Tag Archive for: national museum of natural history

The Loan Clinic: Unlock the Mysteries of Sharing Collections

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How did nearly 20 fossils return on long-term loan to the Tellus Science Museum? How did the Senator John Heinz History Center manage to negotiate the loan of a piece of the Star Spangled Banner?  What kind of research did the Frost Art Museum have to undertake to find the perfect paintings for its upcoming exhibition on Seminole portraits? Affiliate guest speakers and Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Managers answer these questions and troubleshoot Affiliate loan questions during the session The Loan Clinic: Unlock the Mysteries of Sharing Collections, at the Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference on June 14, 2012.  

We know from our Affiliate Satisfaction Survey that our Affiliate partners want access to Smithsonian loans. We also know that the process can be daunting. So we want to discuss the big questions together–“What could have been done differently?” “How do I anticipate what is needed?” “Am I asking the right questions?” Three Affiliate speakers will present case studies using their loan experiences as a model for tackling the Smithsonian loan process. 

Ladds Quarry fossils on loan from the National Museum of Natural History to the Tellus Science Museum.

With experience working with the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) and National Air and Space Museum, Amy Gramsey, Collections Manager, Tellus Science Museum (Cartersville, Georgia) will discuss the power of thinking ahead and recognizing the differences in each Smithsonian museum. Her examples will include the successful loan of the Ladds Quarry fossils from NMNH. Ladds Quarry, an abandoned limestone quarry in Cartersville produced a goldmine of fossils in the 1960s. These fossils were able to return to the Cartersville community to inspire and educate visitors to the Tellus Science Museum through a long-term loan from NMNH. 

Bantam Jeep on loan from the National Museum of American History to the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Anne Madarasz, Museum Division Director, Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) has had success organizing loans from the National Museum of American History (NMAH), National Portrait Gallery, and National Postal Museum and is currently investigating loans from National Museum of Natural History and National Museum of African Art.  A firm believer in having every History Center exhibition include a Smithsonian artifact, Madarasz’s success in obtaining loans comes from her strategy of not limiting her request to just one Smithsonian museum and having a solid back-up plan. Her case studies will include the successful loan of the Bantam Jeep, which has been on loan from NMAH since 2003, and a fragment of the Star Spangled Banner which is currently included in the History Center’s exhibition Stars & Stripes: An American Story. 

Annette Fromm receives a Certificate of Award for her participation in the 2011 Affiliations Visiting Professionals Program. (L to R) The Honorable Sam Johnson (TX-03), Smithsonian Affiliations Director Harold Closter, Annette Fromm, Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough.

A Smithsonian Affiliations Visiting Professional in 2011, Annette B. Fromm, Assistant Professor/Museum Studies Coordinator, The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University(Miami, Florida), is well-versed in advanced planning to anticipate what surprises may occur along the way. Working in conjunction with the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate in Clewiston, Florida, to secure portraits of Seminoles from the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Fromm will touch on how to anticipate what costs may be to avoid big surprises after a proposal is secured. Her Visiting Professional residency at NMAI, NPG and the American Art Museum proved the importance of pre-arranged researching to find the best fit

for her exhibition. 

Join us at the 2012 Affiliations National Conference, June 12-14!

Register today! 

View the 2012 Conference Agenda. 

Book your hotel room at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel. 

The Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference is for current Affiliates only. If you are interested in becoming an Affiliate please contact Elizabeth Bugbee for more information.

Coming together in Minneapolis!

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Are you going to the AAM Annual Meeting in Minneapolis this year?  So is Affiliations’ own National Outreach Manager for the midwest, Aaron Glavas.  Reach him at glavasc@si.edu or 202.633.5309 to let him know where you’ll be!

