The Torch

Last week's news today!

Torch | ICYMI: Highlights from the week of June 28 – July 2, 2021 Jul 06 ICYMI: Highlights from the week of June 28 – July 2, 2021 This is a sampling of approximately 2,210 media clips covering the Smithsonian this week. National Museum of the American Latino Sofia Vergara, Eva Longoria and chef José Andrés named to Latino museum boardThe Washington Post – J...

Are you smart, sciencey and know your way around the media universe? Come work with us!

The Smithsonian Office of Public Affairs is seeking a mid-career science press secretary. This position will work on public affairs activities related to the science museums, research and conservation centers, and the National Zoo and provide professional communications counsel on strategies and plans to ensure coverage in various media outlets. This person also develops and executes comprehensive communications plans for special projects and serves as a member of the OPA crisis communications team.

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, relevant writing samples, and contact information for three references to [email protected] by July 2, 2021.
https://s.si.edu/3hbTgwJ

It’s hard enough starting a new job—finding your way around, getting to know your colleagues, adapting to new responsibilities—but what if you had to do it in the middle of a global pandemic thousands of miles from home?

Torch | Meet Rebecca Johnson: Scientist, cat lover and fearless croc handler Jun 16 Meet Rebecca Johnson: Scientist, cat lover and fearless croc handler It’s hard enough starting a new job—finding your way around, getting to know your colleagues, adapting to new responsibilities—but what if you had to do it in the middle of a global pandemic thousands of miles from hom...

A rose by any other name would still get blight, black spot and aphids (at least in our garden.) Horticulturist Shelley Haskins explains how Smithsonian Gardens is working to grow a kinder, gentler rose.
https://s.si.edu/3ze9RrQ

In celebration of Pride Month, we honor LGBTQ+ women who have made remarkable contributions to the nation and helped advance equality in fields as diverse as medicine and the dramatic arts. Here are a few of their stories:

https://s.si.edu/2Tdj3fJ

GVGK Tang takes us on a fascinating journey through literature, film and politics to trace the origins of the iconic rainbow flag.

Reading the Rainbow: The origins of the Pride Symbol
https://s.si.edu/357eWUW

We're baaaaack! Haven't seen you guys since the last pandemic. So what's been going on the last year?

Torch | All Smithsonian museums will reopen to the public this summer May 26 All Smithsonian museums will reopen to the public this summer Museum reopenings will be staggered beginning in June. I am pleased to announce that we will reopen 10 more museums over the course of the summer, following the successful reopening this month of the National Air and Space Museum.....

“Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground…. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle.”

—Frederick Douglass

https://torch.si.edu/2020/06/struggling-to-make-sense-of-the-senseless-2/

Don't miss the Project Pride live concert from the Smithsonian Pride Alliance, May 31 at 8 p.m.!

How to Watch the Smithsonian Pride Alliance's Free Virtual Concert Catch "Project Pride," featuring performances by Tig Notaro, Rufus Wainwright and Big Freedia, on YouTube this Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern time

A long-lost photograph helps us see an abolitionist icon as young woman just beginning the hard journey to freedom.

Torch | Sidedoor: Young Harriet May 27 Sidedoor: Young Harriet A long-lost photograph helps us see an abolitionist icon as young woman just beginning the hard journey to freedom. In 2017, a photograph of the famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman surfaced that had been lost to history for more than a century. In this episode of Sidedoo...