Tag Archive for: Affiliates

Welcome to the Smithsonian, @Plimoth #mishoon

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Hand-made paddles to go along with the mishoon.

Today, September 6, 2013, Smithsonian Affiliate Plimoth Plantation delivered a traditional Mashpee Wampanoag #mishoon to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. (What is a mishoon? Read our previous blogs here and here) In a special ceremony at the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland, Plimoth, Wampanoag, and Smithsonian staff came together and celebrated the gift of the mishoon to the collection.

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These amazing guys from the Wampanoag Indigenous Program at Plimoth Plantation created the mishoon that was gifted to the Smithsonian.

every time i visit your museum, bling bling

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Special thanks to Monica Reardon, Smithsonian Affiliations summer intern, for authoring the 2013 Smithsonian #MuseumDayLive! blog series.

Housed in an historic bank building on Wall Street in New York City, the Museum of American Finance is dedicated to preserving, exhibiting and teaching about American finance and financial history.  The founder, John Herzog, began with two exhibits in a U.S. Custom House in 1988.  Since then, this independent, non-profit museum has gradually expanded in exhibits and programs to what it is today, including becoming a Smithsonian Affiliate in 2001.

Monopoly Game Pieces

Monopoly Game Pieces

The museum currently has on display a unique piece on long-term loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Visitors during Smithsonian Museum Day Live! can get up close to a golden, bejeweled Monopoly set worth $2 million, created by jeweler Sidney Mobell.  The board and pieces are solid 18-karat gold and encrusted with 165 precious gemstones including diamonds, rubies and emeralds.  Bling Bling!! Even the dice are blinged-out with 42 full-cut diamonds marking the number dots on the die.

“We have quite a few finance-related board games in our collection, and games are a great way to introduce basic financial concepts to visitors. It made sense to borrow the Monopoly set for display,” noted Becky Laughner, Director of Exhibits & Archives.

The “eye-catching” Monopoly set attracts a variety of visitors from grade-school students to bank executives.  “We display many paper documents, and the Monopoly set could not be more different, while still assisting us in teaching financial history and promoting financial literacy.”

Laughner hopes that the game helps visitors “to understand that learning about finance can be fun and interesting.”  She adds,

“We hope visitors leave [the Museum] with a better understanding of money, finance and US history, and we realize that these topics are common threads that run through almost every aspect of our lives.”

Is the Smithsonian in your neighborhood? Find out which other Affiliates are participating in #MuseumDayLive on September 28, 2013, here.

Monopoly Board Game

Monopoly Board Game

Satisfy your Museum Day hunger with a Flying Pancake

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Special thanks to Monica Reardon, Smithsonian Affiliations summer intern, for authoring the 2013 Smithsonian #MuseumDayLive! blog series. 

A donation in 1963 to The University of Texas marked the beginnings of the museum Frontiers of Flight, now located in Dallas, Texas.  The collection of artifacts and archival materials of George Haddaway, an aviation historian and the publisher of “Flight” magazine, became the “History of Aviation Collection.”  The collection then moved from Austin to The University of Texas at Dallas in the late 1970’s.  Eventually, The Frontiers of Flight Museum was formed as an organization in 1988.  From there, it grew into what it is today.

Frontiers of Flight became a Smithsonian Affiliate in 2002 and has consistently participated in Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Live! for the past 7 years. The museum recently helped restore the Chance Vought V-173 Flying Pancake, on long-term loan to the museum from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM). In addition, visitors to the museum can view the Apollo 7 Command Module and more than 20 other space-related artifacts also on loan from NASM.

Is the Smithsonian in your neighborhood? Find out which other Affiliates are participating in #MuseumDayLive on September 28, 2013, here

Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" at Frontiers of Flight Museum

Photo courtesy Joseph May (C) 2012 at Travel for Aircraft

Plimoth Plantation creates mishoon for Smithsonian museum

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On September 6, 2013, Plimoth Plantation (Plymouth, Mass.) will donate a mishoon to the National Museum of the American Indian. Created this past spring by the Wampanoag Indigenous Program (WIP) at Plimoth Plantation, members of the WIP will present the mishoon and accompanying paddles to NMAI in a special gift ceremony at the museum’s Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland.

“As a museum dedicated to the history and culture of Native American communities, we’re delighted to welcome a creation like this one that represents a living tradition among the Wampanoag,” says Kevin Gover (Pawnee) Director, National Museum of the American Indian.

