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104 Total pages
25 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, 1886-1887
Since the opening of the United States National Museum in 1881, the Materia Medica Section had dutifully submitted reports of its activity, sometimes as frequently as monthly. In the Summer of 1887, we find an extensive annual report of the previous year's activity together with interim reports. Please join us in transcribing this material and learn more about the role these curators and their collections played in the work of acquiring and disseminating knowledge. For other USNM Curators Annual Reports, see READ MORE below.
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9 Total pages
5 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, 1887-1888
Unlike the previous year, the responsibility for the Materia Medica Section's annual report this time fell to James M. Flint, a doctor in the United States Navy and honorary curator. You will find it much shorter than the previous year's report, perhaps because the Section was without a head curator for over five months. Join other volunteers and discover what transpired in the fiscal year of 1887-1888. For other USNM Curators Annual Reports projects, see READ MORE below.
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16 Total pages
10 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, 1889-1890
Today, it is easy to take typescript for granted. However, can you image what a relief it must have been for Spencer Fullerton Baird, Assistant Smithsonian Secretary and Director of the National Museum. Baird had a voluminous correspondence with authorities across the United States and abroad as he worked to develop the national collection. This annual report from the Materia Medica Section was typed. A hint of things to come. Please join us in transcribing this curatorial annual report.
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9 Total pages
8 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Materia Medica, January - June 1885
Spring is, to some, a time to re-energize, re-focus and tackle some projects. For the staff of the Materia Medica Section of the United States National Museum, their monthly reports give some insight on how they approached the numerous tasks for which they were responsible in the Spring of 1885. In the midst of this, the section also worked on "physiological experiments" of the impact of different substances. Join us in transcribing these reports and discover what was happening behind the scenes in that Spring in this section of the U.S. National Museum. For a list of other USNM Curators Annual Reports projects, READ MORE.
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3 Total pages
3 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Physical Apparatus, 1890 - 1891
Have you ever had to organize what someone else has left behind? In 1846, physicist Joseph Henry was appointed as the founding Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Guiding the Institution through its initial decades, he also continued to conduct and promote scientific research, acquiring a sizable amount of physical apparatus for use in studies of electricity and sound. Join other volunteers in transcribing this first report of the National Museum's curator of physical apparatus to see how he tackled this challenge and others as well.
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28 Total pages
6 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Technological Collections, 1888-1889
When you go to the National Museum of American History today, you can expect to see an exhibit detailing the development of U.S. transportation. In 1888 this was a brand-new concept, and the talk of the Smithsonian's technological collections department. Help other volunteers transcribe this report and learn more about what the Technological Collections curator described as "an object lesson of the development, step by step, of our great systems of transportation," the first yet of its kind.
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19 Total pages
3 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Technological Collections, 1889-1890
Steam engines have been an important piece of American technological development for centuries--and in 1889, the Smithsonian acquired the first steam engine built on the Western Continent. Learn more about this acquisition and other additions to the Smithsonian's Technological Collection in this annual curator's report--and help us transcribe it!
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24 Total pages
8 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Technological Collections, 1890 - 1891
Can you imagine what it would be like to have your father's invention on display at the Smithsonian? This was the year Mary Henry deposited the original electro-magnetic engine designed by her father in 1831. Fifteen years after designing this remarkable device, Dr. Joseph Henry became the Institution's first Secretary. Help us transcribe this annual report from curator J. Elfreth Watkins and learn more about the work his Section did to grow and care for the Technological Collections.
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22 Total pages
8 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Technological Collections, 1891 - 1892
Just like antique cars are difficult to come by nowadays, examples of early railroad and steamboat technology were hard to come by in 1892 when curator J. Elfreth Watkins and the Technological Collections Section were working to acquire examples of the complete timeline for the United States National Museum. Join our digital volunteers and help us transcribe this curator's account of how the Section addressed this challenge and other tasks between July, 1891 and June, 1892.
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15 Total pages
9 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Technological Collections, 1892 - 1893
The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, or Chicago World's Fair, consumed a great deal of curator J. Elfreth Watkin's time and attention in 1892 having been given the responsibility of putting together an exhibit on railroad technology featuring the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Help us transcribe his detailed account of the work that year, including other related exhibits at the Fair.
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13 Total pages
5 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Technological Collections, 1893 - 1894
In 1894, the United States National Museum's section heads were asked to submit their annual reports as responses to a questionnaire rather than the narrative report submitted in years past. Join us in transcribing this year's brief report to the Director of the National Museum from the Section of Technological Collections.
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17 Total pages
9 Contributing members
USNM Curators Annual Reports - Technological Collections, 1894 - 1895
After two years away working on exhibit preparations for the 1893 World's Columbian Fair, J. E. Watkins returns to his role as Curator of Technological Collections at the United States National Museum. In due course, it falls to him to prepare the section's annual report. Join other volunteers to help us transcribe the 1895 Technological Collections Section report and see the highlights of the museum's past year from his perspective.
