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Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian | 2018
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
LOOKING AHEAD                    David Skorton                                                   1
     		Secretary, Smithsonian Institution

                                      F
                                                   ifty years ago, as the Apollo program prepared
                                                   to put man on the moon, the future arrived at
                                                   America’s doorstep all at once. Our astronauts
                                                   ushered in a new age of exploration and innova-
                                                   tion, pushing humanity to consider horizons
                                                   once deemed unreachable.

                                      Today we live in an even more rapidly changing era — a time
                                      when new technologies enable cultural institutions even
                                      more effectively to honor history and heritage, invoke wonder
                                      and make our aspirations possible.

                                      In 2018, the Smithsonian embraced innovation as a driving
                                      force — our openness, creativity and capacity to take risks
                                      have never been more robust, as evidenced by our new
                                      strategic plan. It’s a collective legacy I’m extremely proud
                                      of as I look back on my four years as Secretary of this wonderful
                                      institution. Though my time here comes to an end in June
                                      2019, I leave the Smithsonian in the hands of enormously
                                      talented colleagues, and I am more confident than ever that
                                      it is primed to harness new ideas to create a better world.

     Contents                         I am particularly excited about our collaboration with the
                                      Google Arts & Culture Lab. Together, we are applying tech-
                                      nology like 3-D capture, machine learning and visualization
 1   David Skorton Reflects           to broaden access and change the way audiences can
                                      experience our nation’s history. In 2018, Google VR teamed
3    Because of Her                   up with the National Air and Space Museum to capture
                                      NASA’s space shuttle Discovery in 3-D and provide an
4    Democratizing Knowledge          astronaut’s view inside the orbiter’s flight deck — something
     by Everyone for Everyone         the public had never seen before.

                                      Increasing our reach through digital platforms and new
8    Adding Three-Dimensional Depth
                                      partnerships has become a core focus for the Smithsonian.
                                      For instance, the Institution is working with Washington, D.C.,
12   Teaching Machines to See
                                      public schools to implement educational programs and
                                      resources for all pre-K–12 students in the District. At the
17   Finding My Story                 same time, our Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
                                      Service brings exhibitions to museums, libraries, community
26   All in a Day                     centers, botanical gardens, schools and other institutions
                                      across the country.
29   Recognition and Reports
                                      Our goal? To meet and empower young people wherever
                                      they are, whether in our own backyard or halfway around
                                      the globe.
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
2            SMITHSONIAN | 2018                           David Skorton                                                                    SMITHSONIAN | 2018                              Ariana Curtis                                                    3
                                                          Secretary, Smithsonian Institution                                                                                               Curator, Latinx History and Culture
                                                                                                                                                                                           National Museum of African American History and Culture

                                                                                                                                    Because
    This year, as we celebrate the            mixing genes from different coral           This year’s annual report features
    centennial of women’s right to vote,      populations — a technique that              experts from across the Smithsonian

