Smithsonian Libraries

I know why the caged bird sings.

Howard Fogg, Revised encyclopedia of caged birds . . . , 1928, Woodcut showing the family tree of canaries -all varieties coming from the wild canary.

The Anacostia Community Museum Library and the Anthropology Library located in the National Museum of Natural History both have Maya Angelou's autobiography, I know why the caged bird sings.

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Women's History Month: Sarah Miriam Peale

One of the painting Peales, Sarah Miriam Peale was also the last of the artistic dynasty, whose members included her uncle Charles Wilson Peale, and cousins Rembrandt, Raphaelle, and Rubens Peale. The family encouraged both boys and girls to pursue the arts.

Sarah was the most successful female painter in the family. For a time a local resident of both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., she mainly painted portraits—of such illustrious figures as the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Hart Benton.

Her work is included in many museum and private collections. The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery features her self -portrait in their online exhibition, American Women: A Selection from the National Portrait Gallery.

The Libraries also has some interesting items in its collections on the artist:

Sarah M. Peale: America's first woman artist, by Joan King

The Peale family: creation of a legacy, 1770-1870, Lillian B. Miller, editor.

Miss Sarah Miriam Peale, 1800-1885; portraits and still life, by Wilbur H. Hunter and John Mahey. Exhibition, February 5, 1967 through March 26, 1967, the Peale Museum, Baltimore, Maryland.

Image: Self Portrait by Sarah Miriam Peale, 1818.

—Elizabeth Periale

Congratulations!

Huston Dove and Todd Morgan, both Library Systems and Services employees working for the Libraries’ Cataloging Department, had their photographs selected for inclusion in the 2010 issue of The Northern Virginia Review, a publication of literature and the arts. Huston, who has been at the Libraries since 2001, was awarded the Review’s 2010 Prize for Photography for his photograph “Bridge Series #8.” This was quite an honor, as he received the only photography prize given this year by the Review, the last being given in 2007! It was taken while he was traveling in Bavaria.

Todd Morgan, who was a Smithsonian volunteer before coming to work in Cataloging for Library Systems and Services in 2006, took his picture “Snow Walkers” while in Japan.

I think they both should be congratulated. It’s quite an achievement to have two coworkers from the Libraries both selected for this issue of the Review—they beat out hundreds of other photos!—Brian Judge

Top: "Bridge Series #8," by Huston Dove

Bottom: “Snow Walkers,” by Todd Morgan

Women's History Month: Homemaking

Mrs. Lydia Green Abell, Woman in her various relations; containing practical rules for American females, 1853, The title page from "Woman in her various relations" emphasizes the sanctity of motherhood.

In her book, Woman in her various relations; containing practical rules for American females, etiquette expert Lydia Green Abell wrote on topics she felt would interest women of the mid-19th century such as:

THE BEST METHODS FOR DINNERS AND SOCIAL PARTIES—A CHAPTER FOR YOUNG LADIES, MOTHERS, AND INVALIDS—HINTS ON THE BODY, MIND, AND CHARACTER—WITH A GLANCE AT WOMAN'S RIGHTS AND WRONGS, PROFESSIONS, COSTUME, ETC., ETC.

She talks about the American Woman in the introduction:

The present volume is offered to the public, dedicated to American Females. We are living when the allotments and responsibilities of Woman, in her own appropriate sphere, should be brought before the mind in their true weight and importance.

And expands on the modern American Woman later in the text:

Woman, as mistress of a family, occupies a station where her influence is deeply, if not widely felt. She is the center flower, the main-spring, the pendulum that keeps all the delicate machinery in regular motion. Exercising this power suitably, all the parts of household occupations are performed without unnecessary pressure; the complicated and often perplexing duties moye on, and comfort for her family is provided, even at the expense of many an exhausted nerve, and an aching heart.

Mrs. Abell's book as well as many others focusing on the woman as homemaker are featured in the Libraries' online collection, The Making of A Homemaker.—Elizabeth Periale

Related link:

Gender and rhetorical space in American life, 1866-1910 By Nan Johnson

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