Tag Archive for: Affiliates

Affiliates in the news!

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Congrats to these Affiliates making news! Each month we highlight Affiliate-Smithsonian and Affiliate-Affiliate collaborations making headlines.  If you have a clipping highlighting a collaboration with the Smithsonian or with a fellow Affiliate you’d like to have considered for the Affiliate blog, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee.

CALIFORNIA
Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, California)
Carlos Bulosan poem inspires US exhibit
The exhibit, titled “I Want the Wide American Earth,” will end its run at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History on Aug. 25. It will open next at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on Sept. 14 and run until Dec. 1.

COLORADO
Telluride Historical Museum (Telluride, Colorado)
Celebrating history: Museum marks affiliation with party Tuesday
“(The designation) shows that people in Telluride really believe in what they are doing,” Fraser said. “It’s just a tremendous honor. ”

GEORGIA
Booth Western Art Museum (Cartersville, Georgia)
Booth Western Art Museum celebrates 10 years
“As far as the museum community goes, becoming a Smithsonian affiliate and also joining the Museums West consortium, those were two certainly highlights in the museum achieving some recognition within the field and being recognized by our peers,” Hopkins said.

Tellus Science Museum (Cartersville, Georgia)
Video- Dinosaurs, spaceships and model-T car under one Cartersville roof
We are a world class Smithsonian affiliated museum,” said Joe Schumann. It’s Smithsonian quality with Georgia history down to the dinosaurs.

IDAHO
Idaho Museum of Natural History (Pocatello, Idaho)
Stories of American Indian code talkers revealed in Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition at Idaho State University running July 20-Sept. 29
“. These unsung American heroes share their stories of strength and courage in a Smithsonian traveling exhibition, which opens July 20 and runs through Sept. 29”

Researchers creating database of bones from every known arctic bird, mammal, fish
“. Known as the Virtual Zooarchaeology of the Arctic Project, or VZAP, the database pulls together data from universities and museums around the world. The Burke Museum, Smithsonian Institution and Canadian Museum of Civilization have partnered with Maschner to offer their considerable collections. The database can be seen online through Idaho State University, where Maschner teaches and acts as the director for the Idaho Museum of Natural History.”

MISSOURI
American Jazz Museum (Kansas City, Missouri)
Ford Motor Company : Kansas City Council Commemorates Ford Fund for Bringing American Sabor Exhibit to American Jazz Museum
“The Kansas City Council issued a proclamation today offering special recognition to Ford Motor Company Fund, the American Jazz Museum and Smithsonian Institution for bringing the “American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music”traveling Smithsonian exhibit to the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City from Aug. 1 through Oct. 27.”

KC Jazz Museum gets Latino flair
VIDEO- WDAF-KC (FOX)

 

The olinguito was announced Aug. 15, 2013, as the world's newest species. The team of scientists that discovered the small carnivore included Roland Kays, a professor at North Carolina State University.

The olinguito was announced Aug. 15, 2013, as the world’s newest species. The team of scientists that discovered the small carnivore included Roland Kays, a professor at North Carolina State University.

NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh, North Carolina)
NC scientist part of team that discovers new species
“N.C. State professor Roland Kays, who also serves as director of the Biodiversity Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, helped uncover the existence of the olinguito. ”

OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma History Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Oklahoma History Center receives oral history grant from the Smithsonian
“We are honored to be one of ten Smithsonian Affiliates to receive this grant which will engage students with history and help us fulfill our mission to collect, preserve, and share the history and culture of Oklahoma and its people,” said Leah Craig, curator of Education at the Oklahoma History Center.”

SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota State Historical Society (Pierre, S.D.)
State Historical Society Announces New Teacher’s Workshop in Collaboration with Smithsonian
“Working with Smithsonian EdLab through this workshop is a great first step in building our capacity to provide new learning opportunities for students in South Dakota,“ commented Jay Smith, museum director.  “We will build on this experience in developing future programming opportunities with some of the museums in the Smithsonian system to further capitalize on our new affiliation.”

Smithsonian educator hosting teacher workshop in Pierre
Kim Skerritt, program educator at Smithsonian EdLab, will lead the workshop. She has three years of experience developing, implementing and evaluating innovative technology programs for teachers and students.

