Joan Boudreau, Curator, Graphic Arts Collection, specializes in Federal printed imagery of the American West, 19th century printing, Civil War field printing, Comic Art, Patent models and the graphic arts, Printing, printmaking, and the natural sciences, and American conservation history. She is responsible for the printing and "Graphic Arts Collection" includes roughly 70,000 artifacts associated with the technology and production of textual and visual culture.

The international printmaking collection includes examples of works on paper—mainly prints produced with relief, intaglio, lithographic, serigraphic, photomechanical and digital means—and tools for their production—blocks, plates, stones, burins, writing materials, and printmaking presses. The works on paper have been collected from many countries and time periods to interpret how prints are made. They include everything from early European engravings to twenty-first century imagery.

The printing and typography collections include textual works on paper, also produced with various printing technologies, and tools for their production, such as printing presses, typesetting machinery, patent models, type matrices, foundry type, wood type, and hand tools. The printing history collection, while working to be more inclusive of the textual products of other countries and communities, is mainly American in manufacture and product.

Also included in the collection are smaller allied trade collections: papermaking, bookbinding, printing for the blind, illustration history.

Article

• Boudreau, Joan. 2024. "The Cherokee Syllabary and Printing History." Printing History, New Series 34, (34) 5–17. 2024
• Boudreau, Joan. 2022. "The New York Illustrated News: Wood Engraved Printing Blocks from the Civil War." On Paper, 1, (13) 9–15. 2022
• Boudreau, Joan. 2021. "A Confederate States of America Register of Vessels." Printing History, (29/30) 37–45. 2021
• Boudreau, Joan. 2019. "Backroom Stories: The graphic (art) tale of the U.S. Exploring Expedition's report." The Torch, Feb 21, 2019, Washington, DC. 2019
• Boudreau, Joan. 2012. "The Portable Press and Field Printing During the American Civil War." Printing History, (n.s. no.12) 3–26. 2012
• Boudreau, Joan. 2008. "Publishing the U.S. Exploring Expedition: The Fruits of the Glorious Enterprise." Printing History, the Journal of the American Printing History Association (New Series), (3) 25–40. 2008

Blog Posting

• Boudreau, Joan. 2023. "Artistic Inspiration in the Face of a Pandemic." O Say Can You See? Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Mar 9, 2023. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/artistic-inspiration. 2023
• Boudreau, Joan. 2021. "Clifford Berryman and the Teddy Roosevelt African Expedition." O Say Can You See? Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Aug 24, 2021. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/berryman-and-roosevelt. 2021
• Boudreau, Joan. 2021. "Gus Arriola and Gordo, agents of Mexican culture." O Say Can You See? Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Nov 16, 2021. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/gus-arriola-and-gordo. 2021
• Boudreau, Joan. 2019. "Kerr Eby and the First World War." O Say Can You See? Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Dec 20, 2019. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/kerr-eby. 2019
• Boudreau, Joan. 2017. "Soldier-printers' interjections of encouragement on the Civil War battleground." O Say Can You See? Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Jul 25, 2017. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/printers-encouragement-civil-war. 2017
• Boudreau, Joan. 2016. "Earth Day and You." O Say Can You See Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American History. Apr 22, 2016. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/earth-day-and-you. 2016
• Boudreau, Joan. 2015. "The Book Boom: Early Bookbinding inventions." O Say Can You See Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American History. Oct 1, 2015. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/book-boom-early-bookbinding-inventions. 2015
• Boudreau, Joan. 2014. "Did this Civil War printing press spread the news of General Lee's farewell?" O Say Can You See? Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American History. Apr 9, 2014. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/04/did-this-civil-war-printing-press-spread-the-news-of-general-lees-farewell.html. 2014
• Boudreau, Joan. 2014. "Did this press print Confederate currency?" O Say Can You See? Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American History. Apr 8, 2014. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/04/did-this-press-really-print-confederate-currency.html. 2014
• Boudreau, Joan. 2014. "So you want to curate an exhibit about the 1960s?" O Say Can You See? Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American History. Jun 30, 2014. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/06/so-you-want-to-curate-an-exhibit-about-the-1960s.html. 2014
• Boudreau, Joan. 2014. "The Ramage Printing Press: A Confederate Mystery." O Say Can You See? Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American History. Apr 8, 2014. http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/04/what-post-civil-war-newspaper-was-printed-using-the-ramage-press-between-about-1873-and-1893.html. 2014

Chapter

• Boudreau, Joan. 2013. "Printing Presses in Action." In Smithsonian Civil War: Inside the National Collection. Kagan, Neil and Hyslop, Stephen G., editors. 182–183. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books. 2013
• Henson, Pamela M. and Boudreau, Joan. 2013. "The Wartime Patent Office." In Smithsonian Civil War: Inside the National Collection. Kagan, Neil and Hyslop, Stephen G., editors. 124–127. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books. 2013
• Boudreau, Joan. 2013. "Woodblock Printing." In Smithsonian Civil War: Inside the National Collection. Kagan, Neil and Hyslop, Stephen G., editors. 210–211. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books. 2013

Webpage

• Boudreau, Joan. 2021. Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection: Printing, Embossing, Stamping, and Duplicating Devices. Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection: Printing, Embossing, Stamping, and Duplicating Devices. Jan 1, 2021 Smithsonian Institution. 2021
• Boudreau, Joan. 2020. Printing at Home. Printing at Home. Jan 1, 2020 Smithsonian Institution. 2020
• Boudreau, Joan. 2016. John Wells: Hand Press Innovator. Printing History. Moxon, Paul, editor. American Printing History Association. 2016
• Boudreau, Joan. 2015. A Civil War Press Pass for William Conant Church. American Printing History Association. Jan 26, 2015 American Printing History Association. 2015
• Boudreau, Joan. 2015. Comic Art. Comic Art. MacArthur, Matt, editor. Jan 1, 2015 National Museum of American History. 2015
• Boudreau, Joan. 2014. California Mission Postcards. MacArthur, Matt, editor. Jan 1, 2014 National Museum of American History. 2014
• Boudreau, Joan and Mansfield, Patricia. 2014. The Early Sixties: American Culture. MacArthur, Matt, editor. Jul 1, 2014 National Museum of American History. 2014
• Boudreau, Joan. 2013. Invention and the Patent Model. MacArthur, Matt, editor. Jan 1, 2013 National Museum of American History. 2013
• Boudreau, Joan. 2013. Patent Models: Graphic Arts. MacArthur, Matt, editor. Jan 1, 2013 National Museum of American History. 2013