Acres
Maryland kids slide and splash in summer 1942. / LOC When I talk to people about archives and their potential, I highlight the surprising expansiveness well...
Pockets
An unidentified model poses in an image by renowned photographer Nina Leen. / LIFE I was wandering through the library of a small local college several years...
Moon II
A mosaic image of the lunar north pole in 2010. / NASA JPL The drive was projected at a sprightly four hours and change, but eight hours later, we were only...
Audioflux
A phonelescope, patented in 1912, converts sounds into drawn waveforms. / U.S. Military Academy and NMAH For those who celebrate, Easter is arguably the most...
Trash
Trash collectors in Antarctica in the late 1980s. / National Science Foundation The switch is complete, but the process wasn't interesting or satisfying. Not...
Archival Magic | Chance
[no photo!] ... TinyLetter is shutting down, so the next dispatch will arrive from a new sending address. I wanted to write this particular newsletter a year...
Archival Magic | Bicentennial
What I wanted to show you as the header image.*** One of my favorite topical overlaps for this newsletter happens when I can share a story of archives and...
Archival Magic | Levity
Highbrow meets lowbrow in this 1923 advertisement for "America's Most Famous Dessert." / LOC Four years ago, I first submitted the phrase "archival magic" in...
Archival Magic | Cemetery
This shell necklace reflects the balance of life and death in Aztec culture. / Dumbarton Oaks As I was finishing a project last October, I came across an...
Archival Magic | Hodgepodge
Marie Dressler, a comedian, wears a lampshade in 1909. / LOC We're still in September, right? Oops. This newsletter is all cabinet-cleaning and no sharply...
Archival Magic | Wyoming
Horses pull a wagon and a Model T in Yellowstone in an undated photo. / NPS I'm just back from an assignment in Yellowstone National Park and have finally...
Archival Magic | Process
A letter and poem from the 1870s in a collection of documents at the LOC. / Dustin Renwick With a heat index of 100+ degrees last weekend, I scheduled my day...
Archival Magic | Ecstasy
A riot of color on the cover of a psychedelic book. / Bloomsbury Turtles weren't a new writing topic for science journalist Rachel Nuwer, but the context of...
Archival Magic | Memorials
Unidentified friends smile in a field, circa 1900. / Smithsonian American Art Museum A few days ago, I started my morning by running to Arlington National...
Archival Magic | Universal
Ice ridges cover the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa, photographed in 1997. / NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU As I walked the west side of Lake Union, the words...
Archival Magic | Cleaning
A roadside stand photographed in 1980 by John Margolies in Seattle, Wash. / LOC Welcome to the Spring Cleaning Edition! Blossoms are blowing, baseballs are...
Archival Magic | Data
How much data in a single leaf? In a century of growth? / Dustin Renwick Wowowow. This newsletter marks an anniversary for me. Five years ago, I sent the...
Archival Magic | Forces
Patent number 251,338 was granted in 1881 for this early typewriter that allowed both lowercase and capital letters. / Smithsonian You know I typically lace...
Archival Magic | Family II
An anonymous traveler stands beside his car in October 1940 — my favorite photo in the mystery album. Years and years ago, I saved a photo album from the...
Archival Magic | Entertainment
Bess Wallace (left) and Mary Paxton in 1901. / NARA My internal conflict has raged the whole year. Longer, really. Since the insurrection. Since the pandemic...