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April 30, 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.
 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.
 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.
February 22, 2013
March is coming in like a lion with events all over Affiliateland!
 Jefferson’s Bible, from the collection of NMAH COLORADO
The Littleton Museum will host SITES’ Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America featuring 28 artifacts from the National Museum of the American Indian, in Littleton, 3.2.
History Colorado will host an exhibition on Jefferson’s Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth featuring four artifacts on loan from the National Museum of American History, in Denver, 3.22.
FLORIDA
Douglas Baldwin, educator at the National Air and Space Museum, will give a talk on “Time and Navigation;” Douglas Herman, geographer at the National Museum of the American Indian, will give a talk on “Celestial Navigation by Pacific Islanders” as part of Night Fest at St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum in St. Augustine, 3.2.
Virginia Mecklenberg, curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, will give a gallery talk on the Harlem Renaissance at the Mennello Museum of American Art in Orlando, 3.23.
PUERTO RICO
Affiliations director Harold Closter will lead a workshop on “Developing a Museum Budget” at the Museo y Centro de Estudios Humanísticos, as part of their annual professional development training series for museum professionals, in Gurabo, 3.9.
July 30, 2012
Since Smithsonian Affiliations started collaborating with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History, we’ve learned a lot about Places of Invention. (See this blog to learn more about our collaboration.)
 Affiliate staff and their community partners, on the roof of the National Museum of American History during the kickoff workshop for Places of Invention Affiliates have joined the action too. On June 15, Affiliate staff and their community partners joined a day-long workshop to kickoff their individual research projects around their own communities and what makes them so innovative. (Read more about the kickoff workshop on the Lemelson Center’s blog, Bright Ideas.)
Now, we are all much more attuned to what makes a place of invention – be it exceptional natural resources, the right mixture of people and skills, or an inspiring location… or something else. Invention was readily on view during a recent trip to western Massachusetts, and we suspect, can be documented in many other communities as well.
Join the quest for invention and share your stories with us!
August 22, 2011
 a montage of History Alive programs, courtesy of Julia Evins
A college student in 1960s attire carrying a Civil Rights protest sign starts singing in the great hall, leading visitors to a training session to prepare for a student sit-in. The legendary John Brown thunders in an exhibition pocket theater about his anti-slavery activities and why violence is justified. Mary Pickersgill lays out a swath of cloth on the museum floor, asking visitors to help design the stars for her latest project, the 1813 American flag that would become the Star-Spangled Banner.
What is going on at the National Museum of American History (NMAH)? The History Alive! Theater Program gets visitors talking about history through an interactive, personal presentation of the stories of America’s past that resonate in the nation’s present. NMAH shows use emotion, tension, and conflict to lead visitors comfortably through a exploration of challenging issues and topics.
Now NMAH’s award-winning historic theater programs are eyeing the road. Designed to travel, the programs and their actors can re-create the Smithsonian experience at Affiliate sites. The performances can be customized to take place in a variety of locations, with different kinds of audiences, or for special celebrations such as Black History Month. The costs include a daily fee and travel from Washington; contact your National Outreach Manager for more information.
Affiliates have the unique opportunity to offer two of the most popular theater programs from the nation’s history museum to their visitors.
Join the Student Sit-Ins
Join the Student Sit-Ins is an interactive presentation of the story of the 1960 sit-in for desegregation that took place at the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Visitors take part in a training session based on an actual 1960s manual and prepare for their first sit-in. The program won the Smithsonian’s Education Excellence Award in 2009 for the Institution’s best educational program. According to one participant, “The Greensboro Lunch Counter performance was the most powerful exhibit that I’ve seen in DC. The woman who did it was wonderful and passionate and brought me to tears.” C. Vanarthos 8/13/11. For more, read about the program in the Smithsonian’s Around the Mall blog.
 John Brown makes his case to a jury of museum visitors at the National Museum of American History The Time Trial of John Brown
History and memory are not always one and the same. When History is on trial, only Time can be the judge. Created in 2010, the Time Trials series allows visitors to debate and discuss the historical legacy of controversial figures. In The Time Trial of John Brown, visitors meet the passionate and committed abolitionist who violently opposed the expansion of slavery and led a raid against the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in hopes of inciting a slave rebellion. Visitors discuss and debate Brown’s legacy: should we remember him as a heroic martyr, a vigilante murderer, something in between, or something else entirely?
So, if you’re looking for a creative new way to engage your audiences, consider History Alive! Theater Programs and step right in to history!
October 5, 2010
Special thanks to Alma Douglas, Smithsonian Affiliations National Outreach Manager, for this post.
It took several years of negotiations to determine the feasibility of loaning a 135 year-old skeleton of a horse to the International Museum of the Horse in Lexington, KY, but it finally happened in August.
 Thomas J. Scott, Portrait of Lexington, 1888, oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard, sight 24 1/8 x 34 3/8 in. (61.3 x 87.4 cm.). Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection. This portrait is on view at the Headley-Whitney Museum, another Smithsonian Affiliate in Lexington, KY. Lexington, a beautiful bay, was one of America’s and some would say one of the world’s greatest racing champions. He was born in 1850 as Darley and renamed in 1853. He won six races out of seven in addition to what was considered to be the greatest match race of the 19th century. Lexington was also raced against the clock to produce a speed record that held for over 20 years — four miles in seven minutes, 19 ¾ seconds. Forced to retire because he was going blind, Lexington was a leading sire who produced a record number of champions over the course of 16 years. After his death, Lexington’s bones were donated to the Smithsonian and placed on exhibit.
