Smithsonian

Today, we settle for chatting over dating apps. Back in the 19th century, Americans were sending their crushes custom perfume bottles with their own faces on it.

Dr. Tamir Williams, Curatorial Fellow for African American Photography at our Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery, breaks down the tintype, a form of photography that became popular and widely accessible in the 1860s and '70s.



This story focuses on Smithsonian American Art Museum's early photography collection with objects acquired from the L. J. West Collection, the Dr. Robert L. Drapkin Collection, Mitchell and Nancy Steir, and Charles Isaacs.

One in every three bites of food you eat depends on pollinators! 🪲

Heard the buzz? Our Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian Digitization Program Office are digitizing 325,000 insect pollinator specimens with a custom conveyor system. Large swaths of the museum’s bees, flies, butterflies, and beetles will be even more accessible to researchers around the world.

With these collections available online, researchers will be able to identify new species, understand population changes over time, and make informed conservation decisions that can help protect these important species for future generations.

Save the date! Curator of Flies Dr. Torsten Dikow will be sharing a behind-the-scenes look at the Pinned Insect Digitization Conveyor at the National Museum of Natural History on July 14. https://s.si.edu/4nPkn2l

What would you create after visiting an art museum?

When cake artist Jill Nguyen () took a tour of our  museum, these textured stained-glass windows, titled “Peacocks and Peonies I and II” by John La Farge inspired her next culinary creation. Using candied fruits, Jill recreated the colorful glass LaFarge created with his  “broken jewel technique.”

Program specialist Jess McFadden explained that the  technique adds depth and texture to an otherwise flat surface. It’s most notable in the peacock’s tails, where small pieces of glass are layered to emulate feathers. 

 

🦚: John La Farge, “Peacocks and Peonies I and II,” 1882, stained glass window, frame: 112 x 51 1/4 x 6 1/2 in. (284.5 x 130.3 x 16.5 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Henry A. La Farge, 1936.12.2

NBC News correspondent Ryan Nobles gets an exclusive first look inside the Smithsonian Castle as the ground floor reopens to the public for the first time in three years. Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch also offers a sneak peek at the upcoming American Aspirations exhibit honoring America’s 250th anniversary. "What I want is people to be able to think about how history is as much about today and tomorrow as it is yesterday, and that the 250th is an opportunity to remember, to reflect and to come together as a nation," says Bunch.

Have you ever recreated an old family recipe? 🍰

Special delivery! When cake artist Justin Ellen ( ) visited our , education specialist Phoebe Sherman not only shared interesting objects that were sent through the mail but also historic recipes.

Inspired, Justin recreated a recipe found in an old post office’s account book. Featured on the cake are just a few of the museum’s collections Justin explored during his visit.

Can’t get enough of these museum-inspired cakes? Tune in this time next week to see a cake that is pane-stakingly beautiful.

Vivacious, outgoing, and strategic, Dolley Madison created the role of First Lady as we know it today. When her husband became President of the United States in 1809, she already had experience as an honorary hostess for President Thomas Jefferson.

Dolley Madison’s mark on Washington, D.C. cannot be overstated. Straddling both political and social circles, Madison’s Wednesday-night receptions at the White House were at the epicenter of Washington society. When the British attacked the White House in 1814, she famously arranged to save Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington.AT her funeral in 1849, President Zachary Taylor remarked that she was “the first lady of the land for half a century.”

In this video, ’s senior curator of photographs Ann Shumard explains why this 1846 daguerreotype is one of a kind!

🖼️: 1846 Daguerreotype of Dolley Madison taken by John Plumbe Jr, a prominent entrepreneur turned photographer. In the collection of our .

Other featured images:
1️⃣ “Mrs. James Madison” copy after Gilbert Stuart, print, 1855. In the collection of our .
2️⃣ “James Madison” by Thomas Sully, derived from Gilbert Stuart, 1809. In the collection of .
3️⃣ Daguerreotype of Frederick Douglass, c.1847. In the collection of our .
4️⃣ Daguerreotype of Jenny Lind by Thomas Faris, 1851. In the collection of our .
5️⃣ “Young Man Looking at a Daguerreotype,” 1855. In the collection of our .