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Television

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

Television collections at the Smithsonian Institution span near-all museums and research centers, attesting to the medium's profound impact on American and global society. From Nam June Paik's iconic and unmistakable cathode ray tube sculptures and installations (like 1995's "Megatron/Matrix" held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM)), to artefactual props from iconic TV programs (like The Muppets, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Star Trek), to the vast moving image collections of shows like the landmark arts and culture series Black Journal and early kinescope records of broadcasts from the DuMont network, the Smithsonian is tuned into TV!

To celebrate the United Nations' "World Television Day" on November 21st, here are some of our favorite online TV-related collections as selected by staff of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Audiovisual Media Preservation Initiative.


  • National Museum of African American History and Culture 14 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • National Museum of American History 8 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • National Portrait Gallery 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Smithsonian American Art Museum 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Photographs 8 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 16mm (photographic film size) 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • sound films 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • color films (visual works) 6 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • gelatin silver print 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • short subjects 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Button (Pinback) 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Cosmetics 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Exterior views 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Magazines (periodicals) 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • African Americans 14 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Muslims 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Christians 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Indians of North America 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Latin Americans 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Native Americans 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Spaniards 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Tiwa Indians 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1930s 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1940s 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1950s 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1960s 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1970s 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1980s 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1990s 5 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 2000s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • North and Central America 14 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • New York City 9 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • New York 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Chicago 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Illinois 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Cook County 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • New York County 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • North America 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Texas 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection 14 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Black Journal 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Pearl Bowser Collection 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Time-based Media - Moving Images 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Photographs and Still Images 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Culture and the Arts: Entertainment 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Photography 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Currently not on view 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Eyejammie Hip-Hop Photography Collection 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • National Portrait Gallery Collection 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Television 10 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Photography 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Public television 7 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Mass media 6 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Motion pictures 6 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Education 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Race relations 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Civil rights 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Discrimination 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Hip-hop (Music) 3 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Usage conditions apply 16 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Not determined 9 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • CC0 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus

Filter Settings

Included:

  • Remove Place: United States close

Black Journal: 9; Tribute to Malcolm X

Swanson TV Dinner Tray

Bob Johnson, President and founder Black Entertainment Television, in his Georgetown office in the early days of B.E.T evolution

Black Journal: 26; Alice Coltrane

Sesame Street Sign

Neon sign from set of Late Night with David Letterman

Jet vol. 75 no. 12

Television in Motel

Black Journal: 5; The World of Julian Bond

Black Journal: 23; The Nation of Common Sense

Black Journal: 22; The Black G.I.

Black Journal: 18; Malcolm X Liberation University

1939-1940 New York World's Fair Souvenir Button, "I Have Seen the Future"

Ramona and her TV, from the portfolio The Tiguas: Pueblo Indians of Texas

Southern Trailer Home • South Carolina

Halo Shampoo

photograph, color

Couch from the set of The Oprah Winfrey Show in Harpo Studios

Photograph of MC Lyte performing in the "Sisters in the Name of Rap" tv special

Ring with gold and diamond "MTV" design owned by Fab 5 Freddy

Edward R. Murrow

Black Journal: 23; New-Ark

Photograph of Ol' Dirty Bastard on the set of the "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" video

The Delehanty Institute, FM & Television Class 5 XD

Andy Griffith

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