SUMMER 2014 INSIDE: VANISHED BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA CONNECTSMITHSONIAN LIBRARIES CONTENTS DIRECTOR’S CORNER .............................................................................................4 FEATURES ....................................................................................................................5 !e Importance of Conserving Books ..............................................................5 Brilliant Watercolors Light Up the Dibner Library ........................................6 18th Dibner Library Lecture Manuscript Published .......................................7 Artwork Culled From the Collections Proves !at No One Will Ever Be As Fashionable As the French ......................................8 EXHIBITIONS ..............................................................................................................10 Once !ere Were Billions: A New Exhibit Puts Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon, on Display ...............................................10 !e Feather Trade and the American Conservation Movement ...................12 A Chat with the Libraries’ Exhibitions Guru ...................................................13 !e Lost Bird Project ...........................................................................................14 Fold the Flock .......................................................................................................15 WOMEN OF THE SMITHSONIAN: HISTORICAL CONTRIBUTIONS ........16 Jane Wadden Turner, Smithsonian Librarian and Pioneer .............................16 Women in Research .............................................................................................17 TRADE LITERATURE ................................................................................................18 Trade Lit: 100+ Years of American Sales, Marketing, and Manufacturing History ................................................................................18 STAFF ON THE MOVE ..............................................................................................20 Founding Librarian Appointed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture .......................................20 Polly Khater Named Assistant Director for Discovery Services ....................20 A Fond Farewell! ..................................................................................................21 Libraries Shares Research ...................................................................................21 Passing of the Torch .............................................................................................21 EVENTS ........................................................................................................................22 FROM OUR LIBRARIES ............................................................................................24 National Postal Museum Library: Philatelic Literature Review ....................24 Biodiversity Heritage Library .............................................................................25 GIFTS .............................................................................................................................26 !e Rollyn Osterweis Krichbaum Memorial Program Fund for the Public Understanding of African Art and Culture ...................26 Notable Gi"s .........................................................................................................26 Cover: Martha, the last passenger pigeon (Donald E. Hurlbert). Page 2: Passenger pigeons from John James Audu- bon’s The Birds of America (1840-44). Page 4: Passenger pigeon from Mark Catesby’s The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (1754). Page 27: Carolina parrots from John James Audubon’s The Birds of America (1840-44). Book images courtesy of the Biodiversity Heritage Library (biodiversitylibrary.org). 