Travels in the 2nd half

Hi everyone. I will be taking a break from writing posts for about a month. The Amazing Ms. D and I are putting together a project based on our trip to Puerto Rico,.and we have a funding proposal that has to be submitted by Oct. 15. Please continue to follow me on Instagram (@jonathanlessuck) to see new photographs.

Picture the Smithsonian Institute in your mind. What do you see? The Castle? The Museum of American History? Maybe the Museum of African American History? There is a lot more to it than the “big-name” collections. A recent trip to Washington DC gave me the chance to visit two of the smaller museums in the Smithsonian – The National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum . These two collections share a home in the Old Patent Office Building . The building originally opened in 1836 to house the U.S. Patent Office. It served as a hospital during the Civil War, and the Patent Office remained there until moving to a new home in 1932, and the Civil Service Commission and the Government Accounting Office moved in. By the 1950’s the Civil Service commission had moved out and GAO was planning its own new complex and in 1958 the building was transferred to the Smithsonian for use as an art museum. After a renovation, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian ...

Most countries have a “National Library.” While the United States does not have a designated one, the Library of Congress serves that role. It is the official repository of printed material and so much more for the country. Officially the Library of Congress is the research library for the legislative branch of the government. It was established by John Adams in 1800. The library and its collection were destroyed when the British burned Washington DC during the War of 1812. In 1814, Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his collection of over six thousand books to reestablish the libraries collection. By 1897, when the library moved from the capitol building to its new home, it comprised over 840,000 books. Today, the Library of Congress occupies three buildings on Capitol Hill. The Thomas Jefferson Building was built in 1897, is on First street SE, across from the U.S. Capitol, and is the one that most people associate with the library. The John Adams Building is behind the Jeffe...