small greeting card sized art print of Cocoally’s Sesame the Opossum above a spider with web above that reads “Some Opossum” (Charlotte’s Web)

small greeting card sized art print of Cocoally’s hedgehog on a laptop with “WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK” caption above

For #WatercolorWednesday look at these adorable watercolor art prints I got from the Sesame the #Opossum shop in NOLA! 😍
PS @wittspat.bsky.social cute #hedgehog alert!
artist info: www.cocoally.com
#HSS2025

It’s like there’s a comedian loose in an archive…

The name is Whatever. Mister Whatever.

Look who visited @ransomcenter.bsky.social while I was attending #HSS2025 in New Orleans.

(And contrary to what he told @texasstandard.bsky.social, he didn’t have to break in…)

Thanks for stopping by, @mulaney.bsky.social!

#comedy #LiveFromNewYork #SNL

photo of a small monochrome woodblock print from an 1883 book depicting two awkwardly illustrated elephants trumpeting at a charging antelope (oryx?), framed in black mat

photo of label taped to back “Original 1883 woodblock print The Voyage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville, also known as Mandeville's Travels. It is a blend of fact, fantasy, & exaggeration, exploring Egypt, the Holy Land, India & China, including descriptions of various mythical creatures & cultures, reflecting the medieval worldview. The narrator, a fictional character, Mandeville, claimed to be an English knight from St. Albans. Written between 1357-1371 it was widely read & influencing literature & art. It inspired Columbus, da Vinci, & writers like Swift, Defoe, & Coleridge. Crescent City Books, 240 Chartres, New Orleans LA 70130 (504) 524-4997 | books@crescentcitybooks.com Fine Books and Prints from the last 500 years Open every day. Members ABAA, ILAB”

Fun little find from my visit to Crescent City Books in NOLA:
“Original 1883 woodblock print [from] The Voyage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville, also known as Mandeville's Travels.”
@medmilmedicine.bsky.social for your #elephant collection (not medieval but still weird)
#HSS2025

I'm making a quick stop on the way home from #HSS2025 in NYC to read the NYPL's copy of Vespucci's 1503 "Mundus Novus" and look through some of the objects on display at @amnh.org that relate to my current research. #earlymodern #histsci #skystorians

Conferences/Publications – ART HISTORY ANIMALIA [updated 11/2025] BIRDING IN THE VISUAL ARCHIVES: THE MYSTERY OF THE "ASH-COLOURED AND RED PARROT"Oral PresentationHistory of Science Society 2025 Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, USA, 16 November 202...

#HSS2025 peeps (& anyone else interested), a downloadable PDF version of my "Thinking With Birds" session presentation BIRDING IN THE VISUAL ARCHIVES: THE MYSTERY OF THE “ASH-COLOURED AND RED PARROT” is now available (with notes & bonus slides!): arthistoryanimalia.com/conference-p...
#BirdsInArt

Display case labeled TRINKETS TOYS TRIFLES filled with alligator things

Display case labeled BAUBLES CURIOS DOODADS filled with alligator things

Display case labeled KNICKKNACKS GIMCRACKS filled with alligator things

Display case labeled TCHOTCHKES GEWGAWS filled with alligator things

Some display cases at the #Alligator Museum in NOLA: I also enjoy collecting TRINKETS TOYS TRIFLES, BAUBLES CURIOS DOODADS, KNICKKNACKS GIMCRACKS, and TCHOTCHKES GEWGAWS 😎🐊
#HSS2025

photo of a spinning Red/Yellow/Blue Dog sculpture (turned to red) with a smaller cow sculpture painted yellow with black legs, red hooves, and a Blue Dog on side

photo of a Cow Parade cow painted with a tux decorated with Blue Dogs

photo of a Cow Parade cow painted like a cowboy (yellow hat, red boots) decorated with Blue Dog faces

Happy I had the chance to visit the flagship Rodrigue Studios in NOLA, home of artist George Rodrigue’s iconic Blue #Dog… also #cows LOL
More photos down thread!
#DogsInArt #HSS2025

Couldn't sleep last night because I was buzzing with excitement from #HSS2025. I love how a conference can recharge me mentally and reignite my love of my community, field, and work!

