Tag Archive for: smithsonian secretary

Coming up in Affiliateland in October 2019

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Wow! Fall is fully underway with great events happening nationwide.

NEW JERSEY

The Morris Museum will publicly announce their affiliation with the Smithsonian, with remarks by Dr. Richard Kurin, Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large in Morristown, 10.3.

TEXAS

The Irving Arts Center will present An Evening with Author/Archivist Grayson Dantzic, whose book on his late father’s work serves as the inspiration for the traveling exhibition Billie Holiday at Sugar Hill: Photographs by Jerry Dantzic (Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service) in Irving, 10.10. The Center will also host workshops on Teaching Ethnic Studies in Texas with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, 10.15-16 and 10.29-30.

PENNSYLVANIA

Copy of the book A Fool's Errand with a picture of Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, on creating the National Museum of African American History and CultureSmithsonian Secretary Dr. Lonnie Bunch will be discussing his new book A Fool’s Errand at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, 10.14.

MASSACHUSETTS

Framingham State University continues its Moon Landing in Context project with a talk by National Air and Space Museum curator Dr. Martin Collins on The Future of Space Exploration: An Ethical Perspective, in Framingham, 10.16.

NORTH CAROLINA

The Greensboro History Museum hosts a lecture by National Museum of American History conservator Dr. Sunae Park Evans on Conserving Democracy in Greensboro, 10/17.

 

the Moon is rising in Affiliateland in April 2019

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Great events at Affiliates as spring starts blooming!

NORTH CAROLINA
The National Air and Space Museum has loaned three Apollo-related artifacts for the exhibition One Giant Leap: North Carolina and the Space Race opening at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, 4.5.

WASHINGTON
Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission exhibition, organized by the National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, will open at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, 4.13.

ILLINOIS
As part of the Smithsonian Year of Music, the DuSable Museum of African American History will host A Celebration of Ella!!, a tribute event honoring the music and legacy of Ella Jenkins. At 94, Jenkins is one of the most revered singers and songwriters of the past century, with dozens of albums released through Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, in Chicago, 4.13.

PENNSYLVANIA
A protest armband from the 1960s, on loan from the National Museum of American History, will be part of the The Vietnam War: 1945-1975 exhibition at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, 4.13.


NEW YORK
Katherine Ott, curator at the National Museum of American History, delivers the last talk of the Questioning Identity lecture series, Poking at Normal: Museums and the History of Real People  at the Rockwell Museum in Corning, 4.24.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
Teens from five Affiliate communities will visit Washington with museum staff and parents, to meet with Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton and participate in person in the final meeting of the Secretary’s Youth Advisory Council. Thanks to the Rockwell Museum, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Arab American National Museum, and the Upcountry History Museum, for helping us to include national teen voices in the work of the Smithsonian over the last two years!, in D.C.,  4.24.

IOWA
Smithsonian Affiliations Director Myriam Springuel and National Outreach Manager Aaron Glavas will participate in the affiliation announcement at new affiliate, the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, 4.26.

MASSACHUSETTS
Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory will present the April talk Moon Race: The U.S.-Soviet Competition to Put a Human on the Moon as part of the year-long Moon Landing in Context lecture series at Framingham State University in Framingham, 4.27.

 

Coming up in Affiliateland in February 2018

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Happy new year! We may still feel cold, but events are heating up at Affiliates across the country.

NATIONWIDE
Five Affiliates will host (via videoconference) the Smithsonian Secretary’s Youth Advisory Council meeting. Thank you to the Arab American National Museum, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Upcountry History Museum and the Rockwell Museum for sharing their students and spaces for this important dialogue happening in Washington, 2.7.

Eight Affiliates will host screenings of The Lost Tapes: Malcolm X , a new film from the Smithsonian Channel as part of their Black History Month programming. Thanks to the following Affiliates for sharing the film with your audiences!
2.1 – Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore, MD
2.6 – Museum of History & Industry in Seattle, WA
2.7 – Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, PA
2.8 – African American Museum in Philadelphia, PA
2.12 – History Colorado in Denver, CO
2.22 – California African American Museum in Los Angeles
2.23 – Mennello Museum of American Art/Orlando Museum of Art, FL
2.26 – Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, TX

CALIFORNIA
The Riverside Metropolitan Museum presents the Uncovering Ancient Mexico: The Mystery of Tlatilco exhibition, exploring an ancient society in central Mexico that flourished 3000 years ago. The exhibition features 9 artifacts from the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian and opens in Riverside, 2.3

WASHINGTON
The Whatcom Museum opens Jeweled Objects of Desire featuring over 50 artifacts on loan from the National Museum of Natural History’s gem and mineral collection in Bellingham, 2.3.

