O Say Can You See?

The 194th anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner

Today is the anniversary of Francis Scott Key’s writing of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” In light of this important occasion, I’m going to admit something to you hundreds of blog readers.

I used to think history was really boring.

I’m not alone in this, I know. With the exception of a single fantastic American history class in high school, my historical education involved a whole lot of memorization and very little understanding. I thought that because I hated learning dates and the names of battles, I didn’t like history.

What I’ve learned since high school is that history is so much more than dates. Take the Star-Spangled Banner. The story of Francis Scott Key writing the words to our national anthem is a grand, important story. But it’s also a very personal one. It’s a story about a man—a citizen of a very new country—waiting all night on an enemy ship, watching helplessly as his city is attacked. What must our friend Francis have felt as he stood there, watching the “bombs bursting in air,” not knowing what the next day would hold? Would he have a country to return to?

Read the lyrics of the anthem—the joy you’ll find in those words is the honest expression of a relieved and triumphant man, whose country survived a “perilous fight.”

It’s these stories—of everyday people doing extraordinary things—that really get me in touch with my inner history nerd.

Happy Defender’s Day, everybody!

Celebrate Defender's Day!

If you’re in the Baltimore area this weekend, head to Fort McHenry to check out their amazing Defender’s Day celebration. It’s a commemoration of the anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore, and they have all kinds of special events and family activities going on. If you’ve never been there before, it’s a wonderful place to learn more about the Star-Spangled Banner and the War of 1812 (and take in some gorgeous views of the Patapsco River, to boot!).

To Thinkfinity....and beyond!

When I started my new job at the museum in the spring of 2007, we had just received a grant from the Verizon Foundation and had joined their Thinkfinity Consortium. Thinkfinity.org is an online portal that provides access to tens of thousands of free, standards-based educational materials produced by Thinkfinity’s content partners.

As the museum’s Education Technologist I was tasked with managing the design and production of a new Web site that would allow teachers, parents, and students to quickly find and use the wealth of educational resources the museum has to offer and to have it ready by the fall of 2009. No problem.

OK, small problem. We first had to develop a process to inventory and tag the museum’s hundreds of online resources in a way that’s useful for teachers but that would also be helpful to parents and students. Through the hard work and creativity of our museum educators and a number of dedicated interns we built a process for tagging every online educational resource with a full description, relevant keywords, grade range, and format, as well as the national standards for history. We’re still tagging every day, but should have all our materials inventoried by the end of 2009. Woo hoo!

One of the best things about working on this project has been our Teacher Advisory Group, affectionately referred to as the “TAG.” This group of volunteer teachers from across the country has been with us from Day 1 and has collaborated on every feature and facet of the new site. They even helped us narrow down and select the name for the site, “Smithsonian’s History Explorer.” I think their enthusiasm and creative ideas will shine through when you see the new site.

Speaking of which, the site will launch on September 15th—but here is a special sneak preview for our blog readers. We’d love to hear what you think about the site, how you use it, and your ideas for new tools and functions. We’re already working on plans for new tools and educational materials for 2009. Feel free to contact us at thinkfinity@si.edu.

The beauty of everyday history

The Archives Center supports the mission of the National Museum of American History by preserving and providing access to documentary evidence of America’s past. With more than 1,000 collections, the Center contains paper-based textual records, photographs, motion picture films, videotapes, and sound recordings.

Here’s what Archives Center intern Kiley Orchard had to say about a project that, for her, is truly bringing history to life.

Reason #82 I love my job: Today I continued my work processing a collection of Revlon advertisements (print and television) from 1936-1986. It’s really cool to see how ideas about beauty changed throughout the decades. Even though I would hardly call myself a fashionista (although my co-workers and I do love to discuss “Project Runway”), I actually recognize quite a few of the models since I watch “America’s Next Top Model.” It reminds me of how the museum’s collections really relate not only to the social history of the past but today’s popular culture. My friends at home were pretty jealous when I told them what I was doing!

I was standing in line at CVS the other day and saw a brand of Revlon fragrance. I would never have noticed had I not just processed Revlon’s promotional material from years before. It’s funny how often I see things now that relate to the work being done in the Archives Center.

Passing the 90-day mark

We talk a lot about the structural improvements to the museum, and we’ve mentioned a bit of how operations will be improved, but everyone knows that the real heart and soul are the exhibits. I’m sitting at my desk in the New Media office looking at a construction work plan for the next few weeks, and these entries caught my eye:

“Lighting and electrical service being restored – by 9/2”
“NMAH exhibition contractor starts 9/3”
“Schedule walk-thru with NMAH exhibit designer”

This is the really exciting stuff – exhibits being reopened, redesigned, and revealed to the public after two long years without access to one of the greatest collections of artifacts in the world. Seeing these entries really brought home how close we are to opening again. We've only got 78 days to go.  What are you most excited to see when our doors open on November 21?

Harry Kashdan is an intern with the New Media Program.  He’s most excited to see the trains without plastic sheeting over them.