Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection Archive
Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum
National Air and Space Archives
National Anthropological Archives
National Museum of the American Indian Archives
Peale Family Papers, National Portrait Gallery
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Smithsonian American Art Museum Slide and Photo Archives
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Smithsonian Institution Archives
Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Smithsonian Photographic Services
Affiliated Organization: National Gallery of Art
"Speedy" mascot for Alka Seltzer, ca. 1950s-1960s. Alka Seltzer Collection
Archives
Center
National Museum of American History
12th & Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20560
archivescenter@si.edu
americanhistory.si.edu/
archives/ac-i.htm
Hours
Monday – Tuesday,
Thursday – Friday
10am to 5pm
Wednesday,
Noon
to 5pm
By appointment only
Metro
Stop: Smithsonian
or Federal Triangle
The Archives
Center supports the mission of the National Museum of American History
by preserving and providing access to documentary evidence of the American
past. The Archives Center's collections complement the Museum's
artifacts and are used for scholarly research, exhibitions, journalism,
documentary productions, school programs, and other research and educational
activities.
More than 850 collections occupy some 12,000 feet of shelving in the American
History building and in several off-site storage locations. In addition
to paper-based textual records, many Center collections contain photographs,
motion picture films, videotapes, and sound recordings.
The topics of technology, advertising, and music offer one way to categorize
the Center's varied holdings, but the collections are rich in important
historical themes and topics that cut across these lines. For example,
collections in each category are sources for understanding the roles and
activities of women in the American past. Many Center collections
document entrepreneurial activity in which invention and marketing are
inextricably linked. The creation of nationally recognized brands
and corporate identities and commercial depictions of gender, ethnicity,
and other cultural categories are well represented in the holdings.
Brief, indexed descriptions of Archives Center collections are found in
SIRIS (Smithsonian Institution Research Information System), an on-line
catalog shared with other Smithsonian archives and libraries.
(www.siris.si.edu) The Archives
Center's web pages include on-line versions of many finding aids for Center
collections, information about research use of the Center, and virtual
tours and displays of select Center holdings.