Tag Archive for: Japanese American National Museum

Affiliates in the news!

The Children’s Museum of the Upstate (Greenville, South Carolina)
Article- Children’s Museum partners with Smithsonian: Partnership helps museum expand reach, focus on STEM growth
The Children’s Museum of the Upstate has been named a Smithsonian Affiliate, becoming the only children’s museum in the nation to partner with the century and a half old institution that serves as custodian of a large swath of cultural and historical heritage.

Photo gallery- https://www.greenvilleonline.com/viewgal/?Avis=BS&Dato=20140206&Kategori=YOURUPSTATE05&Lopenr=302060077&Ref=PH

Greensboro Historical Museum (Greensboro, North Carolina)
Montagnard teens tell stories in Smithsonian-funded documentary
The film was made through a grant to the Greensboro Historical Museum from the Smithsonian Affiliates and the Asian Pacific American Center. The staff at the historical museum reached out through church sponsors to find Montagnard teenagers, convened about a dozen of them to discuss what kind of story they wanted to tell about themselves, put video cameras in their hands and then set them loose to interview each other.

Schiele Museum of Natural History (Gastonia, North Carolina)
Smithsonian traveling exhibit on ants opens at Gastonia’s Schiele Museum
It’s an intricate, highly regimented insect society that conducts business out of sight from most humans. A new traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution that opened Saturday at Gastonia’s Schiele Museum of Natural History explores this diverse world.

Fun social media opportunity coinciding with Titanoboa exhibit. Photo courtesy University of Nebraska State Museum.

Fun social media opportunity coinciding with Titanoboa exhibit. Photo courtesy University of Nebraska State Museum.

University of Nebraska State Museum (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Replica of giant snake slithers into Lincoln for exhibit expected to scare, inspire visitors
The collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Florida Museum of Natural History and University of Nebraska State Museum is expected to be a hit. “It will be very popular with families and with the students – everyone likes a good scare,” said Cheryl Washer, registrar and project director for the Smithsonian traveling exhibit service.

The University of Nebraska State Museum has been named an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
“The State Museum’s new designation as a Smithsonian Affiliate builds on our long-standing research collaborations with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History,” said Priscilla Grew, director of the museum. “Three of our curators are Smithsonian research associates, and the Smithsonian’s national scarab beetle research collection has been on long-term loan to the State Museum for many years.”

Titanoboa, world’s largest snake, replica comes to Morrill Hall
Titanoboa is coming to Lincoln. The 48-foot-long replica of the world’s largest snake will be featured at the University of Nebraska State Museum in Morrill Hall starting Saturday. The exhibit is part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and will be open through Sept. 7.

World’s largest snake replica slithers to Lincoln
UNL paleontologist Jason Head helped bring the Smithsonian exhibit to Nebraska. He is the world-renown snake expert who, on a video conference five years ago, helped researchers identify the beast from a fossil. The titanoboa was uncovered in a Colombian coal mine.

Smithsonian exhibit makes its way to Lincoln
Cheryl Washer of the Smithsonian Institute has been traveling with exhibits for more than twenty years. She’s the one responsible for getting Titanoboa to look her best before the exhibit opens up to the public. “When I get to go to the museum to see the reaction of the staff, if I get to see the visitors,” Washer said. “This is an exhibit that’s not only educational but a lot of fun. And that’s a joy.”

 National World War II Museum (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Monuments Men’ Records Hit National Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian
A permanent “Monuments Men Experience” is being developed at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. It’s scheduled to open in 2016.

Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
JANM Joins Smithsonian National Youth Summit on Freedom Summer
Approximately 200 students will be at JANM to participate in the National Youth Summit by joining in the conversation and hearing from Tamio Wakayama, a Nisei Japanese Canadian who joined the American Civil Rights Movement as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art (Elmhurst, Illinois)
Lizzadro Museum exhibits ‘showy’ Smithsonian jewelry
They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but Dorothy Asher took explicit care to look for other gem stones when cultivating the Lizzadro Museum’s current “Modern Designer Jewelry from the Smithsonian” exhibit.

This is a replica of the Apollo 11 space suit. While the space suits were life-giving, remarkable engineering feat in space, they are too fragile for the earth’s atmosphere. The originals from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum do not travel.