                                                                                                                                    of Her
    we’re launching the Smithsonian           speeds up adaptation.                       whose work represents the best of
    American Women’s History Initiative,                                                  innovation for the public good. They
                                              In 2018, scientists from the
    which strives to tell more complete                                                   provide an excellent bird’s-eye view
                                              Smithsonian Conservation Biology
    stories of women and their contribu-                                                  of the many new approaches we
                                              Institute and partners in Florida
    tions to the nation  —  in art, design,                                               are taking, each with the goal of
                                              and Curaçao became the first to
    science, politics, education and                                                      opening new opportunities for
                                              use cryopreserved coral sperm to
    more. This spirit informs a new                                                       learning and discovery.
                                              support gene migration of corals.
    exhibition at the National Portrait
                                              Researchers fertilized live eggs            We often think of agility as a concept    The Smithsonian American Women’s History
    Gallery, Votes for Women: A Portrait
                                              from endangered elkhorn coral in            applied in the tech world, an apti-       Initiative seeks to amplify diverse representations
    of Persistence, exploring the lives
                                              Curaçao with frozen elkhorn coral           tude that can streamline and improve      of women in every possible way so that women
    and experiences of women often
                                              sperm collected in Florida, Puerto          com­merce. At the Smithsonian we          show up not only in our contemporary realities
    overlooked in the complex history
                                              Rico and Curaçao. The team then             are proud to practice agility for         but in our historical representations.
    of women’s suffrage. Google is
                                              transported 20,000 larvae to                different ends: to help people under­
    also helping to develop digital
                                              Florida, where they are growing             stand the world around them, intro-       Too often our public representations of women
    content for the initiative. Here,
                                              successfully in a lab environment.          duce big ideas and tell a diverse         are enveloped in superlatives: ”the first American
    machine learning can help us
                                                                                          range of human stories.                   woman to.…” They don’t reflect daily realities.
    delve into our collections and            Innovation in our museums
    archives and “uncover” previously         some­times takes surprising forms.          I remain in awe of the many creative      Museums can literally change how hundreds of millions
    untold stories about women.               Last spring, we introduced a group          minds that build, teach and explore       of people see women and which women we see. So
                                              of museum guides straight out               in our museums, research centers          rather than always being the first, or the most famous,
    Our creative work applying tech-
                                              of a sci-fi novel: four-foot-tall           and educational programs every day.       it is also our responsibility to show every­day women
    nology to history and education is
                                              humanoid robots named Pepper.               They continue to expand our sense         whose stories have been knowingly omitted from our
    matched by our innovative efforts
                                              I have watched Pepper delight               of what is possible and push toward       national and global histories.
    in science and sustainability. For                                                                                                                                                               I will continue to collect objects
                                              people of all ages as it chats              new horizons — a great gift to the
    instance, Smithsonian scientists                                                                                                As a curator, I am empowered to change that                      from extraordinary history makers.
                                              with visitors, offers directions            nation and world. I cannot wait to
    are working to make coral reefs                                                                                                 narrative. I research, collect and interpret objects             Their stories are important. But what
                                              and interesting facts, poses                see where they take us next.
    more resilient to the harmful                                                                                                   and images of significance.                                      drives me to show up, today and
                                              for selfies and even dances.
    impacts of global warming by                                                                                                                                                                     every day, is the simple passion to
                                                                                                                                    Celia Cruz, the queen of salsa, is significant—and               write our names in history, display
                                              We intentionally stationed Pepper
                                                                                                                                    an Afro Latina. The Smithsonian has collected her                them publicly for millions to see,
                                              in some of our oldest areas,
                                                                                                                                    costumes and shoes, her portrait, her postage stamp              and walk in the ever-present light
                                              including the Castle, our first
                                                                                                                                    and this reimagining by artist Tony Peralta. When I              that is woman.
                                              building, marrying our longest-
                                                                                                                                    displayed this work it was a victory for symbolic
                                              lived cultural inheritance with
                                                                                                                                    contradictions: pride in dis­playing a dark-skinned
                                              the newest ideas.
                                                                                                                                    Latina, a black woman in large rollers who straightens
                                                                                                                                    her hair, perhaps a nod to white beauty standards—
                                                                                                                                    a refined glamorous woman in oversized chunky
                                                                                                                                    gold jewelry. When this work was on view, it was one             ABOVE
                                                                                                                                                                                                     M. Tony Peralta’s Celia con Rolos, 2015, was in the
                                                                                                                                    of our most Instagrammed pieces. Visitors told me                exhibition Gateways/Portales at the Anacostia
                                                                                          LEFT                                      they connected with the everyday elements of her                 Community Museum and is now part of the museum’s
                                                                                          Pepper, a humanoid robot, greets                                                                           collection. The exhibition explored the experiences
                                                                                          Smithsonian visitors, offers directions   brown skin, or her rollers or jewelry.
                                                                                                                                                                                                     of Latino immigrants in Washington, D.C.; Baltimore;
                                                                                          and even poses for selfies.                                                                                Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
4   SMITHSONIAN | 2018                                    Effie Kapsalis                                               SMITHSONIAN | 2018   Democratizing Knowledge by Everyone for Everyone   5
                                                          Senior Digital Program Officer

                                                      Democratizing
                                                      Knowledge
                                                      by Everyone
                                                      for Everyone
                                                      The birth of the Smithsonian in 1846, an institution dedicated
                                                      to “the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men,”
                                                      occurred alongside the birth of photography, a technology
                                                      that democratized what we see as human beings.