 

 

 

 

 

Support your colleagues and check out these sessions featuring Affiliate and Smithsonian staff!:

Bringin’ It All Back Home: Acknowledging Your Online Support Community
Presenter: Sebastian Chan, Director of Digital & Emerging Media, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, NY

Communities Create: Approaches to Native American and Other Community Exhibitions
Chaired by: Zahava Doering, Senior Social Scientist, Policy & Analysis, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Presenting: Carolyn Rapkievian, Assistant Director, Education & Museum Programs, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC

CRAFTing a Community
Chaired by: Katie Crooks, Public Programs Assistant, American Art Museum Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Engagement Tools for Building Creative Communities, Placemaking, and Partnerships
Presenter: Ethelyn Abellanosa, Deputy Director for Operations, Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, Seattle, WA

Measure What? Metrics to Engage Stakeholders and Achieve Strategic Goals
Chaired by: Amy Bartow-Melia, Director-Department of Public Programs, National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Presenter: Janet Abrams, Senior Advisor for Organizational Excellence, Smithsonian Institution Office of The Secretary, Washington, DC

Trauma: Creating Shared Communities in Cultural/Natural Heritage Risk Management
Chaired by:  Richard Kurin, Undersecretary for History, Art & Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Come Together:21st-Century Museum Leadership in China and the U.S.
Chaired by: Carole Neves, Director, Office of Policy & Analysis Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Daisy Wang, Project Manager for Chinese Art, Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Linking Young People to Museums: Nothing but the Truth
Chaired by: John Franklin, Director of Partnerships and International Programs, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC

Museums and Academic Parent Organizations: the Good and the Ugly
Chaired by: Ellen Rosenthal, President & CEO, Conner Prairie Museum, Inc., Fishers, IN
Presenters: Berkley Duck, Former Chairman of the Board, Conner Prairie Museum, Inc., Fishers, IN;
Cameron McGuire, Associate Director, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC

75 Ideas in 75 Minutes: Worst, Best, Next
Chaired by: Charles Katzenmeyer, Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL

Chinese and U.S. Perspectives on Exhibitions as Catalysts of Creativity
Chaired by: Daisy Wang, Project Manager for Chinese Art, Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Communities of Conversation Around Exhibitions
Chaired by: Barbara Stauffer, Chief of Temporary Exhibitions, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Stop, Collaborate and Listen: Harnessing Technology to Build Creative Communities
Presenter: Amy Homma, Education Technician, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC

Talking Shop: Roundtable Discussion with Volunteer Managers and Docents
Presenter: Maretta Hemsley-Wood, Docent Program Manager, Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum , Washington, DC

Creative Practices in Education and Public Programs in China and the U.S.
Chaired by:  Nik Apostolides, Associate Director, National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Presenters: Ryan Hill, ART LAB + Program Specialist, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC;  Carole Neves, Director, Office of Policy & Analysis Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Games: Creating Connections to Collections
Presenter: Georgina Bath Goodlander, Interpretive Programs Manager, Luce Foundation Center for American Art, American Art MuseumSmithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Keeping Safe: Discovering and Handling Hidden Collection Hazards
Presenter: Kathryn Makos, Industrial Hygienist, Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Safety, Health and Environmental Management, Washington, DC

Using Creative Problem-Solving to Cultivate Future Leaders
Presenters: Ryan Hill, ART LAB + Program Specialist, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC;  Megan Smith, Education Specialist, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC

Pacific Standard Time: The Ultimate Cultural Collaboration, California Style!
Presenters: Edwina Brandon, VP of External Affairs, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA; Gina Adams, Vice President of Development, Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA

Solutions Lounge: Sustainable Operations Tool Kit
Chaired by: Jim Richerson, President & CEO, Lakeview Museum of Arts & Sciences, Peoria, IL

Collaboration and Education
Chaired by: Christina Schwartz, Head Registrar, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service-SITES, Washington, DC

Connecting Global Communities: Striking Successes, Fabulous Flops, and Lessons Learned
Presenter: Laura Anderson, Assistant Archivist, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL

Show Me the Money: Straight Talk About Museum Business Models
Presenter: Ellen Rosenthal, President & CEO, Conner Prairie Museum, Inc., Fishers, IN

Transforming Museum Volunteering 101: Back to Basics
Chaired by: Robbin Davis, Director of Visitor Services, Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City, OK

Dangerous World: Our Role During Armed Conflicts and Other Disasters
Presenter: Richard Kurin, Undersecretary for History, Art & Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

How to Pitch Technology to Your Board: Strategy to Implementation
Presenter: Michael Edson, Director of Web and New Media Strategy, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Washington, DC