This is a replica of the Apollo 11 space suit. While the space suits were life-giving, remarkable engineering feat in space, they are too fragile for the earth’s atmosphere. The originals from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum do not travel.

Tampa Bay History Center (Tampa Bay, Florida)
Exhibit explores space through astronaut clothing
The latest exhibition at Tampa Bay History Center explores space through astronaut clothing. The History Center’s “Suited for Space” opened in February 1st and will be on display through April 27.

What to Wear? The History and Future of Spacesuits
The issue of “what to wear?” takes on an extra dimension of life and death when it comes to space travel. We recently had a chance to see the past, present and future of space suit technology in the Smithsonian Institutions’ touring Suited for Space exhibit currently on display at the Tampa Bay History Center in Tampa, Florida.

coming up in Affiliateland in February 2014

It may be chilly across the country, but the temperature is not stopping Affiliates from offering great programming in February!

NATIONWIDEnational_youth_summit
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, 12 Affiliates will join the National Museum of American History to hold a National Youth Summit, linking high school students across the U.S. in an engaging program on the history and legacy of the 1964 youth-led effort for voting rights and education, 2.5.

Participating Affiliates include:
African American Museum & National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, PA
American Jazz Museum, Kansas City, MO
Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, MI
History Colorado  Center, Denver, CO
Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio, TX
Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, OH
Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, OH
North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, NC

NEBRASKA

The Durham Museum opens The 1968 Exhibit featuring three Apollo 8 artifacts from the National Air and Space Museum, in Omaha, 2.8.

snakeThe University of Nebraska State Museum opens the Titanoboa: Monster Snake exhibition (SITES) in Lincoln, 2.22.
IOWA
The Putnam Museum opens Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964 (SITES) in Davenport, 2.15.

Have you caught up on Smithsonian news in your neighborhood?

cover2Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The Fall 2013 issue of The Affiliate Newsletter just wrapped up production. In this issue:

West Coast Partner Brings SI to LA

Get a peek at several Smithsonian collaborations at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles that are helping to tell the American story through the Japanese story.

2013 conference attendees participated in hands-on workshops at ImagiNATIONS education space in the National Museum of the American Indian.

2013 conference attendees participated in hands-on workshops at ImagiNATIONS education space in the National Museum of the American Indian.

Connecting Communities, Classrooms, and Colleagues at the 2013 National Conference

A record-breaking 119 attendees from 74 Affiliates attended the 2013 Affiliations National Conference. Check out some conference photos and see what your Affiliate colleagues said about the meeting.

Hanging Out with Elvis in Fort Worth

Guest author Amy Henderson, cultural historian at the National Portrait Gallery, shares her experience visiting Fort Worth Museum of Science and History while the Elvis at 21 exhibition was on display.

Smithsonian EdLab Shares New Twist to Digital Learning

Smithsonian EdLab workshops at four Affiliates demonstrated the power of going beyond the walls of the classroom to create a 21st-century idea of what education can be.

Announcing the I. Michael Heyman Smithsonian Across America Fund

We’re announcing a new fund to support the work of Smithsonian Affiliations in sharing resources with people in their own communities.

2013 Intern Partners and Visiting Professionals

Quick highlights from our four Affiliate staff members and one Affiliate intern during their residencies at the Smithsonian.

Ed Nichols, History Colorado director, and Harold Closter, Smithsonian Affiliations director view Jefferson's Bible before it is displayed at History Colorado (Denver).

Ed Nichols, History Colorado director, and Harold Closter, Smithsonian Affiliations director view Jefferson’s Bible before it is displayed at History Colorado (Denver).

A Conversation with History Colorado

Five questions with History Colorado about the impact of bringing Thomas Jefferson’s Bible to the Denver community.

Smithsonian In Your Neighborhood

A recap of events, exhibitions and programs in Affiliate neighborhoods from May to October 2013.

Visit our ISSUU library for past editions of The Affiliate Newsletter.

affiliates in the news! october 2013

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.

trex

Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post – Kirk Johnson of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, is pictured through the cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex head.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Denver, Colorado)
Meet the Smithsonian’s fossil guy
“Kirk Johnson, the museum’s director, isn’t your typical coat-and-tie Washingtonian. In fact, the paleontologist and former chief curator for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is happiest when he’s digging in the dirt in search of fossils. Add a lasso and a hat, and you’d get something like Indiana Jones (only he’s a stickler for permits).”

