I recently read about a new beard style that is taking the world of facial hair by storm: The Monkey Tail, A Beard. So I got to thinking, if this beard had existed in the 19th century, how many artists would have adopted the style?
Simulated 19th Century Monkey Tail beard, as modeled by the author of this blog post.
Perhaps American painter Louis Lang (1814-1893) would have. After his death in 1893, The New York Times labeled Lang an eccentric in an article about his will. I can certainly picture him sporting The Monkey Tail—can you?
See several of Lang’s paintings on The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website.
Jennifer Snyder works with oral history interviews at the Archives American Art. When not sending interviews out for digitization, she is writing about extraordinary examples of facial hair for this blog.
This summer I will have the honor of being the first Wikipedian-in-Residence at the Smithsonian Institution, interning from June to August at the Archives of American Art.
You’re probably asking yourself, “What in the world is a Wiki-what-in-huh?” I assure you, you are not the first to scratch your head at this title.
So what will I be doing and how will it benefit the Archives?
A Wikipedian-in-Residence is a volunteer who works closely with galleries, libraries, archives, or museums (GLAMs, in wiki-speak) to seek ways to collaborate on the sharing of information related to their collections. You can learn more about the concept and origin of this position from the Wikimedia Foundation’s Cultural Partnership Fellow and first Wikipedian-in-Residence Liam Wyatt’s blog.
There are a number of things that I hope to achieve this summer, including (but not limited to):
Expand coverage on Wikipedia about topics relevant to the Archives of American Art’s collections. This includes providing sources for existing pages and creating new pages on notable topics
A content donation to Wikimedia Commons featuring amazing documents and images from the Archives, allowing for these images to be utilized by educators and researchers worldwide with few copyright restrictions
Collaborate with university level art history-related educational programs to work with students for article contributions related to the Archives’ content
Brown bag training sessions and workshops with Smithsonian employees and volunteers
Examine statistical data related to traffic from Wikimedia websites to the the Archives’ website
A behind-the-scenes tour of the Archives and related Smithsonian units for Wikimedia volunteers
A case study about our efforts
…and so much more!
On April 11, 2011 Katie Filbert and Sarah Stierch gave a whirlwind 5-minute presentation on potential Wikipedia/Smithsonian collaboration at the Ignite Smithsonian event in D.C.
All of these opportunities will lead to the Archives broadening its web presence, extending awareness about its collections, and allowing for a wider community to enjoy expanded access to resources on the visual arts in America.
I will be working closely with Webmaster Sara Snyder, Information Systems Manager Karen Weiss, and curatorial, reference, and collections processing staff. Their passion for sharing and digitizing their collections is inspiring, and I can only hope that my own passion for sharing, educating, and “freeing information” can be equally as inspiring, encouraging other Smithsonian units to get involved as well.
It is going to be a great summer, and the energy coming forth about this internship from the Archives’ staff has been indescribable. I’m looking forward to diving in this June to the wealth of information within the Archives’ holdings. I also look forward to sharing our efforts with you throughout the summer here on the Archives of American Art blog! Until next time!
Sarah Stierch is a Museum Studies Masters student at George Washington University and Wikipedian-in-Residence at the Archives of American Art.