3 DIRECTOR’S CORNER At the center of research across the Smithsonian are the specialized branches and librarians of the Smithsonian Libraries. The contents and staff of the Li- braries play a key role in helping the Smithsonian’s research and curatorial staff make sense of the museums’ almost innumerable, often unique, objects and their cultural and histori- cal contexts. The Smithsonian Libraries is a national treasure, where experts come to test and expand knowledge and where America and the world can turn for authentic answers. %HKLQGWKHDPD]LQJPXVHXPH[KLELWVDQGGH¿QLWLYHZULWLQJVRIWKH6PLWKVRQLDQ,QVWLWXWLRQ WKHUHDUHRYHUUHVHDUFKDQGFXUDWRULDOVWDIIPDQ\RIZKRPDUHOHDGLQJDXWKRULWLHVLQWKHLU ¿HOGVRIVFLHQFHKLVWRU\FXOWXUHDQGWKHDUWV%HKLQGWKHZDOOVDQGZHEVLWHVRIWKH6PLWKVRQ- LDQ¶VPXVHXPVWKHVHUHVHDUFKHUVDQGFXUDWRUVKDYHDFFHVVWRWKHVSHFLDOL]HGUHVRXUFHVWKH\QHHG WRHQVXUHWKHDFFXUDF\RIWKHLUZRUNDQGWRDGYDQFHNQRZOHGJHLQWKHLU¿HOGV7KHVHHVVHQWLDO resources are embodied in the collections and staff of the Smithsonian Libraries. 7KH6PLWKVRQLDQ/LEUDULHVDUHDQHWZRUNRIVSHFLDOL]HGUHVHDUFKOLEUDULHVVXSSRUWLQJHDFKRI WKH,QVWLWXWLRQ¶VPXVHXPVDQGLQLWLDWLYHV7KHVXEMHFWVFRPSUHKHQGHGE\WKLVJOREDOO\XQLTXH FRPSOH[RIOLEUDULHVDQGOLEUDULDQVDUHDVGLYHUVHDQGGHHSDVWKHFROOHFWLRQVH[KLELWVDQGVFKRO- DUVKLSWKH\VXSSRUW7KH\WUXO\VSDQWKHUDQJHRIVFLHQWL¿FDQGFXOWXUDOSXUVXLWVRIKXPDQLW\ from aerospace, anthropology, astronomy, astrophysics and art history to biology and botany, to cultural history, portraiture, philately, zoology and much, much more. :KLOHVKDULQJWKHYDOXHVPHWKRGVDQGHI¿FLHQFLHVRIDXQL¿HGQHWZRUNHDFKOLEUDU\LQWKHV\V- tem nonetheless is unique in itself. Each one supports the work of its own community of interest FRPSULVLQJVSHFLDOL]HGUHVHDUFKHUVDQGFXUDWRUVRIWKHPXVHXPVDVZHOODVYLVLWLQJVFKRODUV HGXFDWRUVVWXGHQWVDQGRWKHUVSXUVXLQJRUDGYDQFLQJNQRZOHGJHLQWKHLU¿HOGV 7KH6PLWKVRQLDQ/LEUDULHVDQGLWVKLJKO\TXDOL¿HGOLEUDULDQVKHOSHDFKRIWKHLUFRPPXQLWLHVE\ FROOHFWLQJSUHVHUYLQJDQGVKDULQJWKHRIWHQRULJLQDOPDWHULDOVQHHGHGWRVRXUFHDQGYHULI\IDFWV 7KH\DOVRSURYLGHYDOXDEOHJXLGDQFHDQGVXSSRUWGLUHFWLQJXVHUVWRWKHPRVWUHOHYDQWRQVLWHRU RQOLQHVRXUFHVDQGKHOSLQJWKHPIUDPHDQGH[HFXWHSURGXFWLYHUHVHDUFKVWUDWHJLHV ,QGLYLGXDOO\HDFKRIWKHVHOLEUDULHVLVDPRQJWKHZRUOG¶VJUHDWHVWUHSRVLWRULHVRINQRZOHGJHIRU WKHVSHFLDOL]HG¿HOGVWKH\VXSSRUW&ROOHFWLYHO\WKH\DUHDPRQJ$PHULFD¶VJUHDWHVWVFLHQWL¿F and cultural treasures. 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Gwinn, Director, Smithsonian Libraries 4 FEATURES Richard examines First Lady Michelle Obama’s 2009 inaugural gown in the costumes/ textiles preservation lab. (Liz O’Brien) Using high-tech technology, Richard inspects the condition of the sequins on the ruby slippers worn by Dorothy (Judy Garland) from the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz. (Liz O’Brien) 7KH,PSRUWDQFHRI&RQVHUYLQJ%RRNV 5LFKDUG%DUGHQ0DQDJHU3UHVHUYDWLRQ6HUYLFHV| National Museum of American History ,RYHUVHHDQGGLUHFWWKHZRUNRIWKH1DWLRQDO0XVHXPRI$PHULFDQ+LVWRU\¶VWKUHHFRQVHUYDWLRQODERUDWR- ULHV &RVWXPHV7H[WLOHV2EMHFWVDQG3DSHU DQGGLUHFWWKHSUHVHUYDWLRQDFWLYLWLHVRIWKHPXVHXP7KLV \HDU,ZDVVHOHFWHGWRSDUWLFLSDWHLQWKH6PLWKVRQLDQ,QVWLWXWLRQ¶V3DOPHU/HDGHUVKLS'HYHORSPHQW3UR- gram. As part of the program, I was required to work at another Smithsonian museum or research center IRUWRGD\VZKLOHSHUIRUPLQJP\QRUPDOGXWLHV One of my goals is to raise dedicated for me. 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