Archive | New Acquisitions

Modern African basketry joins anthropology collections of National Museum of Natural History

Modern African basketry joins anthropology collections of National Museum of Natural History

Basket making by Botswana women has a long history and it continues to be a robust craft tradition. Over the past three decades it has become increasingly well known in the international craft market. [...more]

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New Acquisition: Lutron Electronics donates 50 years of company history to National Museum of American History

New Acquisition: Lutron Electronics donates 50 years of company history to National Museum of American History

The donation includes an early version of the original solid-state Capri dimmer manufactured by Lutron in September 1964. Also part of the donation is a retail display featuring the fully functional dimmer and other Lutron dimmers and lighting-control systems that show developments at the company over the past 50 years. [...more]

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New Acquisition: Clay vessels by Native American potter Jeri Redcorn added to Smithsonian collections

New Acquisition: Clay vessels by Native American potter Jeri Redcorn added to Smithsonian collections

The Caddo people of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma have maintained many of their traditional ways and actively work to preserve their unique tribal cultural today. One example is the pottery of Jeri Redcorn. [...more]

New Acquisitions, anthropology Comments (0)

New Acquisition: Eighty-thousand bark beetles enter National Museum of Natural History collections

New Acquisition: Eighty-thousand bark beetles enter National Museum of Natural History collections

The Stephen L. Wood collection brings the collection of bark beetles held in the Natural History Museum’s Department of Entomology to an impressive 180,000 specimens, making it one of the most extensive collections in world. [...more]

New Acquisitions, Research Topics, conservation biology, zoology Comments (0)

NEW ACQUISITION: Remains of William Taylor White (1837-1852) donated to Smithsonian with his coffin and clothing

NEW ACQUISITION: Remains of William Taylor White (1837-1852) donated to Smithsonian with his coffin and clothing

White, who was a student at Columbian College from Accomack County, Va., died of pneumonia and complications from a mitral heart defect. When his coffin was unearthed, his identity was a deep mystery. [...more]

New Acquisitions, anthropology Comments (5)

NEW ACQUISITION: From the Bay of Bengal, a dinoflagellate makes its way to the Smithsonian

NEW ACQUISITION: From the Bay of Bengal, a dinoflagellate makes its way to the Smithsonian

It’s not an exaggeration to say Hedrick was ecstatic when she peered into her inverted phase contrast microscope and found "Amphisolenia quadrispina" floating in her sample. “For 20 years I’ve been hoping to see something like this,” she says. [...more]

New Acquisitions, zoology Comments (1)

Meteorite that fell in Lorton, Va., identified by Smithsonian scientists

Meteorite that fell in Lorton, Va., identified by Smithsonian scientists

A meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Lorton, Va., doctors’ office on Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 was recently identified by scientists in the Division of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Local newspapers reported that thousands of people from southern New Jersey to southwestern Virginia witnessed the meteorite streak [...] [...more]

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New acquisition: A circular slide rule called an “omnimetre,” invented in 1891

New acquisition: A circular slide rule called an “omnimetre,” invented in 1891

As its name suggests, the omnimetre was designed to carry out numerous operations of arithmetic and trigonometry, says Peggy Kidwell, curator of mathematics at the Smithsonian. “It has scales for multiplication, division and common logarithms, as well as squares, cubes, and fifth powers of numbers.” In his own words, Sexton called his circular invention a “quite useful and inexpensive slide rule.” [...more]

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Yellow lady’s slippers, watercolor by Kathleen Garness, from the National Museum of Natural History exhibit “Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World,” opening Aug. 14. The exhibition, a collaborative effort between the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Natural History Museum, showcases botanical illustrations and features work from several renowned artists, including Alice Tangerini, one of the Smithsonian’s acclaimed scientific illustrators.

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