So what is a mishoon?  During the 17th century, the mishoon–a traditional Native American canoe–was the most common boat in North American waters. A typical 17th-century mishoon was created from a giant tree and capable of carrying 40 men. The mishoon being accepted into the NMAI collection isn’t quite that large–it’s 16 feet long and can fit up to 3 people–but it was created in the traditional way.

Photo courtesy Plimoth Plantation.

Photo courtesy Plimoth Plantation.

Daruis Coombs with tree that will become mishoon

Photo courtesy Plimoth Plantation.

So how does one create a mishoon? Picking the tree is the first step of course. With the help of Gurney’s Lumber Yard in Freetown, Massachusetts, WIP selected a white pine. The tree was burned down by wrapping clay around the trunk and burning the roots. It was then brought to Plimoth Plantation’s Wampanoag Homesite, where the log was worked with fire. By burning into the widest point of the tree a natural keel is created, where the bottom of the boat is thicker than its sides. Historically, mishoons were burned 24 hours a day, since the longer the fire was maintained the hotter it would get. Typically, it would take about 10-12 days for mishoons to be created in the 17th century. Although this seems like a long time, trees during this period were typically over 150 feet tall and 6 feet wide, capable of creating the mishoons that could carry 40 men.

“It’s an honor that the Smithsonian will accept it, and we enjoy doing new work–it keeps the job challenging,” said Darius Coombs, Associate Director of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program. “It has been a fun and educational experience. The mishoon is an invaluable piece that will add depth to the Smithsonian’s already rich representation of Northeast Native life.”

Smithsonian Affiliations and NMAI will be tweeting live on September 6 as the #mishoon enters the collection. Follow @SIAffiliates, @SmithsonianNMAI, and @Plimoth and check out our Flickr group for photos from the event.

Mishoonash in the Eel River next to Plimoth Plantation’s Wampanoag Homesite. Photo courtesy Smithsonian Affiliations.

Mishoonash in the Eel River next to Plimoth Plantation’s Wampanoag Homesite. Photo courtesy Smithsonian Affiliations.

Plimoth Plantation has received some amazing press coverage of the donation. Check it out below:

https://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130905/NEWS/309050323

https://www.therepublic.com/view/story/7432b135bbb744ff90f829a97a073bc5/MA–Wampanoag-Canoe-Smithsonian

https://www.enterprisenews.com/news/x1281953326/Plimoth-Plantation-makes-replica-of-Native-American-canoe-for-Smithsonian

https://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x1281953326/Plimoth-Plantation-makes-replica-of-Native-American-canoe-for-Smithsonian

https://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/news/x1843580627/PLIMOTH-PLANTATION-Mishoon-accepted-by-Smithsonian-National-Museum-of-the-American-Indian

https://plymouth.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/smithsonian-accepts-dugout-canoe-from-plimoth-plantation

https://www.pr-inside.com/smithsonian-s-national-museum-of-r3786683.htm

https://www.wbur.org/2013/09/03/wampanoag-canoe-smithsonian

https://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/09/02/wampanoag-canoe-headed-the-smithsonian/kNmhDOOWTQnB2VkOQmMiUO/story.html?rss_id=Top+Stories

https://ww.abc6.com/story/23319713/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian

https://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/09/wampanoag_canoe_headed_to_the_smithsonian

https://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/7432b135bbb744ff90f829a97a073bc5/MA–Wampanoag-Canoe-Smithsonian/#.UiX9idIp8to

https://www.eagletribune.com/boston/x335461568/Wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-Smithsonian

https://www.myfoxboston.com/story/23319713/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian

https://www.necn.com/09/02/13/Wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-Smithsonia/landing.html?&apID=7432b135bbb744ff90f829a97a073bc5

https://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-Smithsonian-4781724.php

https://www.telegram.com/article/20130902/APN/309029676

https://www.news10.com/story/23319713/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian

https://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://www.cbs3springfield.com/story/23319713/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian

https://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-Smithsonian-4781724.php

https://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://www.wtnh.com/news/massachusetts/ap-massachusetts/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian_70775095

https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-Smithsonian-4781724.php

https://www.houmatoday.com/article/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-Smithsonian-4781724.php

https://www.sportballa.com/2013/09/indigenous-peoples/canoe-headed-wampanoag-smithsonian

https://www.chron.com/news/article/Wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-Smithsonian-4781724.php