Social Media Metrics 101
Chaired by: Sarah Banks, Audience Engagement Specialist, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Presenter: Victoria Portway, Chair, Web & New Media, National Air & Space Museum Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Transforming Museum Volunteering 201: Beyond the Basics
Presenters: Maria Christus, Volunteer Program Manager, Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL; Carly Ofsthun Shaw, Volunteer Coordinator, Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, AZ

U.S. and African Exhibits: Creating and Linking Communities
Chaired by: Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Deputy Director, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC
Presenters: Marsha MacDowell, Curator, Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, MI

Idea Lounge: The Future of Museum Education
Presenter: Timothy Rhue, Explainers Program Coordinator, National Air & Space Museum Smithsonian Institution, Fairfax, VA

Dine and Dialogue: What’s Going On with Little Ones in Museums?
Chaired by: Betsy Bowers, Deputy Director of Museum Education, Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, Washington, DC

Building a Healthy Future: Museums and Communities Tackle Issues of Wellness
Presenter: Lisa Falk, Director of Education, Arizona State Museum University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Citizen Science and Museums: Models of Partnership and Engagement
Chaired by: Karen Carney, Associate VP for Visitor Experience and Learning, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL
Presenters: Jason Reed, Online Engagement and Motivation Researcher, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL; Arfon Smith, Director of Citizen Science, Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago, IL

Linking Data Across Libraries, Archives and Museums
Presenter: Martin Kalfatovic, Assistant Director, Digital Services Division, Smithsonian Institition Libraries Acquisitions, Washington, DC

Wikipedia and the Museum: Lessons from Wikipedians in Residence
Presenter: Sarah Stierch, Wikipedian in Residence, Smithsonian Institution , Washington, DC

Young, Informed, Engaged: Innovation in Creating Sustainable Global Youth Communities
Presenters: Priscilla Hancock Cooper, VP, Institutional Programs, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL

Decoding Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: A Sustainability Necessity
Presenter: William Harris, Senior Vice President of Development and Marketing, California Science Center Foundation, Los Angeles, CA

Future Engagement: The Latest From Brands, Games, and Entertainment
Chaired by: Judy Gradwohl, Associate Director for Education and Public Programs, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

Mastodon Menagerie

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Special thanks for this guest post to James “Zach” Zacharias, Senior Curator of Education and Curator of History at The Museum of Arts and Sciences, a Smithsonian Affiliate in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

James "Zach" Zacharias, Senior Curator of Education at the Museum of Arts and Sciences, with one of the tusks from an adult mastodon. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Arts and Sciences.

The Monday morning before Thanksgiving 2011 seemed like any other day at the Museum of Arts & Sciences (MOAS) until the City of Daytona Beach emailed me a picture of what appeared to be a large lower jawbone. The City had been excavating a drainage pond two miles north of the Museum and workers found massive and mysterious bones. Upon closer inspection of the image, it became clear to me that I was looking at the lower mandible and teeth of an American Mastodon. 

The City promptly postponed construction so MOAS could dispatch personnel to the site. Although I was in a shirt and tie, I jumped into the mud- and muck-filled pit for a closer look! Within five minutes, I located a partially exposed tusk protruding from the pond’s north wall. As I investigated the layers of earth, I knew right there and then this was the tusk of an Ice Age mammoth or mastodon. It dawned on me this was turning into an incredible prehistoric discovery for our area. With hopes of unearthing the full skeleton, we set to work. 

An army of Museum staff and associates quickly converged on the site to help in the excavation effort. With painstaking care and effort, two delicate partial tusks were removed. These precious pieces of the Pleistocene were each placed in a “plaster jacket” (a protective covering used by paleontologists to move fossil specimens from the field) and moved to their secure home at the Museum. 

Assorted museum staff and volunteers at the construction site at the bottom of the drainage pond being excavated. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Arts and Sciences.

The rest of the excavation soon turned into a salvage operation. Unbeknownst to the workers, a portion of the skeleton (other than tusks) which was interspersed amongst the rocks and stones had been routinely put through a giant rock screener. This broke up some parts of the skeletal remains. As MOAS representatives sifted through the debris piles, a plethora of broken vertebra, ribs, limbs and skull bones were found. Currently, MOAS is cleaning, sorting and accessioning the fossils. A portion of the femur is currently being prepared for carbon dating by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  

A construction worker found this lower mandible of the American Mastodon. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Arts and Sciences.

