Lighthouses serve several functions. They can warn people on boats of rocks in the water. They can show the way to a safe harbor. Are you looking for a light to guide you in these rocky times? Consider taking a lighthouse tour courtesy of the Smithsonian. Or maybe that’s a tour of the Smithsonian courtesy of lighthouses.
In order of left to right rows from top left: Scott Catalogue German Democratic Republic 1554 National Postal Museum, 1977.1119.6.21.5; African Postcard collection, EEPA 1985-014, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution; Transfer from U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center (through David H. Wallace); Photo Lot 97 DOE Oceania: Philippines Postcard Collection 05169000, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution; Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 1964, nasm_A19760224000; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration ca. 1935-1938, 1974.28.154; Smithsonian Institution Archives, siris_sic_13382; Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Purchase and partial donation. FSA.A1999.35; Smithsonian National Museum of American History, nmah_1413592; Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 1896-16-1.