Smithsonian opens up its attic

by Sean McLachlan on

The Smithsonian is often called “America’s attic.” This October, America’s attic will be opening up its attic to give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at how it operates.

October is American Archives Month and and the Smithsonian will be celebrating by hosting a free Archives Fair on October 22 at the National Mall in Washington, DC. Experts working with the Smithsonian’s collections will be talking about the institution’s hidden treasures and giving tips on how to preserve your old mementos. You can even make an appointment and have your heirlooms examined by an expert.

If you can’t make it to DC, check out the Smithsonian Collections blog, which will be running a 31-day blogathon throughout October. Curators will post about how they preserve and restore the objects in the world’s biggest museum.

[Image courtesy ultraclay! via Gadling’s flickr pool]

Smithsonian draws more people, brings in extra cash

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Last year wasn’t bad for everyone. The Smithsonian Institution returned to past glory, logging more than 30 million visits. Action at the Smithsonian hasn’t been this high since before the 9/11-related travel market slump. The 18 museums and galleries — and the zoo — saw an up-tick of 19.4 percent in 2009, up from 25.15 million visits the year before. The fact it’s free to visit probably helped. A difficult economy, magnified for the travel market, left those actually taking to the road to find ways to cut costs. Free attractions take a big item out of a trip’s budget (and one that can sneak up on you in size). And, extended hours over the summer brought in more bodies.

Because of the increase in traffic, revenue at museum stores, theaters and restaurants actually increased from 2008, a rarity in the travel any industry last year. At least some of the credit belongs to locals, since hotel occupancy rates stayed flat from 2008 to 2009. The American History Museum was the star of the Smithsonian collection, drawing 1.4 million more people than it did in 2005, the last full year before its recent renovation began. The National Museum of Natural History added 450,000 visitors, bringing the 2009 total to 7.4 million, making it tops in the Smithsonian. Only the National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of the American Indian experienced declines.

[Photo by mp_eds via Flickr]

Smithsonian opens Forensic Files of the 17th Century

by Grant Martin on

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History opens “Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th- Century Chesapeake” Saturday, an anthropological exhibition studying the way that early colonists in the Chesapeake region lived and died.

Among collected artifacts are about 340 pieces from the SI and 20 other archaeological organizations around the world, including original lead coffins, facial reconstructions, life size models and other eerie windows into the past.

Insiders bill the exhibition as the Smithsonian’s version of CSI, where scientists have examined the remains of these colonists, reconstructed their lives and retold their stories around their past. It should be a pretty interesting story.

The exhibition will be on display for the next two years, so if you can’t make it down to DC anytime soon, you’ve got a little bit of time to build an itinerary. And don’t forget, access the spectrum of Smithsonian Museums is free, so this could be the budget destination that you’ve been looking for.