This is the second significant paleontological find for the Museum of Arts & Sciences – the first being the 1975 discovery of the remains of 13 giant ground sloths in a barrow pit near Nova and Reed Canal roads. MOAS proudly displays the most complete and best preserved giant ground sloth skeleton in the world.  

Florida’s peninsula has submerged and re-emerged numerous times as the earth has passed through ice ages and warming trends. The paleontology of Florida demonstrates there were no dinosaurs here (the state was underwater during the Mesozoic Era) and this is reflected in the abundant marine fossils found in Central Florida. The animal fossils found here belong to “mega-fauna” mammals such as the giant ground sloth, mastodons and mammoths, saber cats, dire wolfs, paleo llamas, and the glyptodon. They roamed our landscape from 130,000 to 10,000 years ago.  

James "Zach" Zacharias with the assorted bone fragments from the mastodon. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Arts and Sciences.

The discovery of the Daytona Beach American Mastodon is thrilling and exciting for the Museum, the City and our community. MOAS is looking forward to adding the fossils to an exhibit for all to see –encouraging inspiration, curiosity, and the love of knowledge.

New Tricks from an Old Mummy

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Special thanks for this guest post to Sarah Wisseman, Director, Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Photo courtesy Bill Wiegand, UI News Bureau.

The University of Illinois Roman-period Egyptian mummy at the Spurlock Museum has undergone two radiologic investigations using Computerized Tomography (CT), twenty years apart. In 1990, an interdisciplinary team was convened to investigate the mummy before it went on display. Since autopsy was not permitted, we concentrated on non-destructive imaging supplemented by materials analyses of tiny bits of hardened resin, cloth, and insects from the damaged foot and ankle area of the mummy. The initial results showed that the mummy was a child (because of dental development and open growth plates) with a broken head and a collapsed chest. CT images showed some kind of packing material (cloth or mud?) around the limbs and a wooden, so-called “stiffening” board under the body inside the linen wrappings. The insects turned out to be carrion beetles, implying that the child’s body was in a partially decayed state before it was wrapped up. 

The brain, heart, and lungs were still in place inside the mummy, but as our consulting radiologist Dr. Joseph Barkmeier at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, IL, commented, “they’re all dried up and moved around.” Lack of evisceration and a concentration on the exterior decoration instead of tissue preservation are features of many Roman period mummies. So is the wooden board wrapped up underneath the body. The sex of the child could not be determined because the pelvic region was obscured by layers of tissues and wrappings. But identifying the sex of a young child based upon skeletal remains alone is not very reliable in the best of circumstances. 

Photo courtesy Dr. David Hunt, using OsiriX software.

In 2011, we decided to re-scan the mummy utilizing vastly improved imaging technology and computer software. David Hunt, Physical Anthropologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, was a consultant on the new project. 

Internal organs, packing, and bone fractures are much more clearly visible from the new CT imaging. Dr. Hunt was able to age the mummy child more precisely to about 8.5 years at the time of death by identifying the growth and development of the dentition. However, the measurements of the long bones of the legs were shorter than expected by the dental age, suggesting that the child suffered from some levels of malnutrition or illness. Unfortunately, sex is still unknown because the pelvis is collapsed and cannot be measured for physiological identification and soft tissue organs are not discernable since the densities of bone, tissue, and wrappings are very close in density values, making clear observations problematic. 

In the thoracic cavity, desiccated organs lie up against the spine, and the spine shows signs of compression fractures (post-mortem). The occipital fracture is more severe than we originally thought, and a piece of the skull is inside the cranial cavity. Some brain tissue is clearly visible, but it is probable that the embalmers removed portions of the brain through the back of the head, certainly not through the nose. 

