Smithsonian Collections Online

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Smithsonian Collections Online presents 4 archival collections from within the Smithsonian Institution’s vast archive and library collections.

Collections include:

• Evolution of Flight, 1784-1991 covers the early era of aviation to the high-tech air fleets of the twentieth century. This collection includes photographs, diaries, correspondence, scrapbooks, draft technical specifications, government documents, and other primary source material from Smithsonian libraries, including the National Air and Space Museum archives and library.
• Trade Literature and the Merchandising of Industry, 1820-1923 explores the evolution of business in the U.S. and abroad through catalogs, pamphlets, advertising materials, and ephemera on essential industries that emerged in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—steam engines, railroads, motorized vehicles, agricultural/farm machinery, building and construction, mining, and more.
• World’s Fairs and Expositions: Visions of Tomorrow gives researchers access to primary source documents about landmark exhibits from 1840 to 1923. With content types ranging from organizational and administrative records to postcards to Books of the Fairs and watercolors from the exhibitions, this archive captures the spirit, technology, design, and innovations that influenced the modern world.
• Air & Space Magazine and Smithsonian Magazine Archive provides access to 50+ years (1970-present) of these popular magazines which cover topics in aviation, space, innovation, history, science, technology, the arts, and culture.

This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gale’s digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.

Provider: Gale
Coverage: late 19th-21st centuries