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Coming Up in Affiliateland in July 2017

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Happy summer!

NATIONWIDE
Teen participants in the Smithsonian Latino Center’s Young Ambassador Program will be doing internships at nine Affiliates in July, including the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix; the California Science Center in Los Angeles; the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, CA; History Miami and the Frost Museum of Science, FL; Adler Planetarium in Chicago; Fort Worth Museum of Science and History; History Colorado in Denver; and the Witte Museum in San Antonio, 6.25 – 8.2.

GEORGIA
The Tellus Science Museum will host the Art of the Airport Tower exhibition from the National Air and Space Museum, in Cartersville, 7.14. 

TENNESSEE

Rotary telephone made by Northern Electric in the 1980s.
Component count: 148. Photograph by Todd McLellan, from the Things Come Apart exhibition.

The Birthplace of Country Music Museum will open SITES’ Things Come Apart exhibition in Bristol, 7.15.

NEW YORK
Margaret Weitekamp, curator at the National Air and Space Museum, will give a talk on Art & the Apollo 13 Mission at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook, 7.16.

WYOMING
David Miller, curator at the National Museum of American History will present at the Arsenals of History: Firearms and Museums in the 21st Century symposium at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, 7.17-18.

SOUTH DAKOTA
Brent Glass, former director of the National Museum of American History, will give a talk and booksigning on 50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. at the South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre, 7.24.

Affiliates in the news

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Congratulations to these Affiliates making headlines this month! Do you have a Smithsonian collaboration in the news? Email Elizabeth Bugbee, BugbeeE@si.edu, and submit your clipping for review. Each month we compile our newsmakers and distribute in our Affiliate eNewsletter.

Birthplace of Country Music Museum (Bristol, VA)
Bristol, Tenn. known as ‘Birthplace of Country Music’
The Birthplace of Country Music Museum opened in 2014 and is housed in a historic building in Bristol, Va., just a couple of blocks away from where Peer’s famous recordings were made. It’s a state-of-the-art museum that’s affiliated with the Smithsonian.

Rhino sculptures

Photo by Kent Warneke.

University of Nebraska State Museum (Lincoln, NE)
Rhino battle comes to life at Ashfall
“You’ve got this incredibly sweet mix of great scientists, great park managers, great philanthropists, great artists,” Johnson said. “And we’re really a long way away from any big population center, but this is a national treasure here in the northeast corner of Nebraska.”

Smithsonian director attends Ashfall event
Johnson said he was there because part of his job as the director of a national museum is to help other museums across the nation. It’s also appropriate because Ashfall is a Smithsonian affiliate.

National Civil War Museum (Harrisburg, PA) (VIDEO)
Civil War Museum allows visitors to take a step back in history
Civil War Museum CEO, Wayne Motts said, “So we’re a Smithsonian affiliated museum, right here in downtown Harrisburg. Right here in Dauphin County. We’re pleased with that. We’re pleased that the community has chosen to be with us today. We’re happy to have these offerings. And we hope it’s fun but that it’s also educational.”

Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science (Miami, FL) (RADIO INTERVIEW)
Phillip Frost Talks About Climate Change, The Science Museum And Doing Business In Sunshine Economy
Frost is the largest private benefactor of the new Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, which opened in May. The Frosts gave $45 million to the museum.

Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle (Doylestown, PA)
Bucks County Historical Society names new leader for Mercer Museum, Fonthill Castle
“I am excited about the opportunity to lead the Bucks County Historical Society and its two world-class museums,” said McKoy. “I am inspired by the organization’s commitment to educating its many audiences, and for the diversity of its exhibitions and programs. I look forward to working with the staff, trustees and volunteers to further the museums’ mission.”

California State Railroad Museum (Sacramento, CA)
Railroad Museum Now a Smithsonian Affiliate
In joining the Affiliation, Sacramento’s growing population will further receive the necessary help to build a bridge between the local experiences available in individual communities with the national heritage preserved and displayed at the Smithsonian.

California State Railroad Museum Becomes Smithsonian Affiliate (RADIO INTERVIEW)
Ty Smith, new Director for the California State Railroad Museum, talks to Kitty about the museum becoming a Smithsonian Affiliate.