https://www.dailycomet.com/article/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-Smithsonian-4781724.php

https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://www.theledger.com/article/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://www.gainesville.com/article/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://ewallstreeter.com/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian-37

https://www.roonte.com/www/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian

https://boston.cityandpress.com/node/6741978

https://news.silobreaker.com/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian-5_2267076475486208002

https://www.connectednews.com/news/massachusetts/boston/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian/

https://www.tribtown.com/view/story/7432b135bbb744ff90f829a97a073bc5/MA–Wampanoag-Canoe-Smithsonian

https://www.sport-telegram.com/wampanoag-canoe-headed-smithsonian-necn/

https://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130902/APN/1309020791

https://www.masslive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/wampanoag-canoe-headed-to-the-smithsonian/7432b135bbb744ff90f829a97a073bc5

Plan Ahead- 2014 Jazz Appreciation Month

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Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM)–April 2014–is just around the corner. Affiliates have the opportunity to participate in FREE Media Training/Networking webinars organized by The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA). The JJA program will help Affiliate organizations use JAM as an opportunity to broaden their outreach to local communities and media outlets and to network with local jazz influencers.

Poster art designed by Fritz Klaetke, art director for JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology.

Poster art designed by Fritz Klaetke, art director for JAZZ: The Smithsonian Anthology.

Three online webinars will discuss the use of social media and on working with local online and traditional media to

  • Increase local awareness of JAM and the institution’s JAM-related events.
  • Build the institution’s ongoing social media presence.
  • Reach under-served local communities.
  • Connect with other local institutions and individuals involved in jazz and related cultural production.

The exact content of the interactive webinars will be determined by survey results. Click here to take the survey!

Follow Jazz Appreciation Month on Facebook for updates and tweet your activities to @CelebrateJAM #CelebrateJAM.

engineering ingenuity at the buffalo bill center of the west

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Special thanks to Monica Reardon, Smithsonian Affiliations summer intern, for authoring the 2013 #MuseumDayLive! Affiliate blog series.

Patent model, Smith & Wesson Magazine Lever Action Pistol. AF*251055. Image provided by Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Patent model, Smith & Wesson Magazine Lever Action Pistol. AF*251055. Image provided by Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West had its start as a log building in Cody, Wyoming, resembling Buffalo Bill’s TE Ranch house.  Mary Jester Allen intended the museum to be a national shrine and memorial to her uncle, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, and to the early pioneers of the American West.  The collections grew and so did the Museum, with the intent of preserving and conveying the “Spirit of the American West.”  

The Center has participated in Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Live! since becoming a Smithsonian Affiliate in 2008. On view at the Cody Firearms Museum in time for Museum Day Live! this year are 64 unique firearms from the National Firearms Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.  The exhibit is divided between patent firearms (the prototype design submitted by firearms inventors), firearms with interesting provenance, and international firearms with gorgeous embellishments.  The collection includes a Smith and Wesson Lever Action Patent Model and a Colt Patent.

The Smith and Wesson Lever Action Patent Model was the first lever action prototype firearm designed by Smith and Wesson.  Smith and Wesson’s original company, The Volcanic Repeating Arms Co. was actually named after the nickname for the pistol, the Volcanic pistol. However, this patent did not bring them financial success and they sold the rights to a shirt manufacturer named Oliver Winchester. Winchester would go on to use this patent; his lever action rifles becoming synonymous with the American West.

Revolver, patent model. Colt Paterson Revolver. AF*251084. Image provided by Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Revolver, patent model. Colt Paterson Revolver. AF*251084. Image provided by Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

The Colt Patent is connected to Samuel Colt, another name famous in the American West, particularly for revolvers.  Colt’s revolver is the first successful percussion firearm ever patented.  The design from this model would go on to be the production type Colt Paterson.  As noted by Ashley Hlebinsky,Firearms Curatorial Resident, “You pretty much cannot see a Western film without seeing a variation of a Colt Revolver and a Winchester Lever Action.”

Hlebinsky would like visitors “to not only see some amazing firearms and representations of engineering ingenuity, but to understand the people who made the firearms and who owned and used them.”  She hopes that the “artifacts are able to convey a story about the people involved in the process – from the trial and error methods of the patent process (some patent models were never produced, while others became infamous) to the experiences of those who owned the guns.”

Is the Smithsonian in your neighborhood? Find out which other Affiliates are participating in #MuseumDayLive on September 28, 2013, here.