Tag Archive for: thanksgiving

What to see at a Smithsonian Affiliate in your neighborhood

It’s the Friday before Thanksgiving break. We’re all excited about seeing friends and family and taking a little break from school and work. So here are a few ideas for including the Smithsonian in your holiday plans from our Affiliate partners across the country:

Midwest

The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art in Elmhurt, Illinois, hosts Modern Designer Jewelry from the Smithsonian, an exhibition that features jewelry from American Jewelry designers from 1960 to 2009 from the collections of the National Museum of Natural History.

Mid-Atlantic

Take an in-depth look at Pennsylvania’s significant role during the Civil War at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh. In its new major exhibition, Pennsylvania’s Civil War, you can find a tintype camera and portable printing press on loan from the National Museum of American History.

Mountain Plains

Apollo Boilerplate Command Module on loan from the National Air and Space Museum.

Apollo Boilerplate Command Module on loan from the National Air and Space Museum.

More than 21 artifacts on loan from the National Air and Space Museum are on view at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamagordo. Get an up-close look at an Apollo Boilerplate Command Module and see the training coveralls worn by New Mexico astronaut, Harrison Schmitt, the only scientist to walk on the moon.

If you’re in San Antonio, the Institute of Texan Cultures is currently displaying two exhibitions from the National Museum of the American Indian and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES). Native Words, Native Warriors tells the story of soldiers from more than a dozen tribes who used their Native languages while in service in the U.S. military. Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America celebrates the vibrancy, creativity and history of American Indian skateboarding culture.

New England

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the rich tradition of gathering together at harvest time and celebrating the abundant joys of the season. At Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, visitors can learn all about the settlement of the Plymouth Colony in the 17th century.

Southeast

Go on safari at the Schiele Museum of Natural History in Gastonia, North Carolina. Fourteen specimens–from a tiny eastern mole to a mountain gorilla–are on loan from the National Museum of Natural History.

The Polk Museum of Art in Lakeland, Florida, includes five works of art from the National Air and Space Museum collection in its exhibition Paintings of the Space Age.

The Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, Florida, has Earl Cunningham’s painting Seminole Indian Summer Camp on view from the Smithsonian American Art Museum in its Earl Cunningham gallery. 

Seminole Indian Summer Camp, ca. 1963, Earl Cunningham, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael and Marilyn Mennello.

Seminole Indian Summer Camp, ca. 1963, Earl Cunningham, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael and Marilyn Mennello.

West

Arizona State Museum, in Tucson, celebrates the creative work of American Indian directors, producers, writers, and actors during the Native Eyes Film Showcase, in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian and many others.

If you’re in California, visit the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles and see I Want the Wide American Earth: An Asian Pacific American Story. Created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and organized for travel by SITES, the exhibit tells the story of how Asian Pacific Americans have shaped and been shaped by the course of our nation’s history.

Check out the San Diego Air and Space Museum where you can see nearly 30 space-related artifacts on loan from the National Air and Space Museum.

 

Is the Smithsonian in your neighborhood? Find an Affiliate here.

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coming up in affiliateland in november 2012

Fall in affiliateland…

TEXAS
The Ellen Noël Art Museum hosts curator Carolyn Russo from the National Air and Space Museum, who will be giving a series of lectures and a photography class in conjunction with the In Plane View exhibition, in Odessa, 11.1-2.

ARIZONA
Curator John Hasse from the National Museum of American History and Affiliations director Harold Closter will take part in the Musical Instrument Museum’s special jazz events in Phoenix, 11.10-11.

MASSACHUSETTS
Deputy director Richard Pickering and food historian Kathleen Wall from Plimoth Plantation will be performing historical theater and giving food talks about the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., 11.11.

NORTH CAROLINA
National Portrait Gallery’s Sid Hart will host a lecture about on the War of 1812 at the Greensboro Historical Museum in Greensboro, 11.13.

FLORIDA
The Frost Art Museum will host the Reflections Across Time: Seminole Portraits exhibition, which includes loans from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Museum of the American Indian, in Miami, 11.17.

WASHINGTON
The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture will host the National Museum of American History’s Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Warriors: Photographs by Gertrude Käsebier, in Spokane, 11.17.

PENNSYLVANIA
The Heinz History Center opens the From Slavery to Freedom exhibition, featuring artifacts on loan from the National Museum of American History, in Pittsburgh, 11.30.

affiliates in the news

Congratulations to these Affiliates making headlines!