Aquarium of the Bay (San Francisco, CA)
Aquarium of the Bay Receives Prestigious Smithsonian Affiliate Status
San Francisco’s only waterfront aquarium, Aquarium of the Bay, is proud to announce its new designation as a Smithsonian Affiliate. This prestigious designation makes it one of only three institutions in San Francisco and the only dedicated aquarium in the state of California to be honored as an affiliate.

Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (Easton, PA)
Easton sites share special connection to Smithsonian (VIDEO)
The museum had been a Smithsonian affiliate since 2002. Now, said Garofalo, the entire corridor is recognized as an affiliate. “We are the first heritage corridor affiliate and the only canal affiliate in the United States,” said Jim Birdsall, chairman of the park’s trails committee.

Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor partners with Smithsonian to bring history alive (VIDEO)
“The Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor will be the first of its kind in the Smithsonian Affiliate Network,” Director of Smithsonian Affiliations Harold A. Closter said. “Like the D&L Corridor, the Smithsonian cares deeply about the nation’s natural, cultural and historic resources.”

D&L corridor becomes the Smithsonian’s newest affiliate
Those who preserve the historic path used to transport coal and iron from Wilkes-Barre to Philadelphia will now be able to draw on the resources of the world’s largest museum and research complex.

USS Hornet ship

(Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum (Alameda, CA)
Smithsonian Institution partners with USS Hornet
“We are extremely proud to be part of the Smithsonian affiliate network,” said Jill Knowland, the Hornet’s executive director. “Our selection to this program is a continuation of the museum’s ever expanding mission of connecting our nation’s ‘Greatest Generation’ with future generations and preserving the history and legacy of this national and state historical landmark.”

Shedd Aquarium (Chicago, IL)
Shedd Aquarium now affiliated with Smithsonian Institute
“We are honored to be affiliated with the Smithsonian in our shared goals of increasing discovery and inspiring lifelong learning. This partnership is an incredible collaborative resource that will help us deliver more mission moments to more people with greater impact, both onsite and in our communities,” said Shedd Aquarium President and CEO Bridget Coughlin.

Springfield Museums (Springfield, MA)
Springfield Museums plans John F. Kennedy centennial exhibit with items from Smithsonian, JFK Library
The Springfield Museums, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, will exhibit 27 photographs on loan from the National Museum of American History in Washington. The Richard Avedon photographs will anchor the Springfield Museums exhibition, providing a glimpse into the Kennedys’ personal life, while also documenting their public image.

 

Supersonic Challenges: The Installation of the F-5 Fighter Jet

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Special thanks for this guest post to Dr. Jorge Perez-Gallego, Curator of Astronomy and Exhibition Developer, Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.

Riddle us this: what moves faster than the speed of sound and lives in a gallery?

Give up?

Gulf Stream Aquarium Oculus

Gulf Stream Aquarium Oculus at the Frost Museum of Science. Photo by Ra-Haus.

The answer: a Northrop F-5B Freedom Fighter, on loan to the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science from the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The supersonic light fighter is capable of speeds faster than 1,000 miles per hour and you’ll find it hanging right over your head in the Feathers to the Stars exhibition, located in the Batchelor Foundation and Christine Allen Gallery, in the museum’s North Wing.

Frost Science, which officially opened its doors in Downtown Miami’s Museum Park on May 8, is truly a marvel of both architectural and engineering feats. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum features a three-level 500,000-gallon cone-shaped Gulf Stream Aquarium teeming with hammerhead sharks and dolphins, anchored by a 31-foot oculus lens that peers into the waters above. The Frost Planetarium, one of the most advanced facilities of its kind anywhere in the world, uses a 16-million-color, 3-D 8K visual system to send visitors hurtling through space and into the depths of the ocean. And with a fascinating roster of interactive exhibitions, it’s easy to spend an entire day exploring and being immersed in the power of science.

Now, about that Northrop—exactly how is an 8,000-pound airplane moved into a gallery? Teamwork. Lots of it. For that, Frost Science enlisted the help of an invaluable group of experts, including first-class airplane movers and riggers. The aircraft was brought into the building in three pieces (the fuselage, the wings and the tail) through a tight opening between the Frost Planetarium and the level three terraces. The intricate task took our crew 10 hours from beginning to end.

