The Affiliate Newsletter | Spring 2016

Spring 2016

the

affiliate News about Smithsonian Affiliates

The “Gold Standard” in Collaboration

Worth Its Weight: Gold from the Ground Up, a new exhibition created by the Museum of American Finance (MoAF) in New York, explores the story of gold and its intersections throughout American history. From the Gold Rush to investments and from mining to jewelry, the objects encompass science, technology, art, entertainment, pop culture, and finance.

“We borrowed 268 objects to create this exhibition,” said Sarah Poole, MoAF collections manager. “This is the largest exhibition we have ever created and we are proud that three Smithsonian museums and four Affiliates are represented.”

The idea for the exhibition emerged in 2010 after MoAF borrowed a 24-karat

gold-plated Monopoly set created by designer Sidney Mobell from the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).

“Our visitors saw a familiar object which served as an ice breaker for them to access our other exhibits, which focus on a range of financial topics,” said Kristin Aguilera, MoAF deputy director. “The Monopoly set was so continued page 3

Smithsonian Affiliations

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the affiliate Spring 2016

We extend a warm welcome to our newest Smithsonian Affiliates

Connections

Claudine Brown, the Smithsonian’s Assistant Secretary for Education and Access, passed away on March 17, 2016. We were privileged to have her as an inspirational leader, colleague, mentor and friend.

I knew Claudine from a distance during her first tour at the Smithsonian, 1990 – 1995, when she developed the program plan for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, now set to open on the National Mall in September 2016. And when I was appointed Associate Director for Public Service at the National Museum of American History in 1997, one of my first trips was to see Claudine at the Nathan Cummings Foundation in New York, to seek her guidance on making our educational programming more engaging and inclusive. But

it was her return to the Smithsonian in 2010, and appointment as Assistant Secretary and my new boss, that gave me an opportunity to understand and appreciate Claudine at a deeper level.

Our first meeting revealed her daunting knowledge of the Smithsonian Affiliations network. As I ran down the list of Affiliates, thinking that I was offering something new and insightful, I was quick to find out that Claudine knew them better. She could name directors, trustees, and staff of countless Affiliates, as well as their major accomplishments, transformative programs, and funding histories. I also learned not to be surprised in my travels upon discovering, anywhere across the country, a devoted following of students from the Bank Street Graduate School of Education in New York City where she served on the faculty.

Claudine was often cited as the reason many chose the museum profession, and as their source of courage to stand up against barriers to success and advancement.

In our working relationship, Claudine was always supportive and appreciative for the work of the Affiliations program, though she never held back in pushing for stronger collaborations, many now in place as a result

of the Youth Access Grant program that she developed. Claudine’s mantra was about thinking out of the box, taking risks, and not being afraid of failure. Welcome counsel to be sure.

On April 4 the Smithsonian held a Celebration of the Life of Claudine K. Brown attended by hundreds of Smithsonian staff, representatives of museums, arts and culture organizations, students, artists, friends and family. Transcending our sadness, the event was filled with expressions of praise, music, poetry, and, of course, participatory art activities. Smithsonian Secretary David J. Skorton aptly captured the spirit of the moment by reminding us that the best way to honor Claudine and continue her legacy, was to “move on wrapped in her wisdom and buoyed by her example.� And so we shall.

Harold A. Closter Director Smithsonian Affiliations

California African American Museum Los Angeles, California DuSable Museum of African American History Chicago, Illinois Dubuque Museum of Art Dubuque, Iowa Historic Annapolis Annapolis, Maryland The Bakken Museum Minneapolis, Minnesota Saint Louis Science Center St. Louis, Missouri

Editor Elizabeth Bugbee Writer Cara Seitchek

Photo courtesy

Designer Brad Ireland

Amanda Lucidon

Printing Chroma Graphics, Inc.

for Smithsonian Affiliations Staff Jennifer Brundage, National Outreach Manager Elizabeth Bugbee, Communications and Professional Development Manager Harold A. Closter, Director

Contents

Alma Douglas, National Outreach Manager Aaron Glavas, National Outreach Manager Laura Hansen, National Outreach Manager Christina DiMeglio Lopez, External Affairs Manager Caroline Mah, National Outreach Manager Gertrude Ross, Financial Manager Natalie Wimberly, Management Support Specialist Š 2016 Smithsonian Institution

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The “Gold Standard� in Collaboration df

Stars of the Smithsonian Shine in Mystic, Connecticut

Inspiring Women and Girls of Color

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Major League Legends Hit Homeruns at Affiliates

Smithsonian In Your Neighborhood

Smithsonian Affiliations Celebrates 20 Years df

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Smithsonian Affiliations. All rights reserved.

