Smithsonian Institution
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[edit] Address and Contact Info
Address: 1000 Jefferson Dr., SW, Washington, DC 20560
Phone: (202) 633-1000
TTY: (202) 357-1729 (between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily)
Web page: http://smithsonian.org/
Acting Secretary: Cristián Samper
Online Finding Aid: http://www.sil.si.edu/research/
Archivists (principal contacts for advice on the collection):
[edit] Hours and usage restrictions
[edit] Collection Summary
History collections at the Smithsonian Institution are located in many program areas. In particular, the National Museum of American History, specializing in the nation’s scientific, technological, and cultural heritage; the National Air and Space Museum, devoted to the history and development of air and space technology; and the National Anthropological Archives at the National Museum of Natural History are the most prominent repositories on the Mall. In addition, the National Portrait Gallery, with its Catalog of American Portraits and the Charles Willson Peale Project; the National Museum of the American Indian; the National Postal Museum; and the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture are devoted to collecting, researching, and exhibiting aspects of American history. Several offices and archives document subjects or disciplines within the larger context of American history, including the Office of Architectural History and Historic Preservation; the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage; the Archives of American Art with repositories in New York City, San Marino, California, and Washington, D.C.; the Smithsonian Institution Archives and the Joseph Henry Papers Project; and the Office of Horticulture’s Archives of American Gardens. Important source materials can also be found at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which maintains the online Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, the Pre-1877 Art Exhibition Catalogue Index, and the Peter A. Juley and Son Photograph Collection; Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (modern and contemporary art); the National Museum of African Art; the Freer Gallery of Art (Asian and a specialized collection of American art); and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Asian art from Neolithic times to the present).
There are archives in many of the museums and research centers mentioned above. In addition, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries serves the research interests of the institution and the public online at http://www.sil.si.edu and with its 20 branches (including the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology) that are located throughout the Washington, D.C., area; in Edgewater and Suitland, Maryland; in New York City; and in the Republic of Panama. The libraries’ collections number more than 1.5 million volumes, including 50,000 rare books and 6,500 journal subscriptions, over 2,000 online journals, 186,000 microfiche and film items, and more than 10,000 manuscript units.
[edit] Usage Discussion
Suggestions for approaching the material:
Housing and getting by for less in the area:
