist of note active in the capital. Very much his own promoter, he published his Arie diverse per il violin in 1676, a collection of 120 pieces for solo violin. A second extended edition with an English title-page appeared two years later. In 1685, he published the third and fourth parts of the famous Ayres for the Violin.

Matteis is credited with changing English taste for violin from the French to the Italian style of playing. Soon after, attention shifted from performer to instrument which sparked a veritable cult of Cremonese violins. The name Stradivari became a metaphor for perfection attained by a combination of individual genius, skill and attention to detail. [Read more…] about Cremona to Central Park: Stradivari & Nahan Franko’s Legacy

First Vote: A Letter from MANY’s Erika Sanger

February 26, 2023 by Erika Sanger Leave a Comment

I don’t remember who was on the ballot the first time I voted, but I remember the challenge of finding my polling place – a community meeting room in the basement of an apartment building – on a rainy night in New York City.

The room was lit with flickering fluorescent bulbs and the floor was covered with gray linoleum tile. It took the poll volunteer who sat on a metal folding chair behind a metal folding table a long time to find me in a very large register. [Read more…] about First Vote: A Letter from MANY’s Erika Sanger

Restless Roamer: James Smithson’s Final Journey

January 29, 2023 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

A descendant of Dutch settlers, Jacob Aaron Westervelt began his career in 1814 as an apprentice in Christian Bergh’s shipyard at the point of land on the East River known as Corlears Hook. He left his employer in 1835 to start his own operation along the river. Over a period of three decades, the yard produced 234 vessels.

One of Jacob’s first commissions in 1836 was to build the packet boat Mediator for John Griswold’s Black X Line. Founded in 1823, its ships ran between New York and London displaying a house flag with a black X on a red background. [Read more…] about Restless Roamer: James Smithson’s Final Journey

Space History With Smithsonian’s Head Space Historian

August 14, 2020 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

This week on The Historians Podcast, Margaret Weitekamp is the guest. Weitekamp chairs the space history department at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. and is the author of Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America’s First Women in Space Program. [Read more…] about Space History With Smithsonian’s Head Space Historian

Smithsonian Offers ‘Talking About Race’ Portal

July 9, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

In a short essay published earlier this week in Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institute Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch wrote that the recent killing in Minnesota of George Floyd has forced the country to “confront the reality that, despite gains made in the past 50 years, we are still a nation riven by inequality and racial division.” [Read more…] about Smithsonian Offers ‘Talking About Race’ Portal

BFW Road Trip: Washington, D.C., NMAAHC

July 31, 2019 by Dr. Liz Covart Leave a Comment

Not all historians publish their findings about history in books and articles. Some historians convey knowledge about history to the public in public spaces and in public ways.

In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Lonnie Bunch, the Founding Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of how historians do history for the public. [Read more…] about BFW Road Trip: Washington, D.C., NMAAHC

NYS Museum: New Deal Artists Exhibit Opens

October 23, 2012 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

A new exhibition — 1934: A New Deal for Artists — has opened at the New York State Museum showcasing paintings created against the backdrop of the Great Depression with the support of the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), the first federal government program to support the arts nationally.

During the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a “new deal for the American people,” initiating government programs to foster economic recovery. Roosevelt’s pledge to help “the forgotten man” also embraced America’s artists. [Read more…] about NYS Museum: New Deal Artists Exhibit Opens

Local Museums Offer Free Admission Saturday

September 23, 2010 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Saturday, September 25, 2010, museums around New York State will participate in the sixth annual Museum Day, presented by Smithsonian magazine.

A celebration of culture, learning, and the dissemination of knowledge, Smithsonian’s Museum Day reflects the spirit of the magazine, and emulates the free-admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, DC-based institutions. Doors will be open free of charge to Smithsonian readers and www.Smithsonian.com visitors at museums and cultural institutions nationwide.

Museum Day 2010 is poised to be the largest to date, outdoing last year’s record-breaking event. Over 300,000 museum-goers and 1,300 venues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participated in Museum Day 2009. Last year, two million visitors logged on to www.smithsonian.com/museumday to learn more about the program.

Attendees must present the Museum Day Admission Card to gain free entry to participating institutions. Visit www.Smithsonian.com/museumdayto download your Museum Day Admission Card. Each card provides museum access for two people, and one admission card is permitted per household. Listings and links to participating museums’ and sponsors’ web sites can also be found at the site. The complete list of participating museums in new York State is located here.

Free Admission to Nearly 100 NY Museums Saturday

September 25, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

This Saturday, September 26, 2008, nearly 100 museums in New York State will participate in Smithsonian magazine’s fifth annual Museum Day. Museum Day is an opportunity for museums and cultural institutions nationwide to open their doors free of charge. A celebration of culture, learning and the dissemination of knowledge, Smithsonian’s Museum Day reflects the spirit of the magazine, and emulates the free-admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, D.C. – based museums.

Last year, more then 200,000 people attended Museum Day. All fifty states plus Puerto Rico were represented by 900 participating museums. This year, the magazine expects to attract over 1000 museums. Established New York institutions like the New York State Museum, the Adirondack Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Museum of the City of New York, The Museum at Bethel Woods, The Iroquois Indian Museum, and more, will all take part this year. A complete list of New York museums that are participating is located here.

Museum visitors must present Smithsonian magazine’s Museum Day Admission Card to
gain free entry to participating institutions. The Museum Day Admission
Card is available for free download at Smithsonian.com.

A New Decorative Objects Online Resource

February 25, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Smithsonian has announced online access to the E. F. Caldwell & Co. Collection which “contains more than 50,000 images consisting of approximately 37,000 black & white photographs and 13,000 original design drawings of lighting fixtures and other fine metal objects that they produced from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries.”

According to the site: Edward F. Caldwell & Co., of New York City, was the premier designer and manufacturer of electric light fixtures and decorative metalwork from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries. Founded in 1895 by Edward F. Caldwell (1851-1914) and Victor F. von Lossberg (1853-1942), the firm’s legacy of highly crafted creations includes custom made metal gates, lanterns, chandeliers, ceiling and wall fixtures, floor and table lamps, and other decorative objects that can be found today in many metropolitan area churches, public buildings, offices, clubs, and residences. A majority of these buildings were built in the early 20thcentury, a time of tremendous growth in construction and when many cities were being electrified for the first time.

The New York Public Library has additional materials [pdf].

Smithsonian

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