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The Art of Video Games

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The Affiliate is published by

Fourteen Affiliates were chosen to participate in the third round of programming for Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos, a program organized by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

science Left Guests at the

Lower left This solid

Worth Its Weight

gold, jewel-encrusted

exhibition opening on

Monopoly set was

November 19, 2015,

created by jewelry

viewing artifacts

artist Sidney Mobell

on loan from the

and is on loan to the

Smithsonian and

Museum of American

Affiliates.

Finance from the National Museum of

All photos by Alan

Natural History.

Barnett; courtesy of the Museum of American Finance.

popular that it triggered the idea of a largerscale exhibition about gold.”

Over the next five years, MoAF plumbed the resources of academics, universities, trade associations, private collectors, jewelry designers, and a large network of museums, including the Smithsonian Affiliates.

“I checked the Affiliate web site to research potential partners,” said Poole. “My research question was to look at the unexpected ways that people encounter gold in their lives. And my search led me to lesserknown museums such as the National Museum of Dentistry, which collected objects such as gold alloy dentures that show how gold is used in medicine.”

MoAF staff agree that the exhibition allows them to present the topic of finance in a new light.

“People are often intimidated by finance, but this exhibition allows us to show finance in a different way,” said David Cowen, MoAF president.

In addition to gold nuggets and mining artifacts, the exhibition contains more unique artifacts, such as an astronaut helmet with a gold visor used in the Gemini space program.

On loan from the National Air and Space Museum, the helmet is accompanied by a gold phonograph record created in 1977 and attached to the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts. This Sounds of the Earth record, an eclectic 90-minute musical program in which Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B Goode” and Mozart’s “Magic Flute” vie with a Zairian Pygmy girls initiation song and a shakuhachi piece from Japan, is a duplicate of the record that contained sounds and images to show life and culture on Earth.

The National Postal Museum lent a gold locket presented to Alaskan postal system creator John Clum in 1911, while NMNH contributed jewelry from the National Gem and Mineral Collection and other creations from Mobell, including a solid gold mousetrap and a jeweled fly fishing reel.

“When we loan our objects to other museums, it’s always interesting to see how the host museum presents the objects with different themes and stories than what we might present,” said Jeffrey Post, NMNH

geologist and curator of the National Gem Collection. “The Mobell pieces generate discussions of what makes something valuable and puts a smile on everyone’s face.”

Loans from Affiliates include an Arab sword and scabbard and Orthodox matrimonial gold crowns from the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, three gold nuggets from the Loud Placer Mine in Georgia from the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, a Torah shield, pointer and ceremonial cup from the Yeshiva University Museum, part of the Center for Jewish History in New York City, and thin sheets of gold foil used in filling molars courtesy of the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore, Maryland.

Devon Akmon, Arab American National Museum director, said “As an Affiliate, we thrive on being part of this network of museums. We had a chance to support another Affiliate as well as have our objects on view in a major New York exhibition. Partnerships like this allow us to place our objects, which represent the Arab American experience, within the greater American experience.”

Arab American National Museum

Tellus Science Musem

www.arabamericanmuseum.org

tellusmuseum.org

Richard Kurin, Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture, visited three Affiliates to share stories from his book, The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects.

continued from page 1 The “Gold Standard” in Collaboration

“Everyone knows New York City as a world renowned center for arts and culture, with institutions, organizations, and individuals who have expanded the boundaries of human knowledge and achievement,” said Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY 10th), who represents the West Side of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. “New York City continues in this tradition to this day, making this the perfect spot for a Smithsonian Affiliate museum.

I am proud to represent such a historic and culturallyrich district, and thank the Smithsonian Institution for their work to preserve and promote the American story for future generations.”

Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY 10th)

the affiliate

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Smithsonian Affiliations Celebrates 20 Years The Smithsonian’s 150th anniversary in 1996 turned out to be much more than a ceremonial nod to our founding. As multitudes crowded the National Mall to hear Aretha Franklin perform against the backdrop of fireworks exploding over the Smithsonian Castle, a major rethinking of the Smithsonian’s role in the 21st century was taking place inside. The first ever national tour of Smithsonian treasures made its way across the country, sparking a new wave of appreciation for our venerable Institution, the Smithsonian’s first website was launched, and Smithsonian Affiliations was established. The Smithsonian’s new direction reflected a growing commitment to opening doors and reaching audiences everywhere.

Numbers tell one story — the more than 8,000 Smithsonian artifacts displayed at Affiliate locations, the hundreds of Smithsonian traveling exhibits and speakers that have crisscrossed the country in the past twenty years, and the millions of visitors that have had the opportunity to experience the “Smithsonian in their own neighborhood.” But beyond the numbers is the sense of family that the Affiliations program has created; the sharing of artifacts, people and ideas and the caring support offered by all in times of crisis.

We have come a long way in twenty years and look forward to a bright future built on this solid foundation.

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Smithsonian Affiliations program begins An outgrowth of the Smithsonian’s 150th anniversary celebration, Smithsonian Affiliations is created as a national outreach program to extend the reach of the Smithsonian to communities, museums, and research organizations across the nation. At the end of its first year, Smithsonian Affiliations welcomed 21 museums as Affiliates.

Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum Thirty-one minerals were sent to Arizona from the National Museum of Natural History’s National Gem and Mineral Collection.

The minerals were native to the Bisbee region.

College Park Aviation Museum The National Air and Space Museum loaned 25 artifacts including a Berliner Helicopter and Wright Brother’s pocket watch. The objects remain on view at the Affiliate today.

Smithsonian Expeditions exhibit sends over 100 artifacts to Affiliates Smithsonian Expeditions: Exploring Latin America & the Caribbean, a collaboration between the National Museum of Natural History and the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science.

The exhibit featured a reproduction of a Mayan archaeological site. More than 100 artifacts from the Smithsonian collection were presented in the exhibition. Dr. Jane Walsh served as the guest curator of the Affiliate exhibition, which was on view for 5 years.

The first loans from the Smithsonian to an Affiliate: National Museum of American History shared dental collections with the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry.

Apollo 13 command module “Odyssey” lands at the Cosmosphere Upon completion of the Apollo 13 project, the National Air and Space Museum granted the Cosmosphere a permanent loan to house the spacecraft. Odyssey is still on view in the Cosmosphere’s Apollo Gallery.

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Blackhawk Museum gets iconic artifacts Lincoln’s hat, a Bell telephone, and an Edison light bulb were part of the exhibition Treasures from the Collection of the Smithsonian Institution: A First Look.

Japanese American National Museum and Museum of American Finance The Japanese American National Museum brings together staff and volunteers to fold 1,000 origami cranes to be sent to Museum of American Finance after the 9/11 attack in NYC.

Museo Y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos The first annual museum studies workshop begins. Twentyone workshops have been presented since 2002. Over the past 14 years, more than 500 museum professionals in Puerto Rico have been trained and received certificates through the program.

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture The World Moves-We Follow: Celebrating African Art showcased 27 objects from the National Museum of African Art and 11 objects from the National Museum of Natural History’s anthropology collection.

American Originals in Durham The American Originals exhibition featured 174 objects from multiple Smithsonian museums, on view at The Durham Museum from 2004 – 2005. The overall theme for the exhibition was to share unique objects from the Smithsonian that illustrate successes in the fields of design, research, technology, and entertainment.

Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles This book tour launched a new program model across the Affiliate network, reaching 20 Affiliate locations. Don Williams, Smithsonian conservator, led workshops and lectures in roadshow-style events across the country at Affiliates. Saving Stuff taught collectors how to apply museum conservation techniques to family heirlooms and keepsakes of all kinds.

Smithsonian-designed exhibit opens in Bisbee Digging In, co-created with Smithsonian Exhibits, opened at Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum.