In 1998, Carlene Stephens, a curator at the National Museum of American History, related the significance of horse racing, where races are won by tenths of seconds, to the subject of time while working on the Timex sponsored “On Time” exhibition. Lexington was featured in the exhibition. When “On Time” was de-installed, the skeleton went back into storage.
Interest was rekindled in bringing Lexington back to Kentucky by William Cooke, Executive Director of the International Museum of the Horse. Kudos to the team, headed by Linda Gordon, Collections Manager, Department of Mammals, National Museum of Natural History; Ed Ryan, Assistant Registrar and Carol Slatick, Outgoing Loans Coordinator, National Museum of American History, who worked seamlessly together to coordinate the loan.
 Lexington's skeleton, fully assembled, at the International Museum of the Horse. Photo by James Shambhu. Lexington stands as an iconic symbol for Bluegrass Country. His image is found throughout Lexington, KY in celebration of his greatness. Packed and crated gently for the long ride, the skeleton is now on display at the International Museum of the Horse, along with a full view of his portrait. As thousands of horse enthusiasts from across the country and around the world visit Kentucky for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Lexington will be “in the house.”
August 26, 2010
The original Kermit the Frog arrived at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) yesterday. Kermit made his television debut in 1955 as part of a local Washington D.C. television show created by Jim Henson called “Sam and Friends.” Henson’s widow, Jane Henson, donated the original Kermit along with the other puppets from the show. The original Kermit isn’t as green as younger Muppet fans may remember and was fashioned by Henson using his mother’s discarded winter coat. The collection will go on exhibit sometime in November.
 Visitors to the Orange County Regional History Center meet Kermit face-to-face in the SITES exhibition "Jim Henson's Fantastic World." Affiliates across the nation have collaborated with the Smithsonian to showcase Jim Henson’s characters, whether through a SITES exhibition or through individual artifact loans. Here are some highlights of Muppet sightings in Affiliate-land:
Orange County Regional History Center (Orlando, Florida) hosted the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) exhibition Jim Henson’s Fantastic World in 2009. The exhibition wraps-up its national tour at Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences (Peoria, Illinois) in 2011.
 Oscar the Grouch at the Flushing Council for Culture and the Arts. The Kermit the Frog that is already in NMAH’s collection was first loaned in 1979, in celebration of Sesame Street’s 10th anniversary. In 1994, Jim Henson Productions designated Kermit as a gift, making him a permanent fixture in NMAH’s performance collections. In 2005, NMAH loaned him to The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (Dubuque, Iowa) to be included in their exhibition Toadally Frogs!
Oscar the Grouch and five additional puppets, also on loan from NMAH, made an appearance at Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts (Flushing, New York) in 2006 in their exhibition With or Without Strings.
Through the Affiliations network, communities across the country have had the opportunity to experience Jim Henson’s lovable characters in their neighborhoods. You can read more about Kermit’s new home at NMAH here:
Kermit gets some new friends at the Smithsonian
Kermit the Frog comes home to Washington
 NMAH loaned Kermit the Frog to the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in 2005. Photo courtesy NMAH.
October 22, 2009
The B&O Railroad Museum (Baltimore, Maryland) celebrated the 10th anniversary of their association with the Smithsonian on October 15, 2009. The B&O was both the first museum in Maryland and the first railroad history museum to formally affiliate with the Smithsonian when it joined the program on April 16, 1999.
 Director Courtney Wilson and Affiliations staff member Jennifer Brundage in front of the fireless locomotive. A look back at the collaboration between the Smithsonian and the B&O shows that they have been an exceptional Affiliate from the beginning, taking full advantage of sharing the Smithsonian’s resources. Shortly after they became an Affiliate, the B & O secured the loan of the Stourbridge Lion, the first locomotive to operate in the United States or anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.
Not long after, they became the new home of over 50 locomotive and railroad car models documenting significant advancements in railroad technology. Originally housed in the Smithsonian’s Railroad Hall at the National Museum of American History [NMAH], these artifacts are considered by many to be the finest examples of railroad scale models ever produced.
Most recently, during the 10th anniversary celebration, the 1938 PEPCO fireless locomotive was unveiled. The locomotive was recently donated to the B&O from NMAH and will be on public display at B&O for the first time in 30 years.
While the B&O has been successful in securing many exceptional Smithsonian loans, their partnership has never been limited to loans alone. Over the years, the B&O has been a consistent participant in Smithsonian Magazine’s annual Museum Day, opening their doors to visitors for free. They share information about their tours and teacher programs with over 2500 local teachers every year at Smithsonian Teacher’s Night.
They’ve even been a frontrunner in securing advertorial space in Smithsonian Magazine to highlight their restoration projects. They are also the first Affiliate to consult with the Smithsonian’s experts on early childhood education to carve out education spaces in the galleries for the B&O’s youngest visitors.
We are extremely proud and excited to have the B&O Railroad museum as one of our outstanding Affiliates. Congratulations to the B&O and we look forward to many more years of successful collaborations!
In 2010, almost 30 Affiliates will be celebrating their 10th anniversaries as a partner of the Smithsonian. Is your organization one of them? If so, drop us a line at affiliates@si.edu so we can start planning your celebration!
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