Arab American National Museum

October 25, 2010

kudos, Affiliates! for november 2010

Always nice to see bright spots around the network - great job and congratulations to all!

The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Michigan, recently awarded the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (Dubuque, Iowa) a $1 million challenge grant for the construction of the Diamond Jo National River Center. The challenge was contingent on the museum raising the remaining $4 million of its $12 million in private donations toward the $40 million project.

Richard Willich, chairman and CEO of MDI Holdings, has pledged a $50,000 gift to the St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum (St. Augustine, Florida) to upport maritime education for the maritime archaeology internship program.

The Oracle Education Foundation (OEF) has partnered with The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science (Tallahassee, Florida) to launch an innovative online learning initiative for students and teachers. The initiative will leverage ThinkQuest, OEF’s online learning platform, to create three online projects focused on museum exhibits. In addition, OEF and The Brogan Museum will work together to train 1,000 teachers on how to integrate ThinkQuest and project learning into their curricula.

Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan approved a $100,000 grant for the Arab American National Museum over two years for programming to support an exhibition about Arab American contributions in civilian and military service from the Revolutionary War to the present. Patriots and Peacemakers: Arab Americans in Service to Their Country will travel to museums, military academies and bases throughout the country.

The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience was honored by First Lady Michelle Obama in a recent White House ceremony. “The Wing” was one of just 15 programs across the country to receive the 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest honor for afterschool arts and humanities programs.

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February 19, 2010

let’s get the word out… send us your videos!

Filed under: enewsletter feature,General,You Heard It Here First — Tags: American Jewish History, Arab American National Museum, Conner Prairie, Heinz History Center, Smithsonian Neighbor — Elizabeth Bugbee @ 4:25 pm

Smithsonian Affiliations created the SmithsonianNeighbor YouTube channel in July 2009 with the goal of bringing more awareness to Smithsonian Affiliates across the country. We started with a few Affiliate videos that we had on hand, not having a clue about what was going to happen.

One of the earliest videos we posted came from the National Museum of American Jewish History (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) called Its Your Story. It’s a simple, elegant video about the American Jewish experience and a promotional piece for the opening of the museum in November 2010. We posted the video October 30, 2009 and, at first, saw a few hundred hits which we were ecstatic about. And then something happened. The magic of social networking? Strategic viral marketing? Yes to both! All of a sudden, NMAJH’s video was viewed 25,000 times, then 75,000 times and now, three months after it was posted, their video has reached almost 200,000 viewers. And that’s not all! Not only were people positively commenting, but one commenter even wanted to know who to contact at NMAJH to donate to the opening!

And we have more success stories. Senator John Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) sent us 250 Years of Pittsburgh Innovation. It was viewed more than 20,000 in two months. Conner Prairie’s (Fishers, Indiana) video History Rising: Conner Prairie’s Balloon Adventure was viewed almost 2000 times in about a month. And the Arab American National Museum’s (Dearborn, Michigan) short video tour has been viewed 1500 times. We are on to something!

How can you get involved? Send us your videos! We’d love to spread the word about what Smithsonian Affiliates are up to. Send us videos about any significant openings or re-openings; extraordinary programs, events, and exhibitions. Have an interview with a curator who you think other Affiliates could learn from? Send it to us! Have a traveling exhibition that other Affiliates could take advantage of? Send that too! And of course, any videos highlighting Smithsonian collaborations are always welcome! Help us help you reach even more people.

Send DVDs to the attention of your National Outreach Manager:

Smithsonian Affiliations
MRC 942 PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012

-or for FedEx deliveries-

Smithsonian Affiliations
470 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Suite 7400
Washington, DC 20024

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September 28, 2009

What’s Coming Up in Affiliateland in October?

Filed under: enewsletter feature,General,You Heard It Here First — Tags: Arab American National Museum, B & O Railroad Museum, D.C. Historical Society, Durham Museum, Hunt Hill Farm, Museo del Canal, Museum of the Rockies — Jennifer Brundage @ 6:59 pm

PANAMA is in DC!
Museo del Canal Interocánico de Panamá and the Smithsonian Latino Center collaborate on programming, including the Panamanian Passages exhibition, opening at SI’s International Gallery on 10.5.
10.1-9 – The Tremendous Encounter puppet show is presented in SI’s Discovery Theater.
10.15 – The Latino Center’s annual gala celebrates Panama.
10.16 – Interpreting 500 Years of Panamanian History panel at the DC Historical Society.

MONTANA: Smithsonian historian Michael J. Neufeld lectures on his book Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, 10.1.

MICHIGAN: Oud virtuoso Rahim AlHaj, Smithsonian Folkways recording artist and three-time Grammy nominee, presents a concert at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, 10.1.

NEBRASKA: Smithsonian Teachers Night at the Durham Museum in Omaha, 10.9. SITES’ American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print opens, 10.30.

TEXAS: The Women’s Museum: An Institute for the Future in Dallas will host an opening reception for their Leadership America Program at the Smithsonian’s African Art Museum in Washington, 10.11.

MARYLAND: The B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore celebrates their 10th anniversary as a Smithsonian Affiliate, 10.15.

CONNECTICUT: Dwight Blocker Bowers, curator at the National Museum of American History, gives a lecture about his forthcoming book on the Museum’s puppet collection at Hunt Hill Farm in New Milford, 10.17.

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