The installation was inspired by the collection of Bisbee minerals loaned to the museum in 1997 by the National Museum of Natural History.

Smithsonian Art Collection in Naples The Naples Museum of Art exhibited The Prints of Sean Scully from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Fifty prints and an artist’s book were featured.

The exhibition included etchings, aquatints and woodcuts.

In Plane View In Plane View: Abstractions of Flight, a photograp exhibition of 54 fin art prints by Caroly Russo, photograph National Air and Sp Museum, traveled over 10 Affiliates fr 2009 – 2014.

California Science Center The Affiliate showcased a renovated Air & Space Gallery, with space history artifacts on loan from the National Air and Space Museum and meteorites from the National Museum of Natural History.

The Peoria Falcon Flies Home to Peoria, Illinois.

The iconic artifact, excavated in the 1850’s in Peoria, was accessioned into the Smithsonian anthropological collection and then was loaned to the Peoria Riverfront Museum.

George Washington Brought to Life Three life-size mannequins of George Washington were created, in part, through a unique collaboration between George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, several Smithsonian art experts, and the Museum of Dentistry.

Washington’s dentures played a vital role in reconstructing the face of Washington’s mannequin.

Clash of the Empires This Senator John Heinz History Center exhibition was showcased at the Smithsonian. This marked the first time an Affiliateproduced exhibition was displayed at the Smithsonian.

George Catlin featured at Booth Western Two Catlin paintings on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum were on view at the Booth Western Art Museum.

Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center Annmarie celebrated the exhibition and installation of 7 sculptures on loan from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Kermit the Frog Goes to Dubuque Kermit was featured as part of the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium exhibit Toadally Frogs.

Jeweled Objects of Desire The landmark exhibition was the first Affiliate curated show to travel across the Affiliate network. Led

by The Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, the exhibition traveled to 5 Affiliates from 2006 – 2014.

phy ne yn her, pace to rom

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Riverside begins Smithsonian Citizen Science Week Since 2009 the Riverside Metropolitan Museum has collaborated with Smithsonian scientists from the National Museum of Natural History to lead its annual citizen science week. Over the past seven years Smithsonian subject experts have participated in the annual program.

Lexington Returns to Kentucky A full-size skeleton of the famous race horse Lexington returned to Kentucky on loan from the National Museum of Natural History to the International Museum of the Horse.

National Youth Summits A new partnership between the National Museum of American History and Smithsonian Affiliations in 2011 developed an annual program for youth groups around themes at Affiliates such as: Freedom Rides, Dust Bowl, Abolition, Freedom Summer, War on Poverty, and Japanese American Incarceration in World War II. Twenty Affiliates have participated to date.

Pioneer Locomotive Loan The B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore received and restored the historic locomotive now on public view at the Affiliate.

Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos More than 25 Affiliates have participated in the astronomy youth education program since 2013. The program has engaged over 1,000 students in Affiliate communities through workshops with space camps, after school programs, home school consortiums and at community centers.

A Look into the Sixties in New York City A landmark collaboration with CNN showcased collections from 11 Affiliates.

Iconic objects from the 1960s were featured at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Station. Over one million people viewed the exhibition in a five-day period.

Citizen Science Takes off in North Carolina North Carolina Museum of Natural Science’s Neighborhood Nest Watch and eMammals launches a new collaboration with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and the Smithsonian Conversation Biology Institute.

Inspiring Women and Girls of Color Building on the annual Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day LIVE! program, a special edition for women and girls of color was celebrated in March for Women’s History Month. More than 40 Affiliates participated and developed programming for family audiences in partnership with the White House and the Smithsonian. The National Endowment for Humanities granted Smithsonian Affiliates funds to implement local programs.

Dolly Madison’s Dress Dolly Madison’s Dress was loaned to the National Portrait Gallery from the Greensboro Historical Museum for the War of 1812 exhibition.

The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects More than 15 Affiliates have hosted lectures, book signings, and events around Dr. Richard Kurin’s popular book.

Innoskate on the road In 2014, The Polk Museum of Art and the Museum of History and Industry celebrated invention and creativity in skate culture through The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation program, Innoskate. The Children’s Museum of the Upstate would host the program in 2015.

