Tag Archive for: Arab American National Museum

Five Smithsonian Affiliates host live webcast for “National Youth Summit: The 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides”

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From May until November 1961, more than 400 diverse and committed Americans rode south together on buses and trains, putting their bodies and freedom on the line to challenge the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial injustice and inequality in public transportation. The Freedom Rides changed the Civil Rights Movement and demonstrated the power of individual action to change the nation. 

On Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 12:00-1:15PM EST, middle and high school students across the country will join together electronically for a National Youth Summit on the Freedom Rides and activism at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Freedom Rides veterans Congressman John Lewis, D-GA, Diane Nash, Jim Zwerg, and Reverend James Lawson will share how they became involved in the Freedom Rides and how their lives were affected by them. They will join filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Freedom Riders) and scholar Raymond Arsenault to discuss the meaning of the Freedom Rides and the role of young people in shaping America’s past and future. 

Image courtesy Library of Congress.

The discussion in Washington will be joined by five audiences at Smithsonian Affiliate museums around the nation as well as by registered viewers of the webcast.  The Affiliates’ programs will be augmented by a discussion guide produced by the National Museum of American History. Each Affiliate will welcome a veteran Freedom Rider to their museums to participate in the discussion and coordinate with local schools to engage students. 

The Affiliate museums and their legendary Freedom Riders are: 

Students will be encouraged to participate in the discussion through the National Museum of American History’s email, Facebook, Twitter, and the conference portal, and will be asked to think about themselves as makers of history. 

Registration is free, and will include access to preparatory classroom materials, film clips, follow-up materials, and technical assistance. Register today! 

 

The National Youth Summit is presented by the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, in collaboration with Smithsonian Affiliations and American Experience/WGBH.

kudos, Affiliates! for november 2010

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Always nice to see bright spots around the network – great job and congratulations to all!

The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Michigan, recently awarded the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (Dubuque, Iowa) a $1 million challenge grant for the construction of the Diamond Jo National River Center. The challenge was contingent on the museum raising the remaining $4 million of its $12 million in private donations toward the $40 million project.

Richard Willich, chairman and CEO of MDI Holdings, has pledged a $50,000 gift to the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum (St. Augustine, Florida) to upport maritime education for the maritime archaeology internship program.

The Oracle Education Foundation (OEF) has partnered with The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science (Tallahassee, Florida) to launch an innovative online learning initiative for students and teachers. The initiative will leverage ThinkQuest, OEF’s online learning platform, to create three online projects focused on museum exhibits. In addition, OEF and The Brogan Museum will work together to train 1,000 teachers on how to integrate ThinkQuest and project learning into their curricula.

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan approved a $100,000 grant for the Arab American National Museum over two years for programming to support an exhibition about Arab American contributions in civilian and military service from the Revolutionary War to the present. Patriots and Peacemakers: Arab Americans in Service to Their Country will travel to museums, military academies and bases throughout the country.

The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience was honored by First Lady Michelle Obama in a recent White House ceremony.  “The Wing” was one of just 15 programs across the country to receive the 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest honor for afterschool arts and humanities programs.

What’s Coming Up in Affiliateland in October?

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PANAMA is in DC!
Museo del Canal Interocánico de Panamá and the Smithsonian Latino Center collaborate on programming, including the Panamanian Passages exhibition, opening at SI’s International Gallery on 10.5.
10.1-9 – The Tremendous Encounter puppet show is presented in SI’s Discovery Theater.
10.15 – The Latino Center’s annual gala celebrates Panama.
10.16 – Interpreting 500 Years of Panamanian History panel at the DC Historical Society.

MONTANA: Smithsonian historian Michael J. Neufeld lectures on his book Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, 10.1.

MICHIGAN: Oud virtuoso Rahim AlHaj, Smithsonian Folkways recording artist and three-time Grammy nominee, presents a concert at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, 10.1.

NEBRASKA: Smithsonian Teachers Night at the Durham Museum in Omaha, 10.9. SITES’ American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print opens, 10.30.

TEXAS: The Women’s Museum: An Institute for the Future in Dallas will host an opening reception for their Leadership America Program at the Smithsonian’s African Art Museum in Washington, 10.11.

MARYLAND: The B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore celebrates their 10th anniversary as a Smithsonian Affiliate, 10.15.

CONNECTICUT: Dwight Blocker Bowers, curator at the National Museum of American History, gives a lecture about his forthcoming book on the Museum’s puppet collection at Hunt Hill Farm in New Milford, 10.17.