Cast and decorated by Walter Anderson (1903 - 1965, Mississippi) Glazed by Peter Anderson (1901 - 1984, Mississippi) Chesty Horse c. 1950s Cast ceramic Gift of Kristen and Christopher Hogan 2016.3.8

Thrown by Peter Anderson (1901 - 1984, Mississippi) Decorated by Walter Anderson (1903 - 1965, Mississippi) Plate c. 1940s Ceramic Gift of Kristen and Christopher Hogan 2017.12.11 (visible design: bird)

Thrown by Peter Anderson (1901 - 1984, Mississippi) Decorated by Walter Anderson (1903 - 1965, Mississippi) Turtle and Thrasher Bowl c. 1950s Ceramic Gift of Kristen and Christopher Hogan 2017.12.21 (visible design, turtle, frog, tails of birds)

Walter Anderson (1903 - 1965, Mississippi) Shearwater Pottery Vase c. 1940 Ceramic Roger Houston Ogden Collection (visible design: crab and fish)

Loved seeing Anderson family ceramics at Ogden Museum of Southern Art!
Cast & decorated by Walter Anderson, Glazed by Peter Anderson:
Chesty Horse, c.1950s
Thrown by Peter,
Decorated by Walter:
Plate, c.1940s
Turtle & Thrasher Bowl, c.1950s
Walter Anderson:
Shearwater Pottery Vase, c.1940
#HSS2025

photo of the artwork on display in the stairwell between the 4th & 5th floors, long tall image of a mule in outer space

gallery sign: “Jack Niven (1958 -) Universal Mule 2008 Latex on panel Gift of Jack Niven and Marianne Desmarais In November of 2008, Canadian-born New Orleans artist, Jack Niven, opened his project, American Beauty-South, on Airline Drive in New Orleans. Airline Drive is the last leg of Highway 61 on its journey from the Canadian border to New Orleans, a journey symbolic of Niven's own to his adopted home on the Mississippi. The project utilized street-side walls of motels to exhibit seven artist-created billboards, addressing three main themes: American Beauty, the South, and Highway 61. This painting was installed on the side of The London Lodge Motel at 9301 Airline Drive. "The piece I made for American Beauty, South is called Universal Mule. One of the things I have noticed from a broad observance of Southern literature, film, art, and folklore is a preponderance of mule depictions. This has, for me in this instance, been distilled to a notion of things 'mulish. In the same way that mules once served as the engine of a rural economy, and still do in a small way, their character as a quotidian symbol is a potent one to invoke on many levels. Hence, the Universal Mule 1 have called upon here is the everyman among us. I wanted this mule to stand as witness to the highway from a cosmic trajectory." - Jack Niven”

How about #SupersizeSunday?
Jack Niven (USA, b.1958)
Universal #Mule, 2008
Latex on panel, 4 boards 4 x 7 ft. each
On display at Ogddn Museum of Southern Art (in the stairwell between the 4th & 5th floors)
#HSS2025

photo of the giant rocking horse sculpture, side profile

zoom of the front/head with closer look at the “junk art” formation

gallery sign: “Shawne Major (1968 -) Scared Dragon Rocking Horse 2001 Mixed Media Collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art 2005.11.2 Born in New Iberia, Louisiana, Shawne Major earned a Masters of Fine Arts from Rutgers University before returning to live in Opelousas, Louisiana. She draws much of her inspiration and materials from her immediate surroundings. "Within my art practice, I use a bricoleur approach to create magical and sacred spaces that are a celebration (and critique) of ideas, memories, and fragments of experience associated with growing up in poverty in Southwest Louisiana."

#SculptureSunday:
Shawne Major (US, b.1968)
Scared Dragon Rocking #Horse, 2001
Mixed Media
On display at Ogden Museum of Southern Art (2005.11.2)
#HSS2025

photo of the sculpture on display on outdoor patio at the museum, view 1 “eight-foot tall bronze skeletal seahorse sculpture”

photo of the sculpture on display on outdoor patio at the museum, view 2 “eight-foot tall bronze skeletal seahorse sculpture”

A super #seahorse for #SculptureSunday:
Ashley Pridmore (USA, b.1984)
St. Kampos, 2018
Bronze & steel, H 8 ft.
On display at Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans
#HSS2025

photo of the outside of the Sesame the Opossum shop in NOLA

photo of the outside of the Alligator Museum in NOLA

Many people might say somewhere in the French Quarter when you ask them to pick their favorite street in New Orleans, but my vote is for the block on Magazine Street that has both the Sesame the #Opossum Shop AND The #Alligator Museum 😎 (stay tuned for photos from my visits to both!)
#HSS2025

photo of 6 books: Alexander von Humboldt WRITINGS IN ENGLISH Part I: 1789-1824 Part II: 1825-1859 HISTORIES OF SCIENCE: Natural Philosophy in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds EDITED BY DAVID ALFF & DANIELLE SPRATT WILLIAM BARTRAM'S Visual Wonders: The Drawings of an American Naturalist ELIZABETH A. ATHENS BEASTLY NATURES: Animals, Humans, and the Study of History DOROTHEE RANTZ Discovering the Okapi: Western Science, Indigenous Knowledge, and the Search for a Rainforest Enigma SIMON POOLEY PLAYING POSSUM: HOW ANIMALS UNDERSTAND DEATH Susana Monsó