Superman Lands in Ohio George Reeves’s iconic Superman costume worn in the 1950s TV show flew to the Ohio History Connection from the vaults at the National Museum of American History.

Ten Years of the Young Ambassadors Program La Plaza de Cultura y Artes began the Affiliate-Smithsonian Latino Center collaboration in June 2006.

Since then, 16 Affiliates have hosted Young Ambassadors. The program has grown into an alumni network with many graduates supporting their local Affiliate.

All that Jazz The Musical Instrument Museum opened a new Jazz gallery featuring five objects on loan from the National Museum of American History. One featured item was a cornet associated with Louis Armstrong.

Young Historians, Living Histories This youth engagement program in eight Affiliate communities taught students technical skills while documenting their family immigration stories. The videos were premiered at the CAAM Film festival in San Francisco.

Historic Arkansas Museum We Walk in Two Worlds, featured collections from the National Museum of the American Indian.

The 2009 exhibition included over 150 artifacts highlighting Quapaw, Osage and Caddo tribes.

Town Hall Meeting for Bracero History Project The Mexican Heritage Corporation served as the first venue for the National Museum of American History’s community engagement program for the bracero collecting initiative. The community programs preceded the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service exhibition: Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942 – 1964. Exhibited in San José in 2010.

art/science

The Art of Video Games “The Art of Video Games is a ground-breaking show, the first to feature the aesthetic of the video game,” said Betsy Broun, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director, Smithsonian American Art Museum. “We love sharing our collections and work with audiences around the country and it is always nice to partner with an Affiliate.”

The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, is hosting The Art of Video Games exhibition, the final destination in its five-year, ten-venue tour around the country. On view until April 17, 2016, the exhibition brought in new audiences and expanded the museum’s reach into the community.

“We are a university museum, so our students are very interested in this,” said Klaudio Rodriguez, Frost curator. “But we also see that the exhibition is jam-packed with children. We are hosting about 500 children a day for other programs; the video games are their reward at the end of the day. The exhibition is very accessible to all ages and has created a new energy.”

Rodriguez tried to re-create the sense of old-time video arcades in the design of the exhibition. “I saw the exhibition at other venues and noticed the different ways it could be presented. I decided to create a sense of an arcade, with strangers standing shoulder-toshoulder playing these games.”

Stars of the Smithsonian Shine in Mystic, Connecticut Guest Author: Mary Cairns, Associate Director of Membership, Mystic Seaport

In September 2015, Mystic Seaport opened Ships, Clocks and Stars: The Quest for Longitude, an award-winning exhibition from the Royal Museums Greenwich in England. Given this incredible opportunity to showcase the story of solving one of the great scientific challenges of the 18th century, it was important for Mystic Seaport to bring nationally recognized experts to explore all aspects of the exhibit. To that end, we worked with our Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Manager, Jennifer Brundage, to invite Smithsonian curators and scholars in the fields of art, history, and science to speak about time keeping, celestial navigation and the practice of using oceanic patterns of wave swells for guidance.

With the exhibition on loan only until the end of March 2016, we had a short window of time to provide different perspectives on the topic. Four Smithsonian experts shared their

expertise with our audiences and also met with colleagues across Mystic Seaport to the benefit of both organizations.

Andrew Johnston, geographer at the National Air and Space Museum, treated museum staff and visitors to a show in our own planetarium, Using the Stars to Navigate.

Additional Smithsonian speakers included Dr. Carlene Stephens, curator at the National Museum of American History on time keeping systems; Dr. Christine Kreamer, curator from the National Museum of African Art on the African cosmos; and Roger Connor, another curator from the National Air and Space Museum, on the adaptation of maritime navigation in aviation.

As part of the series finale this coming June, Doug Herman, senior geographer at the National Museum of the American Indian, will speak about oceanic navigation and land finding and provide museum visitors with a hands-on display of the wood-working tools that Pacific Islanders used to create canoes more than 1000 years ago.

The engagement we experienced has been remarkable. The exhibit and the speaker series sparked new and return visits during a time of year that is typically slow for an outdoor history museum. Visitors, staff, and volunteers were able to explore the exhibit in the context of Smithsonian scholarship and attendance rose with increased interest from local school and university students.