The 2011 images show that the embalmers used wads of cloth rather than mud or plant material to pad out the thin little body and make it appear more life-like. A recent pigment analysis by the Getty Conservation Institute confirms that the red colorant on the stucco surface is lead oxide, or minium, from Rio Tinto, Spain, and that it matches that of nine other “red shroud,” Roman-period mummies published the new book Herakleides: A Portrait Mummy from Roman Egypt by Lorelei Corcoran and Marie Svoboda. This finding reinforces our conclusion that the Spurlock mummy child came from a well-to-do family in Roman Egypt that could afford expensive ingredients such as the red pigment and gold leaf seen on the mummy wrappings. 

At Dr. Hunt’s request, forensic artist Joe Mullins of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) used the new CT scans to digitally reconstruct the child’s head and face. The result, with several possible hairstyles, shows that the mummy child was of West Asian or Mediterranean heritage, just as one might expect from the cosmopolitan population living in the Fayum region of Egypt at that time. 

Photo courtesy Joe Mullins, NCMEC.

For more on the University of Illinois mummy, visit: https://www.isas.illinois.edu/atam/research/mummy/index.html 

The Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been in association with the Smithsonian Institution since 2005. To find a Smithsonian Affiliate in your neighborhood, click here.

2011 Affiliations Conference Wrap-Up

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Thank you to everyone who traveled to Washington, D.C. in June to join us for the Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference.   So much happened in just 3 short days! We don’t want anyone to feel left out, so we’ve created a conference recap and included links to important information you may have missed. 

Click here to view 2011 Conference photos on our Flickr site and add your own! 

Welcome Reception in the Smithsonian Castle Commons. Photo by Smithsonian Affiliations.

Day 1, Monday, June 13: The 2011 Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference opened with a bang at the Smithsonian Castle.  During Orientation in the Castle Library, attendees reunited with fellow Affiliates and met new staff members from recently affiliated organizations. Affiliations Director, Harold Closter, discussed the advantages of partnering with the Smithsonian.  Click here to view the Orientation session PowerPoint presentation. 

We wrapped-up the first day with a Welcome Reception in the Smithsonian Castle Commons. Special guest Sidney Mobell thanked Affiliates and the Smithsonian for hosting Jeweled Objects of Desire, a traveling exhibition based on his jeweled art creations, which over the years has traveled to six Affiliates and is in the National Gem Collection at the National Museum of Natural History. Interested in hosting the exhibition? Contact your National Outreach Manager.   

Photo by tony brown/imijphoto.com

Day 2, Tuesday, June 14:  Focusing on education at this year’s conference, we invited Claudine Brown, Assistant Secretary for Education and Access, to be our Keynote Speaker. She spoke on the future of education at the Smithsonian, the role of partnerships in advancing the work of Affiliates, and challenged Affiliates and the Smithsonian to expand education and access. “At the Smithsonian, our collections and exhibitions inspire. Our people teach and our programs help students apply what they have learned. We aspire to be a veritable educational engine, using the resources of America’s museum to create a stronger, better America for our children to inherit. Through our National Outreach Programs, we will expand our exhibition-based education programs to cities and towns across the country.” Click here to view Claudine Brown’s Keynote Address PowerPoint. 

Photo by tony brown/imijphoto.com

Following Claudine Brown’s keynote, attendees were invited to brainstorm collaborative ideas in education in the roundtable session What’s the Big Idea: Revitalizing Education Through Partnership and Collaboration. From education technology to dedicated spaces, early childhood education to programs in your own backyard, there was ample opportunity to discuss the “big ideas” and then share them at the end of the session. What was shared? Click here to find out. 

The afternoon was filled with sessions introducing new initiatives, increasing membership, expanding mobile platforms and STEAM programming. We wound down the day with a curator-led tour of the exhibition Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Warriors: A Photographic History by Gertrude Käsebier. 

Click on the links below for the PowerPoint presentations from each session:

An Introduction to “The Immigration Initiative: Exploring and Presenting America’s Cultural History of    Migration and Immigration.” –Fath Davis Ruffins, Curator of African American History and Culture, National Museum of American History 

Building and Increasing Membership: A Museum-Wide Approach–Christina Di Meglio Lopez, Business & External Affairs Manager, Smithsonian Affiliations; Meg Colafella, Director of Membership, Senator John Heinz History Center

You CAN Take It With You: A Practical Look at All Things Mobile–Nancy Proctor, Head of Mobile Strategy & Initiatives, Smithsonian Institution 

Success with Science: New Approaches for New Audiences–Tricia Edwards, Education Specialist, Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, National Museum of American History; Judy Brown, Senior Vice President, Programs, Miami Science Museum. 