Breaking through the sound barrier is a relatively recent feat in human history. On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager became the first to do so. Manning a rocket engine-powered Bell X-1, Yeager reached Mach 1.06— exceeding the speed of sound in level flight. (At 768 miles per hour, Mach 1 is equal to the speed of sound.)

Feathers to the Stars exhibition at Frost Museum of Science. Photo by Ra-Haus

Because sound waves move at a finite speed, moving sources can catch up with the sound waves they emit as they accelerate. As this happens, sound waves pile up in front of them. If the aircraft is fast enough, it can burst through them causing a sonic boom. The loud noise is a consequence of the change in pressure as the aircraft outruns all the sound waves ahead of itself.

That accomplishment came just over 40 years after Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first controlled, sustained flight of a heavier-than-air powered aircraft on December 17, 1903, four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. And just over 20 years before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. In less than a lifetime, humans mastered the sky and knocked on the door of space exploration.

Feathers to the Stars will carry you through the amazing story how ancient evolution gave birth to animal flight, and how humans used imagination and engineering to get airborne and explore the infinite possibilities of space. The exhibition also features a rocket engine, a rocket tail piece with jet deflector vanes, and a model of a V-2 missile (the world’s first guided missile) on loan from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.

Ultimately, Feathers to the Stars is a story driven by challenges—and perseverance. Ready for take-off? You can find more information on the exhibition here.

 

Coming up in Affiliateland in June 2017

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Summer is heating up in Affiliateland!

CALIFORNIA
The board of the Smithsonian Latino Center will be meeting at the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles, 6.4-5.

The National Museum of American History will present Let’s Do History professional development workshop in collaboration with the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, 6.9.

KANSAS
National Air and Space Museum curator Mike Neufeld will give a talk and booksigning on Werner Von Braun at the Cosmosphere  in Hutchinson, 6.8.

Fort Worth Alliance Airport tower

Fort Worth Alliance Airport
Texas, United States
Photo by Carolyn Russo, National Air and Space Museum

INDIANA
Former director of the National Museum of American History Brent Glass will give a talk and booksigning on 50 Great Historical Places at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis, 6.13.

NEBRASKA
National Museum of Natural History director Kirk Johnson will be the keynote speaker at the Ashfall Fossil Beds Dedication ceremony at the University of Nebraska State Museum  in Lincoln, 6.17.

ILLINOIS
The Dusable Museum of African American History will host the Night of 100 Stars gala and honor Lonnie Bunch, director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Chicago, 6.24.

Read all about it! Affiliate’s making headlines this month

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Genomics, special Smithsonian speakers on the road, famous horse skeletons, and air mail…April was a busy month in Affiliateland! Check out the Affiliates making headlines across the network:

A soldier in Vietnam writes a letter.

A soldier in Vietnam writes a letter. (Photo: National Archives)

Yankee Air Museum (Belleville, MI)
Smithsonian’s Mail Call heading to Yankee Air Museum
“We are very pleased to bring Mail Call to southeastern Michigan,’’ said Kevin Walsh, Executive Director of the Yankee Air Museum in a news release. “This is the natural encore to our recent project that assembled and mailed nearly 100 care packages to our troops in the Middle East. Yankee Air Museum proudly joins the past with the present as we look to the future.’’

North Carolina Museum of History (Raleigh, NC)
Historical immersion
The N.C. Museum of History, which is a Smithsonian affiliate, has a uniform worn by North Carolina aviator Kiffin Rockwell on loan from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Rockwell grew up in Asheville and was the first American pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft in WWI.

International Museum of the Horse (Lexington, KY)
Beyond The Derby, Meet Lexington Kentucky’s Great Thoroughbreds — Past And Present
Making a name for himself not only through his racing but also as the most successful sire of the second half of the 19th century, Lexington’s remains were kept at the Smithsonian for decades before finally coming back to his namesake. You can now find his bones on display at the International Museum of the Horse.