National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Jewish history museum set to open near historic Philadelphia sites. READ MORE
New National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia Celebrates Jewish Life. READ MORE 
New Philadelphia museum celebrates Jewish life. READ MORE
New museum traces accomplishments of American Jews. READ MORE 
Jewish Museum Completes New Home in Philadelphia. READ MORE
American Jewish History Museum To Open. WATCH VIDEO
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Identity. READ MORE
Museum shows view of American history through Jewish lens. READ MORE
A Walking Tour Through Time. READ MORE
Jews You Can Use. READ MORE
A People’s History. READ MORE

Museum of American Finance (New York, New York)
Monopoly’s diamond year. READ MORE 

Poverty Point State Historic Site (Louisiana)
Poverty Point accepted as Smithsonian Affiliate. READ MORE 

Rubin Museum of Art (New York, New York)
Buddhism’s Influence on Contemporary Artists Explored by the Rubin Museum of Art. READ MORE
The Rich, Detailed Fullness Found in Empty
. READ MORE 

Historical cottage at Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden.

Snug Harbor Cultural Center (Staten Island, New York)
Staten Island gem: A guide to the new Snug Harbor Cultural Center. READ MORE

The Museum of Flight (Seattle, Washington)
Museum Of Flight Names New President And CEO. READ MORE 

Heard Museum (Phoenix, Arizona)
Heard Museum receives grant from local tribe. READ MORE
Grant allows more students to visit Heard Museum. READ MORE 

Plimoth Plantation

Plimoth Plantation (Plymouth, Massachusetts)
Thanksgiving Virtual Field Trip Brings More than a Million Students Nationwide to Plimoth Plantation on November 16, 2010. READ MORE  
Debunking Thanksgiving Myths at Plimoth Plantation. READ MORE
Plimoth Plantation: A step back in time. READ MORE

Shawn Pirelli: summer at the smithsonian

We invited our recent Smithsonian Affiliate interns and visiting professionals to blog about their experiences in our Summer at the Smithsonian series. Special thanks to our intern partner, Shawn Pirelli, for kicking us off!

Affiliations Intern Partner, Shawn Pirelli, researching at the Archives Center at the American History Museum.

During my designated ten weeks as a Smithsonian Intern Partner I worked closely with the Affiliations unit to create an exhibit that my host institution would like to propose for the Smithsonian’s International Gallery. As a researcher at Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, it was fittingly appropriate that this project focused on the American holiday commonly referred to as Thanksgiving. Thus, for the duration of my time at the Smithsonian I collected materials, searched through archives, met with curators and archivists, and organized my findings. Pending approval by the Smithsonian, the exhibition would tentatively open in the fall 2012.

The prospect of creating an exhibit in the Ripley Center seemed daunting when I arrived at the Smithsonian Institution. As I became more acclimated to my new surroundings in Washington, I began to realize that the Smithsonian faculty and staff were just as excited as I was to discuss the content. With their help, I soon found a gold mine in historical records. The archives figuratively overflowed with objects and documents on so many diverse topics.

Shawn and Affiliations Outreach Manager, Jennifer Brundage, perusing the Archives at American History.

In the archives I found Thanksgiving postcards, Grand Ball invitations, sheet music and gubernatorial proclamations. Additionally, in the collections were preserved pictures of Thanksgiving pageants, dinners, parades, Presidential pardons, and light shows. Altogether I compiled a 350-page inventory list of materials, documents and images found in the archival collections. This list has helped me envision the exhibit in a three-dimensional computerized format.

In September 2010, I will return to the University of New Hampshire where I am currently a graduate student of history. While taking classes, I will be able to work with some of the most revered historians in the academic field; many have already helped me explore several diverse possibilities for this project.

Furthermore, I will also be returning to Plimoth Plantation to work more closely with its staff, curators, and administrators. At Plimoth Plantation, the project will take its shape under the supervision of Richard Pickering, Deputy Director. Under his supervision, the materials I found at the Smithsonian can be requested for loan in the International Gallery.

Smithsonian American Art Museum Graphic Arts Storage study room.

With the Smithsonian Affiliations program I will be able to see the fruits of my work at the most respected institution in the world. It is through this partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, Plimoth Plantation, and the University of New Hampshire that this project is possible. Each entity brings an unrivaled dynamic to this project. The resulting exhibit will be a reflection of all the wonderful assistance the Affiliations program offered me during my summer in Washington. 

Next in the series: Eric Stanley, Smithsonian Affiliations Visiting Professional from Sonoma County Museum in Santa Rosa, California.