Photo by tony brown/imijphoto.com

Day 3, Wednesday, June 15: The final day of the conference may have been the most exciting of the three days! National Museum of the American Indian Chef Richard Hetzler started the day off with a cooking demonstration and book signing of his cookbook, The Mitsitam Café Cookbook.  After the demonstration, several Affiliate attendees shared how they use food to connect with their visitors and Chef Hetzler was enthusiastic about traveling to Affiliate venues for cooking demonstrations and book signings. Want to book Chef Hetzler? Contact your National Outreach Manager.

Following breakfast, conference attendees met with Smithsonian staff at four museums–National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of American History, National Museum of African Art, and National Museum of Natural History–to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Smithsonian loan process. Have a loan policy question? Contact your National Outreach Manager.

In the afternoon, attendees hopped on a bus and took a guided tour of the Anacostia neighborhood before meeting with staff at the Anacostia Community Museum to discuss museum issues at the community level and get a guided tour of the exhibition Word, Shout, Song. 

And to top it all off, senators, representatives and Capitol Hill staffers joined Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough and Affiliates at the congressional reception at the Rayburn House Office Building.   

Browse through our conference guidebook here. 

Have questions about any of the sessions? Want to contact a Smithsonian staff member from the Resource Fair, or another Affiliate you met during the Conference? Contact your National Outreach Manager who will be happy to assist you!

Here’s what Affiliates said about the conference: 

“It was positively exhilarating!”–Natalie De Riso, Community Programs Manager, Heinz History Center 

“Thank you so much for an excellent Smithsonian affiliation conference, we all came back full of ideas and inspiration!”–Carmen Fishler, Director, Universidad del Turabo 

“I brought back a lot of great ideas and contacts. I think the most important thing I came away from the conference with is a renewed feeling of excitement. It was inspiring to see all the good work people are doing both at the Smithsonian, and at all the sibling museums. Altogether an excellent experience and I’m looking forward to next year.”–David Unger, Director of Interpretation, American Textile History Museum 

“I thought it was an excellent conference and a great introduction to the Affiliates program.  Thanks for all the efforts everyone made to have a successful conference.”–Will Ticknor, Director of Museums, City of Las Cruces

 

smile! it’s our 10th anniversary

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Most people are surprised to learn that Baltimore is home to the National Museum of Dentistry. “The what?!”    and, that the Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate.

George Washington's dentures, always on view at the National Museum of Dentistry

The National Museum of Dentistry will celebrate their tenth anniversary as an Affiliate at the end of June. It is a great honor to be associated with this one-of-a-kind treasure (the nation’s official museum of the dental profession) where visitors can see amazing teeth feats and toothy toys, marvel at George Washington’s choppers, sing along to vintage toothpaste commercials, and discover fascinating hands-on exhibitions about the power of a healthy smile. Onsite, online and across the country, the Museum teaches about the importance of oral health, inspiring visitors of all ages to keep their smiles bright and healthy.

Artifacts on loan from G.V. Black's office, the father of modern dentistry

Our decade-long partnership has yielded many successes. The Museum is home to significant artifacts on loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, most notably, original objects from the office of G.V. Black, the father of modern dentistry. Over the years, the Museum has participated in Smithsonian Teachers Night by distributing educational materials to thousands of teachers in the Capital region, and Museum Day, offering free admission to Smithsonian members.

The Museum’s staff is currently collaborating with scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, to develop an exhibition on dinosaur teeth, and what they tell us about the diet and biology of these ancient creatures. In November 2011, the Museum will welcome Dr. Doug Ubelaker from the Smithsonian, a renowned anthropologist who will speak on how teeth are used to solve forensic mysteries.

From their exhibitions to educational programs to online games, the National Museum of Dentistry gives its visitors, and the Smithsonian, a lot to smile about!