We look forward to expanding our connection to the Smithsonian Affiliate network and hope that future partnerships and shared programming will become a regular feature at Mystic Seaport, and that this alliance will continue to enhance and shape our mission to create an enduring connection to our maritime heritage. the affiliate

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Mystic Sport

Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum

the affiliate

www.mysticseaport.org

https://thefrost.fiu.edu

Spring 2016

Using light gels of every color of the rainbow, neon lights, and lasers, Rodriguez presented the exhibition in an intimate space within the galleries. “The sum of the parts of the exhibition creates the whole — the communal experience beyond art and machine. It’s just like a video game that brings together the smaller pieces and pixels to create the bigger picture.”

Both Broun and Rodriguez agree that the long-term association between their organizations helped make the process a success. Broun described working with the Frost as “an established rhythm,” while Rodriguez added that the staff of the American Art Museum “are a pleasure to work with and make the process easy to navigate.”

Jordana Pomeroy, Frost director, said, “The Art of Video Games has proven to be an enormous success in every meaning of the word. The exhibition has attracted all age groups who find the exhibition visually and intellectually stimulating, provoking conversations about the evolution of the video game from Pac Man to the newest arrivals on the market. The Frost immediately embraced the art inherent in video games, which is the perfect union between imagination, innovation, and technology.” the affiliate

Visitors explore the

Photos courtesy

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games.

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Ships, Clocks & Stars

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Joe Michael

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history / culture

Major League Legends Hit Homeruns at Affiliates Smithsonian Channel’s MAJOR LEAGUE LEGENDS series — a set of one-hour programs about four of the greatest players in the history of the national pastime — premiered in February at five Affiliates. The series tells the stories of Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Ted Williams and is produced by Major League Baseball with the Smithsonian Channel™.

The first program, The Hammer of Hank Aaron, was broadcast on February 29 as a special Black History Month presentation.

Audiences in cities from Baltimore to Seattle enjoyed a sneak-peek of the film, accompanied by panel discussions with baseball players, Smithsonian curators, and Smithsonian Channel producers.

Dana DeSanto, director of distributor marketing for Smithsonian Channel, said that the partnerships with the museums allowed them to “invite their patrons to a special evening event, drive new traffic to their venues, and participate in the media surrounding the series.”

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in Baltimore hosted the first screen-

Inspiring Women and Girls of Color

ing on February 17 in partnership with Comcast and the Smithsonian Channel.

“Partnering with Smithsonian Affiliations on this screening was a wonderful opportunity that introduced new visitors to the museum. At the same time, it gave us a chance to thank our museum members by giving them a night of exclusive access to a film before its public release,” said Charles Bethea, chief curator & director of collections and exhibitions for the Reginald F. Lewis Museum. “From a content perspective, Hank Aaron’s stature as a sports figure and civil rights activist provided another way for the museum to present the accomplishments of African Americans, therefore reinforcing our mission.”

In addition to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, other hosting Affiliates included History Colorado in Denver, the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. the affiliate

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programming related to the theme “Inspiring Women and Girls of Color.” Organized by Smithsonian magazine, the event provided free admission to anyone presenting a Museum Day Live! ticket. Smithsonian Affiliate participation was supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Dr. Cole added, “Many Smithsonian Affiliates were among the museums in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that offered creative and inspiring programs, specifically designed to say to women and girls of color that cultural institutions belong to them! Smithsonian Affiliates also introduced women and girls of color to the range of careers in museums that they might consider pursuing.”

Twitter social media during the day reached 5.5 million accounts and had 19 million impressions. Top contributors included the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, with a resulting 1,500 tweets sent in all. Smithsonian Instagram invited five Smithsonian staff members to post about their careers.

“The energy and excitement throughout the Smithsonian was tangible; to think that this was happening across the country was even more exciting,” said Philippa Rappoport, a program specialist with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access,

which coordinates the Heritage Day events for the Smithsonian.

Even First Lady Michele Obama participated in the event through a videotaped statement: “Our museums are for everyone.

And I want all our young people to understand that their story is part of the great American story. So I’m thrilled that as part of Women’s History Month, for this year’s Museum Day, that the Smithsonian Institution is launching a campaign to reach out to girls and young women of color and inspire them to discover the arts and sciences, and reach higher for themselves and for their country.

