Next Saturday, November 13th, join American Museum of Natural History archivist (and friend of Morbid Anatomy) Barbara Mathé for an illustrated presentation about the museum's vast collection of magic lantern slides as part of the Margaret Mead Festival. Entitled "Lantern Slides: Looking Glass through History," the presentation will, in the words of the press release, "share the behind-the-scenes history of the lantern slides, photographs of Museum employees painting the original slides, and [detail] the fascinating story of their journey from AMNH to a basement in Staten Island and back again."

Having been so fortunate as to be allowed a tiny peek at the riches of the archives of AMNH--where I once had the honor of working--I simply cannot wait for this presentation and the opportunity to find out more about this seriously incredible collection!

Full details follow; hope very much to see you there!

Lantern Slides: Looking Glass through History
Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival
American Museum of Natural History, New York City
November 13, 2010 | 1:30 pm
Kaufmann Theater
$12 General admission / $10 Members, students, seniors

Join the Mead for an urban dig through the American Museum of Natural History’s library archives. Once the foundation of a long-running and wildly popular series of lectures by zoologist and AMNH founder Albert Bickmore, the Museum’s collection of more than 40,000 glass lantern slides were used as an educational tool starting in the late 1800s and were later circulated throughout New York City’s public school system. Often hand-colored these slides depict myriad subjects, such as landscapes, scientific specimens, and field expeditions captured around the world by the Museum’s own scientists. In celebration of the recovery of about 20,000 of these rare artifacts, the Festival presents the opportunity to view these unique historical documents and stunning works of art through the eyes of in-house archivist Barbara Mathé. She will share the behind-the-scenes history of the lantern slides, photographs of Museum employees painting the original slides, and the fascinating story of their journey from AMNH to a basement in Staten Island and back again. Historian Constance Areson Clarke and media historian Alison Griffiths will also be on hand to discuss the wider history of lantern slides and educational media.

Co-presented by International Center of Photography and the New York Stereoscopic Society.

For more information--and to find out about other offerings of this year's Mead festival--go to amnh.org/mead.