Frost Museum of Art (Miami, Florida)
“Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art” Opens at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Oct. 25
“The exhibition will tour the U.S. after closing at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Confirmed venues include The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University in Miami (March 28, 2014 – June 22, 2014). ”

Plimoth Plantation (Plymouth, Massachusetts)
Mashpee Wampanoag dugout canoe on way to Smithsonian
“It’s huge,” Coombs said of the honor of having the Smithsonian accept the mishoon. “We’ve always been on the map, but a lot of people think of the Indians as only being in the West.”

Traditional Wampanoag canoe made at Plimoth Plantation headed to the Smithsonian
Darius Coombs, associate director of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program, came up with the idea of making a mishoon for donation to the Smithsonian. He calls the Smithsonian’s acceptance of the canoe an honor. 

PLIMOTH PLANTATION: Mishoon accepted by Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
“It’s an honor that the Smithsonian will accept it, and we enjoy doing new work – it keeps the job challenging,” Coombs said. “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.”

Plimoth Plantation makes replica of Native American canoe for Smithsonian
Plimoth Plantation’s Wampanoag Indigenous Program has been creating mishoons, traditional Native American canoes, for the past 40 years, but this year the hard work is being recognized. On Thursday, a mishoon made this spring will be ready to leave for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

 

Japanese American laborers at Tule Lake War Relocation Center. (Library of Congress)

Japanese American laborers at Tule Lake War Relocation Center. (Library of Congress)

Smithsonian Accepts Dugout Canoe from Plimoth Plantation
“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,” said Kevin Gover (Pawnee) Director, National Museum of the American Indian

Institute of Texan Cultures (San Antonio, Texas)
Beloved Institute Of Texan Cultures Planning For The Future
“I think that’s one thing absolutely fantastic about the history of the United States is that you do not necessarily have to be from that place to make a difference. And I still think that continues today because we see it throughout the wonderful history of our country,” Docog said.

US Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville, Alabama)
Part 3: Barnhart Looks Ahead 5 Years, Talks about Da Vinci Exhibition
“We will have a world quality institution for life,” said Dr. Barnhart. “We are a Smithsonian affiliate, and it’s our job to tell the story of our region and the innovation and the place of invention that Huntsville is. My job is to make sure it’s strong, financially stable, and continues to tell that story well into the generations.”

Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
‘I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story’ Opens at JANM Sept. 14

Affiliates in the News! July 2013

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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coming up in affiliateland in may 2013

May is a busy time in Affiliateland! 

CALIFORNIA
The
Japanese American National Museum will open SITES’ American Heroes: Japanese American WWII Nisei Soldiers and the Congressional Gold Medal, 5.4. The museum will also host the National Portrait Gallery’s traveling exhibition Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits in Los Angeles, 5.11.

bbhc

Detail of a historic firearm to be displayed in Cody, Wyoming.

WYOMING
64 artifacts from the National Museum of American History’s firearm collection go on display at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, 5.4.

FLORIDA
The Polk Museum of Art will host the Mayfaire Arts Festival. Beverly K. Cox, formerly Exhibits Coordinator for the National Portrait Gallery, will serve as the jurist for the museum’s annual two-day arts festival in Lakeland, 5.10. 

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum will host a public program on the Art of Boatbuilding, featuring curator Douglas Herman from the National Museum of the American Indian. He will present a public  demonstration on boatbuilding by Pacific Islanders in St. Augustine, 5.18.

NORTH CAROLINA
The Schiele Museum of Natural History and Lynn Planetarium will open an exhibition entitled Mammal Safari, featuring 25 mounted specimens on loan from the National Museum of Natural History, in Gastonia, 5.18.

MARYLAND
College Park Aviation Museum will host their second Youth Capture the Colorful Cosmos workshop in College Park, 5.19.

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum hosts a reception for all Affiliate staff during the American Alliance of Museums annual meeting in Baltimore, 5.21.

ramp

Native skateboard culture is headed to Connecticut

CONNECTICUT
The Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center hosts SITES’s Ramp it Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America in Mashantucket, 5.25.

TEXAS
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is hosting SITES’ Elvis at 21, featuring 40 Smithsonian artifacts in Fort Worth, 5.23.

MAINE
Abbe Museum opens SITES’ IndiVisible: African-Native American Lives in the Americas, in Bar Harbor  5.23.