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4 Total pages
4 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Report - Materia Medica, 1895 - 1896
Are you the kind of person who like a challenge? When someone tells you there's no way to learn more about a subject, do you respond by searching for new ways to approach it, persisting until you find a way? Join our volunteers in transcribing the Materia Medica Section's typed annual report for 1895 - 1896 to see how they responded to a similar situation.
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13 Total pages
5 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Report - Materia Medica, 1896 - 1897
If you ran a museum, what would you make of a very short annual report from one of the divisions of your museum? If you asked specific questions and did not get much information back, would you wonder if you were asking the right questions or wonder if they were working on projects and publications that took more than a year to complete?. Help us transcribe the Section's 1896 - 1897 annual report to the Director of the United States National Museum as part of the full set the Materia Medica curators' annual reports.
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18 Total pages
6 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Report - National Gallery of Art, 1912-13
Ten permanent accessions, comprised of oil paintings and pastel drawings: a few of the many pieces that would become the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection of 43,000 artworks. Go back to the beginnings of the Smithsonian's interest in art--and see how this world-renowned collection began--with this set of 1912-13 curator's reports from the National Gallery of Art. What was then called a National Gallery eventually became the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. Join other digital volunteers and help transcribe this fascinating report for future art historians!
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15 Total pages
6 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Report - National Gallery of Art, 1915-16
Did you know that the famous Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, which opened in 1970, had its start more than 50 years earlier? And the origins of that bridge began with an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Gallery of Art! The exhibition on bridge designs was one of many that was held in 1916--see what else went on display that year with this set of 1915-16 curator's reports from the National Gallery of Art! The gallery eventually became the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. Join other digital volunteers and help transcribe this fascinating report for future art historians!
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42 Total pages
12 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Report - National Gallery of Art, 1917-18
If you were thinking about creating a new art museum, how would you start planning? What space would you need, and what kind of collections would you want to build? Those were questions being asked at the Smithsonian's National Gallery of Art in 1917-18. The museum, which would become the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, was still in development. Their goal, as described in this set of Curator's Reports, was to display "the evolution of art in much detail and in a manner never undertaken by any museum." See how the National Gallery of Art undertook that challenge, and join other volunteers in transcribing this fascinating report!
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11 Total pages
8 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Report - National Gallery of Art, 1918-19
The Smithsonian American Art Museum collection now holds approximately 43,000 artworks, but how did that world-renowned collection start? With a number of notable accessions. The Harriet Lane Johnston collection, which renewed the Smithsonian's interest in art, was just one of many important gifts and acquisitions. See what other artworks were added to the collection with this set of 1918-1919 annual curator's reports from the National Gallery of Art. This set of notes documents the progress for developing what is now the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. Help transcribe this fascinating report for future art history and museum researchers!
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11 Total pages
8 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Report - National Gallery of Art, 1919-20
The Smithsonian American Art Museum collection now holds approximately 43,000 artworks, but how did that world-renowned collection start? Part of the story is told with one line in a 1903 will, bequeathing a small collection to a "national gallery of art." The Harriet Lane Johnston collection renewed the Smithsonian's interest in art--see how that progressed, with this set of 1919-20 annual curator's reports from the National Gallery of Art. This set of notes documents the progress for developing what is now the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. Help transcribe this fascinating report for future art history and museum researchers!
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18 Total pages
10 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, 1884
Like everything else, staff and responsibilities change over time. New staff typically call attention to overlooked or low priority areas that, in their opinion, need more attention and resources. In 1884, responsibility for the Materia Medica Section's annual report shifts from curator James M. Flint to honorary curator Henry G. Beyer, U.S.N. His December report provides an review of the work over the past three years and his thoughts on what the collection should used for going further. Help us transcribe the Section's 1884 reports and discover Beyer's thoughts about the future of this valuable collection.
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101 Total pages
28 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Birds: Annual and Monthly Reports 1883
Two years after the opening of the United States National Museum, space was already weighing on the minds of the curators. As part of his annual report, curator Robert Ridgway includes a letter to second Secretary Spencer Baird asking for changes to be made in the allocation of space after his careful study of what we now refer to as the Arts & Industries building. Join us in this transcription project and see the remarkable growth the Museum was undergoing through Ridgway's annual and monthly reports.
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126 Total pages
22 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Birds: Annual and Monthly Reports 1891 - 1892
"In addition to the regular routine work of the Department, which of itself is too complicated to admit ..., the following special work was accomplished during the year." With these words, curator Robert Ridgway (1850-1929) began his annual report to G. Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum. Thankfully, Ridgway's monthly reports cover the work that is "too complicated." Help us transcribe Ridgway's reports to shed some more light on the activities of the Department of Birds in 1891-1892.
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82 Total pages
28 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Birds: Annual and Monthly Reports 1894 - 1895
With the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 behind him, Curator Robert Ridgway's attention returned to the collections of birds at the United States National Museum and its mission to acquire and disseminate knowledge. Help us transcribe these reports to the Smithsonian's Assistant Secretary G. Brown Goode and see how Ridgway planned to enhance the public exhibits as well as the national collections.
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86 Total pages
17 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Birds: Annual and Monthly Reports, 1892-1893
What could bring the work of a museum department to a virtual standstill - for almost a year? In 1893, the World's Columbian Exposition was planned to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's first landing in the New World. The United States National Museum Department of Birds was tasked with preparing an exhibit for what came to be known later as the Chicago World's Fair. There were only two problems: not enough taxidermists and not enough specimens. Please join us in transcribing curator Robert Ridgway's annual and monthly reports to get the inside story and make it easier to search.
