Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

07/14/2026

Before he became James Smithson, he was James L. Macie — a young traveler in revolutionary Paris.

For Bastille Day, we’re looking at a May 9, “Year 4” letter Macie wrote from Paris, just a few years after the storming of the Bastille. In it, his words capture a world in motion, as France continued to rethink old systems, public life, and what the future might look like.

Years later, after taking the name Smithson, those ideas of knowledge, progress, and public purpose would take another form: his bequest to the United States to found the Smithsonian Institution for the “increase & diffusion of knowledge.”

From a handwritten letter in Paris to the founding vision of the Smithsonian, collections like these help us connect individual lives, historic events, and the documents that preserve them.

07/10/2026

: Seed Catalogs Were Doing the Most

Before garden centers, plant apps, and panic-searching “why is my basil emotionally unwell,” gardeners turned to seed catalogs to decide what to plant, when to plant it, and which varieties deserved actual garden-bed real estate.

Seed catalogs did more than sell seeds. They helped circulate horticultural knowledge, introduce new plant varieties, document changing tastes in flowers and vegetables, and connect gardeners to broader networks of nursery trade, agriculture, and domestic life. Through vivid illustrations and very persuasive descriptions, catalogs shaped how people imagined abundance, beauty, productivity, and the promise of a well-planned garden.

Our seed catalog collection preserves this history through pages filled with flowers, vegetables, cultivation advice, pricing, seasonal planning, and the occasional tomato described with the confidence of a small miracle.

Because seed catalogs were never just about seeds. They were garden dreams, carefully packaged.

07/07/2026

Happy from the stacks, where chocolate is never just chocolate and yes, somehow, there are footnotes.

Across our collections, chocolate shows up in all kinds of unexpected places — from an 1893 factory illustration and a literary chocolate reference to a trade catalog chocolate bunny and a recipe from our cookbook collections.

These items remind us that chocolate has a history beyond the candy aisle. It has been manufactured, marketed, illustrated, advertised, written about, gifted, cooked with, and preserved in print. Basically, chocolate has range. How sweet of it to be both delicious and historically significant.

Browse the full digitized items online through our digital library — and maybe give the recipe image a try. For research purposes, obviously.

07/02/2026

As America looks toward its 250th anniversary, we’re looking back at the work of caring for history.

These images from our archival collection document conservation work on the Star-Spangled Banner between 1998 and the early 2000s. In them, conservators and museum specialists vacuum the flag in a temporary lab, remove stitches, roll the textile, and carry out the careful hands-on work required to stabilize and preserve one of the nation’s most recognizable symbols.

Because yes, even icons need maintenance. History does not preserve itself.

As Independence Day approaches, we’re reflecting not only on the history we inherit, but on the care, labor, and responsibility required to preserve it for the future.

07/01/2026

Tiny paper. Big civic energy.
Because before democracy had a hashtag, it had postage.

For , we’re looking at "The Americana Series" democracy stamps, issued between 1975 and 1981, from our Smithsonian National Postal Museum Library collections.

At first glance, they’re small, tidy, very stamp-like. Look closer, and they’re doing a lot.

This series pairs everyday civic ideals with the objects and symbols used to represent them: a ballot box for the right to vote, a printing press for freedom of the press, a public school desk for education, the Statue of Liberty for petition and assembly, and a lamp for “liberty enlightens the world.”

Subtle? Not exactly.

But that is the thing about postage stamps. They may be miniature, but they have never been neutral. They circulate images, values, politics, memory, and national identity one envelope at a time. Before something went viral, it got postmarked.

As the country looks toward America's 250, these stamps remind us that democracy is not just something declared once and admired from a safe archival distance. It is printed, mailed, taught, debated, assembled, challenged, protected, and occasionally delivered in 3-cent increments.

Because yes, even democracy has paperwork.

07/01/2026

What do the Declaration of Independence, bison, and baseball all have in common? They tell the American story.

The new activity guide brings together these objects and more from across the Smithsonian to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Download your free copy: https://s.si.edu/CelebrateAmericas250th

P.S. Team bison? Same. You can also visit our "Imagining Bison" exhibition, now on view at the National Museum of Natural History, to explore how this iconic animal has been represented across science, history, and culture.

06/29/2026

06/22/2026

Got family history questions? We know someone you should meet!

On June 27 from 2–4 p.m., join Hollis Gentry Brown at the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum for "Rooted in History: Genealogy for Family Historians".

She will share practical guidance for tracing family history, along with research from "We Make History" on Cupid Plummer, the Revolutionary War ancestor whose family diary helps anchor the exhibition.

This program is presented in collaboration with Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum, and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Register now and bring your curiosity, your family lore, and maybe the relative who always says they are “going to write all this down someday.”

https://s.si.edu/4ceiicl

06/10/2026

We are excited to see Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA) Director Tricia Edwards featured in a recent Q&A from "Antiques and The Arts Weekly"—and highlighted in the Smithsonian Office of Public Affairs media round-up.

In the interview, Tricia reflects on her 20-year Smithsonian career, her approach to leading SLA’s network of libraries and the Smithsonian Institution Archives, and the essential role our staff and collections play in supporting research, education, access, and information literacy.

She also shares what is ahead for SLA, from expanding access to collections and strengthening partnerships to upcoming exhibitions and public programs.

As Tricia emphasizes, collections are only part of the story. It is the librarians, archivists, preservation specialists, program teams, and many others across SLA who make research and discovery possible.

Read the full Q&A at
https://antiquesandthearts.com/qa-tricia-edwards

Tricia Edwards has recently begun her position as director of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA) after serving as the interim director since September 2025. Previously, she was deputy director of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Smithsonian Affiliations, and bef...