FLORIDA
The Orange County Regional History Center opens the SITES’ exhibition Things Come Apart in Orlando, 2.10.

Take it Apart! A fun contest in Orlando for the Things Come Apart exhibition.

PENNSYLVANIA
A ‘rum runner’ ship model on loan from the National Museum of American History will be on view at the Heinz History Center as part of their American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition exhibition in Pittsburgh, 2.10.

OHIO
With a grant from the Ohio Arts Council, educators from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Accessibility Program will lead three workshops for teachers in collaboration with the Springfield Museum of Art on strategies for using art to reach students with multiple disabilities, in Springfield, 2.15-16.

MARYLAND
Annmarie Garden opens Big Fun Art, an exhibition of local and national artists juried by Jennifer Brundage, Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Manager, that explores playfulness, dynamism and joy, in Solomons, 2.16.

ARIZONA
Dr. Richard Kurin will be speaking on and signing his book The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects at the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, 2.20.

TEXAS
The Asian American Resource Center will host a teacher workshop in collaboration with the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access entitled Teacher Creativity Studios: Asian Pacific America Cultural Presence in the Classroom in Austin, 2.21.

NEBRASKA
The Durham Museum will host a lecture by Dr. Krewasky Salter, Guest Associate Curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Double Victory: The African American Military Experience in Omaha, 2.27.

 

  

Smithsonian Secretary kicks off 2014 Affiliations National Conference

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Education and access have always been at the core of all of our work. Our Affiliate network provides countless opportunities for informal learning in local communities across the U.S. through research, scholarship and exhibitions both real and virtual. Many Affiliates have collaborated with the Smithsonian on online national summits for teens, science webcasts, and even collected oral histories all captured for a virtual audience as well as developed as engaging public programs at each organization.

We’ve invited Smithsonian Secretary, G. Wayne Clough, to be our Keynote Speaker at our 2014 Affiliations National Conference* (June 23-25) to share how Affiliates are our partners in tackling a digital world.

“While digital technology poses great challenges, it also offers great possibilities. For the Smithsonian and our nation’s other museums, libraries and archives, today is a time when we can serve the role our founders envisioned for the educational systems of our republic. We can help all the people, not just a few of the people, to understand our culture, the cultures of other countries and life in all its dimensions.”

Join us on June 24 and discover the possibilities when we partner in making our collections more accessible and provide lifelong learning experiences to all of our visitors through innovative digital access.

To read the Secretary’s free book Best of Both Worlds: Museums, Libraries, and Archives in a Digital Age and see a short video, go to https://www.si.edu/BestofBothWorlds. The book is also available for free at iTunes U. Read the full press release for the Secretary’s e-book here.

*The Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference is for current Affiliates only. If you are interested in becoming an Affiliate, or have an application in progress and would like to attend the Conference, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee for more information.

Announcing the I. Michael Heyman Smithsonian Across America Affiliations Fund

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Secretary I. Michael Heyman rode the carousel at the Los Angeles Convention Center, first stop of the “America’s Smithsonian” national tour celebrating the Smithsonian’s 150th anniversary in 1996.

I. Michael Heyman, 10th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1994-1999), passed away November 19, 2011.  In honor of his tenure and accomplishments friends, family, and Smithsonian officials gathered on June 14, 2012 in a special ceremony at the National Museum of American History.  Heyman was widely praised for launching a number of initiatives, Smithsonian Affiliations among them, that extended the reach of the Smithsonian well beyond the National Mall.  Smithsonian Affiliations director Harold A. Closter offered the following words of tribute, and announced the establishment of the I. Michael Heyman Smithsonian Across America Affiliations Fund:

This tribute to Mike Heyman is also the concluding program in our 16th Annual Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference – a legacy of Mike’s about which others have already spoken so eloquently.  Here with us in this auditorium are representatives of the 172 Smithsonian-affiliated museums and educational organizations, our invaluable partners in fulfilling Mike’s vision for a Smithsonian across America.  These museums reflect the breadth and diversity of the American people:  from Plymouth, Massachusetts to Honolulu, Hawaii, from Birmingham, Alabama to Bellingham, Washington, and everywhere in between.