(left to right) Deb Smith, an English teacher at Lyman High School in Presho, and Alyssa Anderson, a 7th grade language arts and 8th grade journalism teacher in Chamberlain, work on their mission plans for the upcoming school year. Allison Jarrell/Capital Journal

(left to right) Deb Smith, an English teacher at Lyman High School in Presho, and Alyssa Anderson, a 7th grade language arts and 8th grade journalism teacher in Chamberlain, work on their mission plans for the upcoming school year. Allison Jarrell/Capital Journal

Viewing museums, technology as educational resources
“Recently, the Cultural Heritage Center became a Smithsonian affiliate. As such, the museum had the opportunity this summer to host a week-long Smithsonian workshop aimed at teaching educators mission-based learning techniques and how to better utilize museum and technology resources.”

Historical society hosting Smithsonian webcast on labor issues related to bracero program
Museum director Jay Smith says it’s a great opportunity to enjoy a historical discussion of issues important to South Dakota from the perspective of scholars and authors outside the state.

WYOMING
Buffalo Bill Center of the West (Cody, Wyo.)
Smithsonian Firearms in Cody (VIDEO)
“. It’s a chance to see firearms that are typically only on display at the Smithsonian Institution in the Nation’s Capital. The Buffalo Bill Center of the West will be home to those 64 artifacts for three years.”

VIDEO- Buffalo Bill Center of the West Smithsonian gun exhibit now on display
“. the Cody museum has grabbed a collection on loan from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. displaying history and ingenuity with pieces which are truly, one of a kind.”
KULR-8 Television, Billings, MT

 


 

“Train” your eyes on adventure at the B&O Railroad Museum

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Special thanks to Monica Reardon, Smithsonian Affiliations summer intern, for authoring the 2013 Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Live! blog series. 

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum is located where the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad came into being during the late 1820s, in Baltimore, Maryland.  The collection grew from a late 19th century trade show exhibit of railroad artifacts.  An actual museum came about in 1953, when the B&O Transportation Museum and its collection were designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior.  The B&O Railroad Museum has been a Smithsonian Affiliate since 1999.  It has on loan a variety of Smithsonian artifacts relating to the history of American railroad.

One of the many Smithsonian artifacts on view at the B&O during Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Live! is the Pioneer, an 1851 locomotive.  The locomotive had once pulled passenger trains, had been used for two Civil war raids, and had been displayed at World’s Fairs and Expositions as an “operating relic.”  It had even been on view at the Smithsonian from 1963-2001.  The B&O teamed up with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to restore the Pioneer to its 1901 appearance.  B&O was able to accommodate the project in its own restoration facility.  The locomotive is a rarity because its type was not used by very many U.S. railroads, and because of its age for a preserved locomotive.

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

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“Hey Mom, guess what I did today? I moved a totem pole!”

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Special thanks to Summer Olsen, 2013 Smithsonian Affiliations Intern Partner for writing this guest post. Summer spent 10 weeks at the Smithsonian this summer. She returns to California this fall to complete the second half of her intern partnership. Thank you, Summer!

summerolsenDuring my summer 2013 internship through the Smithsonian Affiliations Intern Partnership Program I assisted the Office of the Registrar at the Cultural Resources Center (CRC) of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) from June 3rd to August 9th. Inventory Specialist Heather Farley and Assistant Registrar for Acquisitions Margaret Cintron supervised me.  During my internship in Registration I learned about the daily processing, tracking, and inventory of objects in collections, researched Plains beadwork with NMAI curator Emil Her Many Horses, and experienced the organization of other Smithsonian branches via intern tours and events. The skills and knowledge I developed during my internship will be applied to a comprehensive project involving an inventory and assessment of the Plains beadwork collections at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum (a Smithsonian Affiliate) and the museum at Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, California.

My time at the CRC has flown by and I have developed skills and gained knowledge by completing a variety of tasks: documenting the un-accessioned collections, processing new acquisitions, processing outgoing loans and objects returned from being loaned, working in collections, assisting in the de-installation of an exhibit, and office tasks like scanning and filing catalog cards and accession lot folders.

My main project this summer was to work with two other registration interns documenting the un-accessioned collections. To prepare for our work in registration work we received object-handling training from conservation staff members and training from registration staff to operate work assistance vehicles (WAV) and pallet jacks. We photographed, recorded measurements, and re-housed disassociated fragments from their parent object and un-accessioned material. After photographing the objects we edited the photo files and embedded them with metadata. Then we made custom storage mounts, and shelved the objects in their appropriate locations in collections. I was also taught how to enter some cataloging information and object dimensions into EMU.