I want to express my gratitude for everyone who has been part of this effort and I hope you all have a wonderful Museum Day.” the affiliate

YWCA Bristol

of Country Music

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“Museum Day Live! was incredibly successful as colleagues from around our country warmly welcomed women and girls of color, their families, and their peers to their muse-

ums,” said Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, National Museum of African Art director, who spearheaded the creation of this special day.

The March 12 event found Affiliates of all types offering hands-on workshops, behindthe-scenes tours, and meet and greet opportunities with successful role models from the local community. More than 500 museums, libraries, zoos, aquariums, and parks presented

Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor

Birthplace of Country Music Museum

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland

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www.pacificaviationmuseum.org

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African American History and Culture

the affiliate

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Spring 2016

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Smithsonian In Your Neighborhood New about Smithsonian Affiliates (November 1, 2015 – April 30, 2016)

Maryland Chris Mooney, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), served on the exhibition jury for the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center (Dowell) exhibition Swarm: Invasion of the Insects.

The Museums of Sonoma County (Santa Rosa) displayed Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation, an exhibition from the Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).

I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story, an APAC/SITES exhibition, was on view at the Cerritos Library (Cerritos).

Nine space-related artifacts from National Air and Space Museum (NASM) are on long-term loan to the Saint Louis Science Center (St. Louis). The Center also hosted the interactive exhibition Above and Beyond, which features two artifacts from NASM.

Florida Joanne Hyppolite, National Museum of African American History and Culture

Spring 2016

Titanoboa: Monster Snake, a SITES exhibition, traveled to the Idaho Museum of Natural History (Pocatello).

Missouri

The Denver Art Museum (Denver) included Roaring Reef, a watercolor

by Andrew Wyeth, on loan from the Smithsonian American Art Museum for its exhibition Wyeth: Andrew and Jamie in the Studio.

the affiliate

Idaho

California

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(NMAAHC), spoke about the new museum at History Miami (Miami).

Massachusetts Framingham State University (Framingham) invited Briana Pobiner, NMNH, to discuss our understanding of actual paleo diets in her lecture Ancient Appetites: What Our Ancestors Really Ate and How We Know.

New Mexico The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (Albuquerque) announced its affiliation with a loan of the Post Diamond Tiara from the NMNH. In conjunction with the exhibition, Jeff Post,

NMNH, provided a lecture at the museum about the American Gemstone Jewelry Collection.

North Carolina The Schiele Museum of Natural History & Lynn Planetarium (Gastonia) hosted Titanoboa: Monster Snake, a SITES exhibition.

Ohio The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art and Technology (Newark) participated in the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center workshop, Learning Through Objects: Museums and Young Children.

Oklahoma The Oklahoma History Center (Oklahoma City) participated in the National Museum of American History (NMAH) Let’s Do History Tour.

Puerto Rico The Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (Santurce) exhibition, Impressionism and the Caribbean: Francisco Oller and His Transat-

lantic World, includes one painting from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Pennsylvania The Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access (SCLDA) is collaborating with the Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh) to pilot the new Smithsonian Learning Lab with Allegheny County teachers. NMAH loaned the Center two artifacts for its exhibition Toys of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.

Rex Ellis, NMAAHC, provided the keynote talk at Shifting Narratives: Rethinking the Past to Understand the Present symposium at the African American Museum in Philadelphia (Philadelphia).

Rhode Island The Rhode Island Historical Society (Providence) welcomed Mary Savig, Archives of American Art, for a lecture on Handmade Holiday Cards from 20th-Century Artists.

Jeff Post, NMNH, also spoke about the Hope Diamond at RIHS.

South Dakota The South Dakota State Historical Society (Pierre) offered a special rebroadcast video program about food history from the Smithsonian.

Susan Evans McClure, NMAH, was the keynote speaker for the conference Everyone Eats: South Dakota’s Food Heritage.

Texas UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures (San Antonio) served as the host venue for the opening of the State Teachers of the Year event for the Council of Chief State School Officers, in partnership with SCLDA.

Virginia George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens featured for the first time in 200 years two battle swords carried by General Washington.

One sword was on loan from NMAH.