The Saturn V Rocket at the US Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville, AL)

If you were to visit one of these Affiliate museums today, you would see national treasures from all of the Smithsonian museums, including:

  •  The cornet that Louis Armstrong learned to play in an orphanage in New Orleans, now on view at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix.
  •  An original fragment from the Star Spangled Banner at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.
  •  Apollo 13, the space capsule made famous for its nail-biting return from a trip around the moon,  currently on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas.
  • And the largest object in the Smithsonian’s collection – the 363 ft. long working model of the Saturn V rocket that made the Apollo space program possible – viewed with awe by visitors at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

These are just a few of the more than 8,000 Smithsonian objects that have traveled to every corner of this country all for one simple reason:  to make it easier for people to see the heritage of their country in their own communities. 

This was the vision that Mike Heyman so passionately believed in and this is why we are so pleased to announce the establishment of the I. Michael Heyman Smithsonian Across America Affiliations Fund.

A cornet associated with Louis Armstrong at the Musical Instrument Museum (Phoenix, AZ)

Through this fund we will honor the legacy of Secretary Heyman by extending the reach of the Smithsonian even further through the loan of artifacts, traveling exhibits, educational programs, and shared digital experiences. 

There are so many ways we can connect the Smithsonian to the American people:  to stimulate curiosity, to inspire lifelong learning, and to promote a deeper appreciation of our country’s history and the many people who have strived and sacrificed to ensure our freedom and prosperity. 

Mike Heyman saw both sides of the Smithsonian coin.  On one side, about 30 million people visit the Smithsonian each year, a measure in which we take great pride.  But on the other side, nearly 300 million Americans are unable to come to the Smithsonian annually, and some of them might only come once in a lifetime. 

These are also the people that Mike Heyman wanted to reach, the people we will reach through the I. Michael Heyman Smithsonian Across America Affiliations Fund.  And this is how we will perpetuate the memory and the name of the individual who did so much to transform the Smithsonian at a pivotal moment in its history. 

We are grateful for your interest and support, and will look forward to working with all of you to establish this tribute to our dear friend and colleague. 

Those interested in contributing or learning more about this opportunity to honor the life and accomplishments of I. Michael Heyman are invited to contact the Smithsonian at: 

A fragment of the Star Spangled Banner at the Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, PA)

I. Michael Heyman Smithsonian Across America Affiliations Fund
c/o Smithsonian Affiliations
MRC 942, PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012

Phone:  202.633.5300
Email:    affiliations.si.edu

 

Tribute to former Secretary Heyman

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Former Smithsonian Secretary I. Michael Heyman

 I. Michael Heyman served as the tenth Secretary of the Smithsonian from 1994-2000.  To celebrate his inspiring and productive years at the Institution, current Secretary Dr. Wayne Clough invites all Affiliate staff to join a program and reception at the National Museum of American History, Warner Bros. Theater, at 5pm on June 14.  

In his five years as Secretary he helped usher in a more dynamic Smithsonian, an Institution more thoroughly engaged with the American people.

Heyman’s signature program was the celebration of the Smithsonian’s 150th anniversary in 1996.  That event saw the unprecedented exhibition “America’s Smithsonian,” which traveled to major cities across the United States, and culminated in a Birthday Party on the National Mall. 

Heyman also oversaw the creation of the Smithsonian’s first website and established the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Asian Pacific American Program.   Heyman secured funding and presided over the groundbreaking of the National Museum of the American Indian, and received a key donation for the building of the Udvar-Hazy Center.

Of course, Heyman also initiated the Smithsonian Affiliations Program, which has grown into a network of more than 171 museums across the country.  His vision for the program, to get Smithsonian collections out of storage, has evolved into a truly two-way street of resource sharing and collaborations that impact communities nationwide. 

In the words of Secretary Clough, “Heyman was unflinchingly optimistic about the Smithsonian’s ability to be a force for knowledge and inspiration in our society.”  We are no less optimistic today, especially given the rich network of Smithsonian Affiliate partners that are such an important part of his legacy.  What better way to honor his passing than with our Affiliate colleagues.  We hope you can join us.