Congrats to these Affiliates making news!  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.

Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor (Honolulu, HI)
Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor Named Hawaii’s “#1 Historical Spot Worth Traveling For” By TripAdvisor’s® FlipKey®
“For us to be given this designation couldn’t have come at a better time as we celebrate our 10th anniversary this year. We remain committed to giving visitors the best experience at a historic site where they learn of the sacrifices of those who served in WWII.”

Agua Caliente Cultural Museum (Palm Springs, CA)
African-Native American exhibition comes to Palm Springs
“We are very excited,” said Michael Hammond, executive director of the museum. “The exhibition offers a glimpse on issues of race and prejudice faced by African-Native Americans throughout history, and how we are still dealing with these issues today.”

Conner Prairie (Fishers, IN)
Conner Prairie taps new president
The board of directors of the interactive history park announced the hiring of Norman O. Burns II on Monday after a national search. Burns, 54, succeeds Ellen M. Rosenthal, who retired from the museum’s top position Jan. 4 after 12 years at the helm. 

Dubuque Museum of Art (Dubuque, IA)
Our opinion: 2nd Smithsonian pact a boon for Dubuque
This community added a couple of feathers to its cultural and tourism caps this week when the Smithsonian Institution, the largest and, arguably, best network of museums in the world, named our Dubuque Museum of Art a Smithsonian affiliate.

Dubuque Museum of Art joins Smithsonian network
“The mission of Smithsonian Affiliations is to bring the Smithsonian into the local community,” Closter said. “To make it easier for people to see what we have and what we do in their neighborhood.” 

Smithsonian adds ‘national treasure’ to Dubuque
The Dubuque Museum of Art will join The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium as a Smithsonian Affiliations site.

Dubuque Museum of Art now Smithsonian Affiliate
We are thrilled and honored to join the Smithsonian Affiliates network,” said DuMA Executive Director David Schmitz in a press release.  “This long-term partnership will enhance our exhibitions and programs, for the benefit of our community and region, and further establishes Dubuque’s reputation as an arts and cultural destination.” 

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (Albuquerque, NM)
Museum of Natural History and Science celebrates 30th anniversary with a year of special exhibits
“We can take some of the great work that the Smithsonian does and we can build on their cutting-edge work to drive our programs and exhibits.”

New Mexico’s natural history museum now Smithsonian affiliated (VIDEO)
“Not everybody can come to the Smithsonian and Washington D.C. to see things, so if you can’t come to us, it’s our objective to bring the resources and come to you,” said Aaron Glavas, Smithsonian outreach manager.

History Colorado (Denver, CO)
PATTY LIMERICK NAMED STATE HISTORIAN AS HISTORY COLORADO LOOKS TO FUTURE
History Colorado has been making some history of its own over the past six months, with a complete reconfiguration of the board to make it leaner and meaner (at least when it comes to financial matters), buyouts and layoffs of staffers, and the departure of many of the organization’s top managers, including state historian Bill Convery.

‘History of America in 101 Objects’ focus of event
Dr. Richard Kurin. offers a new perspective on American history, explaining how objects end up in the Smithsonian collection and encouraging us to reconsider objects we think we know and understand.

Multiple Affiliates
Smithsonian collecting material for traveling exhibit about Latinos in baseball
“Baseball has played a major role in everyday American life since the 1800s, providing a means of celebrating both national and ethnic identities and building communities,” said John Gray, director of the museum in a statement. “Through the lens of baseball, the Smithsonian seeks to illuminate the rich history and culture of Latinos, and their impact on American culture and society.”

Smithsonian Announces “Latinos and Baseball” Collecting Initiative
. the museum is currently working with 10 partner organizations as well as the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to carry out the “Latinos and Baseball” initiative: California State University, San Bernardino; California State University, Channel Island; California State University, Los Angeles; The Institute of Texan Cultures at the University of Texas, San Antonio; the Kansas City Museum; LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles; Los Magnificos Film in New York; La Casita Cultural Center at Syracuse University; the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and the “Sugar Beet Fields to Field of Dreams, 1920s?1960s, Mexican/Spanish Contributions to America’s Favorite Pastime” traveling exhibition based in Colorado and Wyoming.

Mystic Seaport (Mystic, CT)
‘Stars of the Smithsonian’ series starts Jan. 14
Carlene Stephens, curator at the National Museum of American History, will present “Connecting the World in Time” at the Mystic Seaport’s Stars of the Smithsonian Lecture Series. Programs are at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14 at the River Room, Latitude 41° Restaurant & Tavern.

Cerritos Library (Cerritos, CA)
Smithsonian Exhibition Coming to Cerritos Library January 3
In commemoration of the important history of Asian and Pacific Americans, Cerritos Library will present the exhibition “I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story” from Sunday, January 3 through Sunday, February 28, 2016. The exhibition was created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and is part of a national tour.