Very pleased with my #HSS2025 book haul 😎
#BookRecommendations #Zoology #NaturalHistory

Join me online on Thurs Dec 6th! And a horror novel even for scaredy-cats Hallo, nerds with a conscience - and thanks for subscribing! This week’s newsletter: Event newsflashA horror novel recommendation, even for scaredy-catsNew...

I'm not at #HSS2025 but wrote a #NOLA -themed newsletter, anyway - with registration info for an online #histsci talk on HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY.

Fans of @danielkraus.com - this is for you, too!

#horror 💙📚 🗃

buttondown.com/surekhadavie...

This morning I presented a project about how André Thevet was partially responsible for the taxonomic confusion between the Great auk and Penguins. It was well received. #hss2025 #greatauk #penguins #histsci #earlymodern #animalhistory

#HSS2025 may be ending, but our virtual exhibit is still open! Browse our virtual exhibit and get 30% off & free domestic shipping using code EX58108: bit.ly/UCPEXHSS

a sign that says " that 's all folks " on a red background ALT: a sign that says " that 's all folks " on a red background

And that's a wrap for #HSS2025! Many thanks to @historyscience.bsky.social's officers, program committee & presenters for an excellent conference.

And, of course, thanks to all of you who read these updates throughout the meeting. Hopefully I'll see some of you next year in Edinburgh for #HSS2026!

Laney: What makes this story interesting is that it demonstrates what was possible when the US government decided to embrace immigrant scientists, engineers, and technical professionals.

This case study stands in stark contrast w/current political debates over immigration in the US. #HSS2025

Laney: The success of the Hungarian initiative led NAS to reconsider supporting other scientists & engineers fleeing Soviet rule in eastern Europe.

Internal memos suggested that the Academy could serve as a clearing house for evaluating and placing foreign scientists. #HSS2025

Laney: By 1962, the rhetoric shifted. The NRC now framed refugee placements as a way to address broader shortages in scientific manpower. Pursuit of that goal led to updated admission criteria & new language training and recertification initiatives.

#HSS2025

Laney: NRC eventually started working to find placements for Hungarian scientists & engineers across the US. They framed this as a patriotic effort to support ideological allies who had fought against Soviet oppression. Additionally, this would help American universities & science itself. #HSS2025

Laney: Visas available under Refugee Relief Act (1953) would not be sufficient for the influx of refugees from Hungary. Pres. Eisenhower authorized additional visas, prioritizing the reunification of family, helping people connect w/friends or relatives, or people w/sci & tech. skills. #HSS2025

Our final speaker, Monique Laney, is an immigration historian who describes the contested nature of scientific mobility after WWII.

Her paper focuses on the National Academy of Sciences's involvement in the Hungarian Crisis of 1956. Unusual since scientists were refugees from Eastern bloc #HSS2025

Mihailescu: When the second was redefined in 1957, only 4 countries have atomic clocks--UK, US, Switzerland, and Japan. This leads Switzerland to be included in the commission alongside larger countries (USSR, Italy, etc.) that were still developing that technology. #HSS2025

Mihailescu: It requires resources to align purposes. Can't just put physicists & engineers in a room and expect collaboration.

The smaller scale of Swiss research infrastructure & close institutional alignment b/w Institute of Physics, Observatory, etc. made such reorientation easier. #HSS2025

Mihailescu presents a historiographic critique of Forman's use of "orientation" in his articles on quantum electronics, which often conflates material culture & research ?s.

He suggests orientation should be reframed in terms of the external & internal purposes of the actors. #HSS2025

Our next speaker, Ian Mihailescu is discussing the development of atomic clocks at the Neuchatel Observatory.

While American atomic clocks emerged from the massive growth of national security funding (cf. Forman), the situation was different in Switzerland. #HSS2025 #physics

So long, #HSS2025 and NOLA...that was a good meeting. @shothisttech.bsky.social could learn something.

Perillan: Otto Nathan helped arrange for the retraction of card. (Which is how it ultimately ended up at Vassar)

Meanwhile, Du Bois was indicted and arrested. Einstein came to his defense, but Wallace kept silent. (An interesting study in contrasts b/w 2 public intellectuals) #HSS2025