Browse Projects
100% Complete
41 Total pages
16 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1886 - 1887
What is a day like for the United States National Museum’s curator for the Department of Mammals? What happens behind-the-scenes to build a collection or a new exhibition? Learn more from F. W. True, the curator of the department, who gives a review of the 1886-87 activities, from new accessions to new floor cases. Then, help transcribe this pieces of Smithsonian history!
100% Complete
33 Total pages
12 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1887-1888
In 1887, curator Frederick W. True and the Department of Mammals staff was busy preparing for the upcoming Cincinnati Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States. One hundred and thirty years later, this exhibition became the key in solving an archival mystery. Learn more about the exhibition (and how it connects to a previously unidentified bison painting in our collection) with this 1887-88 annual curator’s report. Then, help us transcribe—it could help solve future collections questions!
100% Complete
24 Total pages
9 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1888-1889
In 1888, curator for the U.S. National Museum’s Department of Mammals Frederick W. True described the department as receiving “more important additions than, perhaps, during any other year.” What types of specimen were added to the museum’s collection? How did they come to the Smithsonian? Find out with this set of annual curator’s reports—and join in on transcribing!
100% Complete
87 Total pages
15 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1889-1890
"The accessions of the year were of more than ordinary interest. Among the exotic mammals ..." So starts curator Frederick W. True's annual report from the Department of Mammals. What was an "exotic" mammal in the 1890's? This report includes species from Mt. Kilimanjaro and Angola, describes arrangements to trade collections with museums overseas and more. Still the year was not without its minor hurdles. Please join us in transcribing this to make the contents more accessible to today's researchers and historians.
100% Complete
38 Total pages
11 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1890-1891
A good year in a growing museum can mean many different things: valuable new accessions, research discoveries, new exhibits, more visitors and so on. However, the tally at the end of the year does little to reveal the challenges experienced throughout the year, challenges that made the year-end results so significant. Curator Frederick W. True had the responsibility of summing up the accomplishments of the Department of Mammals in 1891 for the Director of the United States National Museum. Please help us transcribe his report.
100% Complete
15 Total pages
9 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1893-1894
In 1894, information management was already a challenge for the Smithsonian's Assistant Secretary G. Brown Goode. The United States National Museum had been open to the public for 13 years and the growth in its collections and activities had not slackened. Keeping track of the curators' progress was hindered by the freeform styles of their respective reports. So a standard set of questions was set out as a template for the annual reports. Join us and other volunteers as we transcribe Frederick W. True's effort to use this template in his 1894 report.
100% Complete
36 Total pages
11 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1894-1895
For the Department of Mammals, 1895 offered a special opportunity to bring its collections to a global audience at the Cotton States and International Exposition. Special buildings were erected for the different nations, yet exhibit space was still in short supply. How did the department choose specimens to exhibit? What other factors went into this temporary offsite exhibit? Please help us transcribe curator Frederick W. True's report of the planning and preparations for this event as well as the normal activity of his museum department.
100% Complete
15 Total pages
13 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1895-1896
While the Curator was away in Atlanta focused on the Cotton States and International Exposition, he lost both his assistant and the curator in charge of exhibits. Help us transcribe Frederick W. True's annual report describing the activities of the year and the impact of this loss on the work of his department.
100% Complete
12 Total pages
14 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Mammals, 1896-1897
Fifteen years after the United States National Museum opened to the public, the growth of the Department of Mammals collections was slowing noticeably. Still, specimens of newly discovered species were being obtained such as the Pygmy African Flying Squirrel, now known as the Pygmy Scaly-tailed Flying Squirrel (Idiurus zenkeri) from Cameroon. Please join us in transcribing this report to learn more about the valuable acquisitions and curator Frederick W. True's recommendations for rectifying the downward trend.
100% Complete
251 Total pages
38 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Department of Prehistoric Anthropology, 1885 - 1889
What is prehistoric anthropology? In the waning years of the nineteenth century, what was the focus of scientists and scholars engaged in this field of study? This second set of four annual reports describe the work of the curatorial staff in this department, their challenges and accomplishments and the strategic opportunities they thought the Smithsonian should pursue. Please help us to transcribe these reports and make them more easily accessible to researchers delving into the expansion of nineteenth century American Science and its part in worldwide scientific advancement.
100% Complete
6 Total pages
9 Contributing members
USNM CURATORS ANNUAL REPORTS - Department of Prehistoric Anthropology: Annual Report, 1881
The Smithsonian’s Department of Prehistoric Anthropology entered 516 new specimens into its catalogue over a span of just three months, from October to December of 1881! Among those hundreds of new accessions, what were the curator’s stand-out pieces and what stories did these specimens tell? Find out more with the department’s annual curator’s report and help transcribe this piece of Smithsonian history!
100% Complete
80 Total pages
23 Contributing members
USNM CURATORS ANNUAL REPORTS - Department of Prehistoric Anthropology: Annual Report, 1882
From its very beginnings, the Smithsonian has accepted donated specimens from scientists and the public. As its collections grew—with the US National Museum building officially opening in 1881—items in the display cases often had histories detailing how they came to Washington, D.C. Learn the stories behind some of these objects—sent from professors in England, from scientists in Costa Rica, and citizens across the United States—in the Smithsonian’s Department of Prehistoric Anthropology 1882 annual curator’s report.