Numerous Wild West Personnel with Deadwood stagecoach, ca. 1889. Buffalo Bill stands in front of the smaller wagon wheel with Major Burke behind his right shoulder. (Photo: Buffalo Bill Center of the West)

Buffalo Bill Center of the West (Cody, WY)
Wild West PR man mounts comeback, 100 years after death
In suitably Burke-like promotion, historians and descendants of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West P.R. man, a rotund fellow dubbed “Major,” gather at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 12, at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, DC, to “right a historical wrong,” according to event organizers. … Haynes, Fuqua and his sister and cousin, along with their families, plan to attend the Wednesday ceremony. Guest speakers include Dr. Jeremy Johnston, Curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, and Managing Editor of the Papers of William F. Cody; Steve Friesen, Director of the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave in Golden, Colorado; and Dr. Michelle Delaney, Senior Program Officer for History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution, whose forthcoming book, Art and Advertising in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, is scheduled for release in 2019.

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture (Baltimore, MD)
Lewis Museum Expects Bright Future Under New Management
As the museum continues to reorganize and redevelop, their partnership with the Smithsonian [Institution]’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., has had a positive influence on their progress. Draper said that the Lewis Museum has had a long history with the Smithsonian and the museum is also a Smithsonian affiliate. “We do things with them now,” Draper said. “We premiere their movies in this market, Smithsonian channel movies, and we’re looking at sharing some objects.”

seated guests

Guests at the Rockwell Museum for Smithsonian Speakers Series.

The Rockwell Museum (Corning, NY)
Rockwell Wraps Up Smithsonian Speaker Series This Week
“Eduardo is going to bring his area of expertise which is working in the Latino community,” Rockwell Programs and Events Manager Brett Smith said. “In particular for this program he’s going to be discussing how the Smithsonian is actively insuring that the Latino voice is maintaining a presence throughout the Smithsonian network.”

Peoria Riverfront Museum (Peoria, IL)
Smithsonian’s ‘Genome’ exhibit at the Peoria Riverfront Museum
The “Genome” exhibition will reveal the revolutionary nature of genomic science and unravel the mystery behind it. … The exhibit was developed and produced by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the National Institutes for Health’s National Human Genome Research Institute in association with Science North.

Did we miss something? Or do you have a clipping you’d like to submit? Email Elizabeth Bugbee (BugbeeE@si.edu). All clippings must have a Smithsonian connection, cover significant research or staff changes. 

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage wants your stories

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Special thanks for this guest post to Angelica Aboulhosn, Public Affairs Specialist with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage invites partners, artists, and others from across the Smithsonian Affiliations network to showcase their work on the new CFCH digital magazine, Folklife. In doing so, contributors can spotlight their work, as well as the work of those individuals and communities they interpret or champion, to a combined audience of over one million viewers.

2011 Heritage Fellows

Photo credit: Roy (left) and PJ Hirabayashi, 2011 NEA National Heritage Fellows. Photo by Tom Pich, National Endowment for the Arts

The website, which launched last month, tells unforgettable stories of music, food, crafts, and culture that help us explore where we have come from and where we are going. Folklife showcases stories of place, history, language and cultural identity as well as the complex lives of individuals and communities—all with focus on the animating questions at the center of contemporary life, such as: How and when do we come together at a time when so much history and so many issues pull us apart? The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage encompasses the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and a series of cultural sustainability and research projects that together promote greater understanding and sustainability of cultural heritage across the United States and around the world.

Folklife features include short- and long-form pieces, which range in length from 500 to 1,500 words. Short-form work tends to personal, essay-style pieces, while our longer-form features explores a single issue in depth, often drawing connections between media of various kinds. Folklife also features photo and video essays, in case that better aligns with your work. Ours is an educated, culturally attuned audience looking for authentic, first-person perspectives rather than academic pieces. For the time being, all contributions are unpaid, but if your piece is accepted, it will be posted to the Folklife site and cross-promoted on our web and social media channels.

Turquoise Mountain calligrapher

Over half of Turquoise Mountain’s calligraphy and jewelry students are women, as the organization is committed to provided them with a sustainable source of income. Photo courtesy of Turquoise Mountain

Featured work can include a link to relevant museum websites, online exhibitions, and more. That said, these pieces are distinct from press releases in that they focus squarely on artists, communities, and the stories they have to tell, rather than on the details of one exhibition or another, thereby extending the life of the piece online.

We encourage you to reach out to Charlie Weber (WeberC@si.edu) on our editorial team with any new story ideas. For more information, see the examples below.

Long-form example: Radio Jarochelo: Connecting Communities
Short-form example: On Ink, Tradition, and the Handwritten Word: Learning Chinese Calligraphy