Browse Projects
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13 Total pages
3 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Graphic Arts, 1895 - 1896
If the head of your department was away on a year-long absence, how would you answer the question "any plans which you may have in view for the development of your department?" Help us transcribe the Graphic Arts report from 1895 and 1896 and see how Curator S. R. Koehler's stand-in responded to this question and others from the Director of the United States National Museum.
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11 Total pages
8 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Historical Collections, 1887-1888
What artifacts and objects were considered historically valuable at the end of the 19th century? Perhaps just as importantly, why were they considered important? Help us transcribe this report submitted by the Historical Collections Section of the United States National Museum describing the year's work.
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57 Total pages
14 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Historical Collections, 1889 - 1890
For the 1889 - 1890 period, the Historical Collections section of the United States National Museum acquired a great variety of objects. Captured in monthly reports, you will find reports of acquired medals, a bust of Benjamin Franklin, a soldier's official pardon for his part in "the late rebellion" from the Secretary of State, a gold box presented by Napoleon III and so much more. Join our volunteers in transcribing this series of reports.
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64 Total pages
21 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Historical Collections, 1890 - 1891
The silver-mounted glass flute belonging to President James Madison. A royal account book approved and signed by King Louis XVI. What was it like to build a collection of historical objects for the United States National Museum? The first page of the 1891 report has this note written across the top: "See page 27. Stephen R. Vail." Help us transcribe these curatorial reports learn more about the invaluable objects the Smithsonian was acquiring at the end of the nineteenth century and the importance of this man, Stephen Vail.
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9 Total pages
7 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Historical Collections, 1892 - 1893
What happens when a museum's growing collections no longer fit into its available exhibit spaces? Help us transcribe this curators report and learn about the choices the United States National Museum Historical Collections Section was faced with in 1892 and 1893.
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16 Total pages
7 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Historical Collections, 1893 - 1894
What would you do if you were a curator of the United States National Museum and were presented with the suit President Abraham Lincoln wore the night of his assassination? Discover the challenges this posed to the Historical Collections Section in 1893 and 1894.
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25 Total pages
10 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Historical Collections, 1895 - 1896
How would you decide if something is historically valuable or not? And how would you respond when a critic thinks your choices were wrong? Curator A. H. Clark faced this situation in 1896. Help us transcribe this correspondence and his annual report. Your contributions make it easier for historians and other scholars to use this material in their research.
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15 Total pages
13 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Historical Collections, 1896 - 1897
When collecting relics, a well-documented history is immensely helpful in ascertaining their value and significance. Whether a collection of Chinese empire currencies dating to 770 B.C. or the garrison flag of Fort Moultrie, South Carolina lowered on December 26th, 1860. Please join us in transcribing this report of the Section of Historical Collections of the United States National Museum and learn of the details behind these and other objects in the collections.
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4 Total pages
3 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, 1881
What substances are especially useful as ingredients in medicine? What effect will these "materia medica" have? In 1881, as the United States's first National Museum was in its infancy, its various departments were focused on building authoritative collections that would be useful in building and expanding knowledge. The Museum's curators summarized their departments' work in annual reports. Sometimes they reported more frequently. The Department of Materia Medica's 1881 report is the first in a collection of over 80 years of curators annual reports. Please help us transcribe this first in an extended series of narrative reports and make this popular research collection even more accessible.
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24 Total pages
9 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, 1882
The first United States National Museum opened its doors in 1881. The Civil War had ended fifteen years earlier. The Section of Materia Medica was building an authoritative collection of remedial substances used in the practice of medicine. This Section's curators summarized work in annual, and sometimes monthly, reports. These, together with the annual reports from the other Museum departments, divisions and sections were digested to produce an executive Smithsonian Annual Report. Unlike the brevity required in the senior-level Smithsonian Institution Annual Report, the curators' reports offer a more detailed view into the workings of the museum. Please help us transcribe this second in an extended series of narrative reports and make this popular research collection even more accessible.
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27 Total pages
12 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, 1883
Looking to establish a comprehensive collection of pharmacopoeia? Would you focus on what was native to your local region or include materials from further afield? In 1883, curator J. M. Flint continued his work of building the United States National Museum's Materia Medica collection, including barks from India and oils from Ceylon. This USNM effort was already grabbing the attention of individuals such as the Surgeon General of the Navy, for whom Flint wrote the report at the beginning of this third set of historically valuable reports. Please join us and our digital volunteers in transcribing this material. You can also see Materia Medica Section reports for 1881 and 1882.
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48 Total pages
28 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, 1885 - 1886
What goes into designing a museum exhibit? Presenting information can be done so many different ways, some very engaging, others not so much. Help us to transcribe this 1885-1886 annual report and learn more about the approach the staff of the National Museum's Materia Medica Section went about tackling this challenge. To see the section's reports from other years, see READ MORE.