We learned to use the barcode system in collections. When working on the documentation project we assigned a barcode to each item. New acquisitions were also assigned barcodes. In addition we re-associated a group of fragments using the barcode system to locate their parent objects and conducted an inventory by scanning the barcodes of un-accessioned works on paper.

olsen3I learned the procedure for processing new acquisitions into the collection.  We unpacked crates, took reference photos, and made/wrote condition reports and lot forms. For cloth objects we made tags with NMAI catalog numbers and sewed them down. The procedure was much the same for the outgoing objects for the Anishinabe exhibit at the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City. We checked the condition of each object and compared it to previous condition and conservation reports. When objects came back from a loan I helped Museum Registration Specialist for Loans, Rajshree Solanki, unpack objects and updated their condition paperwork. We also wrote condition paperwork for peace medals that were de-installed at the NMAI Mall Museum in Washington, D.C.

During the second part of my internship I met with NMAI curator Emil Her Many Horses who guided me through NMAI’s beadwork collections. I learned about the progression of beading (from quillwork to early beading to the present day), different cultural styles of beadwork, and beading techniques. The information he imparted will be key to completing my project this fall at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum and Sherman Indian High School.

This internship also gave me access to knowledge via tours of other Smithsonian Museums and events sponsored by the Office of Fellowships and Internships. I was able to see collections storage practices at National Museum of Natural History, the Hirshhorn, and National Air and Space Museum and toured the Folklife festival with curators from the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The “From Here to Career”, an event hosted by OFI, gave me the opportunity to talk to Smithsonian museum professionals.

My internship at NMAI has been an incredible experience.  I will be able to apply all the skills I learned while working at NMAI to my project at the Riverside Metropolitan Museum and Sherman Indian High School.  I have been able to see objects I have only ever read about, interact with fantastic people, been given advice that will impact the rest of my academic career, and formed professional relationships. Highlights of my experience have been: Moving a totem pole, documenting strange animal specimens, getting to see collections while re-associating fragments, and learning about beadwork with Emil Her Many Horses.

Thank you Smithsonian Affiliations for this amazing opportunity. I have enjoyed every minute of it and am gearing up to complete the next part of the internship in Riverside.

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Summer receiving a Certificate of Award at the Congressional Reception during the 2013 Affiliations National Conference. Left to right: Smithsonian Secretary, G. Wayne Clough; Summer Olsen, Smithsonian Regent, France A. Córdova; Smithsonian Assistant Secretary for Education and Access, Claudine Brown; Riverside Metropolitan Museum Curator of Collections & Exhibitions, Brenda Focht; Riverside Metropolitan Museum Curator of Collections & Historic Structures, Lynn Voorheis; and Smithsonian Affiliations Director, Harold Closter.

“American Sabor” at the American Jazz Museum

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Special thanks to Monica Reardon, Smithsonian Affiliations summer intern, for authoring the Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Live! blog series.

Located at the crossroads of 18th & Vine, the Jazz District of Kansas City, Missouri, the American Jazz Museum showcases the sights and sounds of jazz through interactive exhibits, films, programs, and performances.  Since 1997, the museum has focused on the preservation, exhibition and advancement of the story and spirit of jazz. The museum became a Smithsonian Affiliate in 2000.

Coinciding with Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Live!, the museum is displaying American Sabor:  Latinos in U.S. Popular Music, organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.  American Sabor presents the musical contributions of U.S. Latinos from the 1940s to the present with a focus on the social history and individual creativity that produced stars like Tito Puente, Ritchie Valens, Celia Cruz, Carlos Santana and Selena.  Various programs and activities will be featured with the exhibition, such as conversations, performances, and workshops.  The exhibition will be at the Museum from August 1, 2013 to October 27, 2013. Read a special guest post on the American Sabor Blog.

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

Recent press from American Sabor at the American Jazz Museum:
Ford Motor Company : Kansas City Council Commemorates Ford Fund for Bringing American Sabor Exhibit to American Jazz Museum

kudos affiliates! july-august 2013

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2013 continues to be a successful one for our Affiliates!

Funding

Three Affiliate museums received support from Smithsonian Community Grant program sponsored by MetLife Foundation.

  • Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, ME-$4,000: To fund honoraria and travel expenses for participants in the museum’s planned public programs for their hosting of IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas. Programming includes a panel discussion examining different perspectives on the blood quantum vs. lineage debate.  Additionally, funding will support a genealogy workshop; and a lecture featuring the exhibit curator, Gabrielle Tayac (Piscataway).
  • Institute of Texan Cultures, University of Texas at San Antonio in San Antonio, TX-$5,000:To fund honoraria for speakers in the Institute’s planned public program for Native Words, Native Warriors,  providing audiences with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the American Indian Code Talker story. Additionally, funding will support craft and educational materials for a family day.
  • Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, CA-$5,000:To fund eight live performances that will serve as inspiration and as a backdrop for sharing stories of Asian Pacific Americans who have shaped and been shaped by our nation’s history. Two actors will deliver monologues that will expand upon content in I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story.

South Dakota State Historical Society Press in Pierre received $2,500 from the South Dakota Humanities Council for research related to the potential creation of a contemporary profile of Yankton emphasizing the city’s relationship with the Missouri River and investigating the state of farming in the Yankton region.

The Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District will receive $240,000 from ArtPlace America, and a three year grant for $712,000 from the Kresge Foundation for general operating and the completion of The Façade project. The funding will help Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District transform a historic eight-story Greek Revival façade into a 600-person outdoor venue and urban farm.

The Kansas Cosmosphere has been awarded a $15,000 grant to develop new educational curriculum to interweave arts and science. The grant money, provided by the Alcoa Foundation, will be used in program development, core curriculum material development and outreach to teachers in Kansas to encourage field trips.

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded $248,600 to the Ohio Historical Society to continue the digitization of Ohio’s microfilmed newspapers, an undertaking that will include three historic area publications.

The Montana Historical Society received a $10,000 donation from Burlington Northern Santa Fe to assist in the acquisition of nearly 32,000 postcards dating from 1898 into the 1970s and covering a wide range of topics – from railroads, mining and agriculture to commerce, Western life and Native American.

A collaborative effort, including the Milwaukee County Historical Society, to create The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, a coffee-table book and interactive website chronicling the history of the Greater Milwaukee area has received a $250,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant will support research and development of the book and website, which are intended to become a first-stop resource for K-12 teachers, students, the media, historians, scholars, and even families conducting genealogy research.

The Museum of Nature and Science in downtown Las Cruces received brand new solar experiment kits from Sunspot Solar to assist children in understanding the technology.

The Tsongas Industrial History Center, Lowell National Historical Park’s educational partnership with the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Graduate School of Education, has been selected to receive a 2013 “Ticket to Ride” grant from the National Park Foundation (NPF). The Ticket to Ride program, supported by a $500,000 grant from the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, helps students explore the outdoors by providing transportation and program support to national parks around the country.

The Michigan Humanities Council (MHC) approved $15,000 in funding to The Michigan State University Museum to create a multimedia program and performance tour commemorating the 75th anniversary of American folklorist Alan Lomax’s historic field collecting trip in Michigan.

The Museum of American Finance announced that Southport Lane, a New York-based private equity and asset management firm, will be sponsoring free Saturday admissions for the remainder of 2013.

The Massachusetts state Senate recently passed a $33.99 billion balanced budget for fiscal 2014, which includes $100,000 for the restoration of Mayflower II. Honored as a premier tourism attraction at the 2012 Massachusetts Governor’s Conference on Travel and Tourism, Plimoth Plantation and Mayflower II are considered a major force in the state’s economy, attracting more than 360,000 visitors to the commonwealth each year.

Awards and Recognition

The Peoria Riverfront Museum has been awarded the LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council signifying the building is both environmentally and energy efficient.

New England Museum Association (NEMA) awarded the U.S.S. Constitution Museum its highest honors in its’ annual publication award competition:

  • First Place in the Book Category = MEN OF IRON: USS CONSTITUTION’s WAR OF 1812 CREW
  • First Place for Fundraising Materials = 2012 CHAIRMAN’s DINNER & AWARDS CEREMONY
  • Second Place for Educational Materials = OLD IRONSIDES ACTIVITY BOOK

The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) announced the winners, including the following Affiliates, of the 68th annual Leadership in History Awards, the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history:

  • History Colorado  (for excellence in preserving and interpreting the history of Colorado; and for the publication of A Civil War Scrapbook: I Was There Too!)
  • HistoryMiami  (for the exhibit The Guayabera: A Shirt’s Story)
  • Peoria Riverfront Museum (for the exhibit Skirting Convention: Illinois Women Artists, 1840-1940)
  • Lowell National Historical Park and The University of Massachusetts, Lowell (for the exhibit Dickens and Massachusetts: A Tale of Power and Transformation)
  • U.S.S. Constitution Museum (for the project A Sailor’s Life for Me!)
  • North Carolina Museum of History (for the exhibit History in Every Direction: Tar Heel Junior Historian Association)
  • Heinz History Center (for the publication The Civil War in Pennsylvania: A Photographic History; and for the exhibit From Slavery to Freedom)
  • Museum of History and Industry (for the exhibit True Northwest: The Seattle Journey)

Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden received a 2013 Neighborhood Achievement Award from NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg in recognition of the organization’s successful revitalization of its Artist Residency Program and its Heritage Farm Program.

Leadership

Riverside officials selected Sarah Mundy as director of the Riverside Metropolitan Museum and head of the city’s arts and culture department, a position she has held on an interim basis since late December.

Devon Akmon has been appointed Director of the Arab American National Museum.

Ellen Noël Art Museum announced George Jacob has been named the new executive director.

The board of directors of the Milwaukee County Historical Society named longtime philanthropy leader Deborah Fugenschuh as the society’s new executive director.

Affiliates in the News! July 2013

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Congrats to these Affiliates making news! Each month we highlight Affiliate-Smithsonian and Affiliate-Affiliate collaborations making headlines.  If you have a clipping highlighting a collaboration with the Smithsonian or with a fellow Affiliate you’d like to have considered for the Affiliate blog, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee.

telluride

Telluride Historical Museum Executive Director Erica Kinias demonstrates the restored Pelton Wheel, which uses water to generate electricity. The museum was recently named a Smithsonian Affiliate. Photo by Heather Sackett.

Telluride Historical Museum (Telluride, Colorado)
Sharing History: Telluride Historical Museum named Smithsonian Affiliate
Telluride Historical Museum Chronicles Area Gold Rush to Ghost Town

South Dakota State Historical Society (Pierre, S.D.)
Museum of State Historical Society to Host Live Smithsonian Webcast on July 20
State Historical Society offers free videos

Mennello Museum of American Art (Orlando, FL)
‘Earl Cunningham’s Everglades’ at Mennello Museum

Kentucky Historical Society (Frankfort, KY)
Historical Society Joins Smithsonian Family
Kentucky Historical Society Now a Smithsonian Affiliate
KHS Set To Announce Smithsonian Partnership
Kentucky Historical Society forming affiliation with Smithsonian Institution

Elvis on the Southern Railroad between Chattanooga and Memphis, Tenn. July 4, 1956. © Alfred Wertheimer.

Elvis on the Southern Railroad between Chattanooga and Memphis, Tenn.
July 4, 1956. © Alfred Wertheimer.

Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, PA)
History Center Exhibit explores Pennsylvania’s impact on the Civil War
Heinz History Center exhibition highlights Pa. role in Civil War
Center brings big guns to Pa. Civil War exhibit

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (Fort Worth, TX)
Elvis in a history museum? Fort Worth photos are a swivel-hipping hit
Hanging Out with Elvis in Fort Worth
‘Elvis at 21’ exhibit at Fort Worth Science Museum proves interesting even for non-fans
Elvis at 21 delves into the puzzling nature of sex appeal, charisma, and intimacy

Berkshire Museum (Pittsfield, MA)
Berkshire Museum now a Smithsonian affiliate
Berkshire Museum becomes Smithsonian Affiliate, First Museum in Western MA to earn designation
Berkshire Museum named affiliate of Smithsonian Institution

David Ward of the National Portrait Gallery discusses a painting by Roger Shimomura.

David Ward of the National Portrait Gallery discusses a painting by Roger Shimomura at the Japanese American National Museum.

Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
A Self-portrait of Asian America: Smithsonian co-presents art exhibition at JANM
Seven citizens, seven stories: the performance “fighting for democracy” heads from Philly to DC
May Issue: First Asian American Exhibit Debuts at the Smithsonian

Schiele Museum of Natural History (Gastonia, NC)
Stay at home safari exhibit takes guests on tour of wild kingdom

Idaho Museum of Natural History (Pocatello, ID)
Digital Specimens

Miami Science Museum (Miami, FL)
2013 Smithsonian Online Education Conference Series Presents Two Sessions on Astrophotography

Mashantucket Pequot Museum (Mashantucket, CT)
Ramp It Up! Skateboard Exhibit Moves to Pequot Museum

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