                                                      At the time, Thomas Smillie, the Smithsonian’s staff photog-
    RIGHT
    Through his photographs, Thomas Smillie,          rapher, experimented with the new medium to document
    the Smithsonian’s first staff photographer,
    recorded American life at the turn of the         the developing Smithsonian; its collections, exhibitions and
    20th century. Pictured clockwise from top
    left, Mrs. Rhoda Oshkosh (Menominee), 1905;
                                                      expeditions; and the growing U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
    Roland Oshkosh (Menominee), 1905; David
    Tohin or Blue Hair (Iowa), 1903; He-cha-mon-in,
                                                      His photographs, now in the Smithsonian Institution Archives,
    Heskamai, or White Horns (Osage), 1904.           provide an important window into how the Smithsonian
    National Anthropological Archives,
    National Museum of Natural History.               made sense of its ambitious mission.
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
6              SMITHSONIAN | 2018           Democratizing Knowledge by Everyone for Everyone          SMITHSONIAN | 2018                           Democratizing Knowledge by Everyone for Everyone                      7

                                                                                               I
    THE GREAT                                                                                             was surprised to learn of    students and lifelong learners             The stunning — yet daunting —
                                                                                                          other “early adopters” in    create learning sets with our              part is that we have an amazing
    OBJECT OF HUMAN                                                                                       our institution’s history.   collections and digital resources          breadth of resources from our

    THOUGHT IS                                                                                            Pam Henson, the              through the Smithsonian Learning           172 years of existence that cut
                                                                                                          Smithsonian historian,       Lab. At the National Museum of             across women’s and girls’ experi-
    THE DISCOVERY                                                                                         tells a story of the first   Natural History, 2,545 citizen scien-      ences. However, these stories
                                                                                               Smithsonian Secretary, physicist        tists on six continents have set up        of women represented in our
    OF TRUTH OR,                                                                               Joseph Henry, setting up a network      camera traps —  infrared-activated         objects, archives and libraries
    IN OTHER WORDS,                                                                            of citizen weather observers in         cameras — and uploaded them to             are not always obvious and often
                                                                                               1849 to collect information across      the museum’s eMammal project,              reflect our culture’s point of view
    TO ARRIVE AT                                                                               the United States. He used the          capturing nearly 10 million pictures       on women at that particular time.
    CONCEPTIONS                                                                                telegraph, a new technology he          of species in their locales. Each          Additionally, some of the technol-
                                                                                               had a hand in developing. The data      year the number of people helping          ogies we will employ, like machine
    AND EXPRESSIONS                                                                            he collected from these volun-          transcribe our collections through         learning, have inherent gender

    OF THINGS WHICH                                                                            teers—or as we call them today,         the Transcription Center grows.            biases, so we will need to improve
                                                                                               “the crowd”— helped demonstrate         Today, more than 12,000 Digital            ourselves and take the algorithms
    SHALL AGREE                                                                                that weather patterns move from         Volunteers around the world are            on the journey with us.
                                                                                               west to east, information critical to   transcribing our bee specimen
    WITH THE NATURE                                                                            our agricultural industry.              labels, Frederick Douglass papers
                                                                                                                                                                                  This is the virtuous cycle we need
                                                                                                                                                                                  to enter. We are an institution
    OF THINGS.                                                                                 Henry’s early crowdsourcing
                                                                                                                                       and early Alaska expedition records
                                                                                                                                                                                  established for the increase and
                                                                                                                                       so the texts can be accessible to
                                                                                               experiment was the seed for the                                                    diffusion of knowledge among
                                                                                                                                       human and machine queries.
                                                                                               establishment of the U.S. National                                                 men, which in the 1800s was a
                                                                                               Weather Service. His experiment
    JOSEPH HENRY                                                                                                                       But the current crowd will look thin       bold statement because, at the
                                                                                               is so notable that Wikipedia cites it   once we reach our audacious goal           time, knowledge was largely the
                                                                                               as the fourth documented example        set out in the Smithsonian’s new           purview of wealthy male land-
                                                                                               of crowdsourcing in history.            strategic plan — to reach 1 billion        owners. Now, in the early decades
                                                                                               Since our forebears were experi-        people a year with a digital-first         of the 21st century, we have a duty
                                                                                               menting with technology and             strategy. How do we leverage tech­         as one of the most trusted resources
                                                                                               crowdsourcing, I point to them if       nology and partner with people,            in the world to share stories of and
                                                                                               I ever get pushback on involving        aka “the crowd,” to do this?               for all Americans, including women.
                                                                                               “the crowd” in my projects. Where
                                                                                                                                       One way will be through the                I am reminded of the importance
                                                                                               my work deviates is in the technology
                                                                                                                                       Smithsonian American Women’s               of this by one of our foremothers,
                                                                                               I use, which is more complex and
                                                                                                                                       History Initiative. With this initiative   Edith Mayo, curator emeritus
                                                                                               ubiquitous, and the crowds, which
                                                                                                                                       we have an opportunity and a               of the National Museum of
                                                                                               are more diverse and far-flung.
                                                                                                                                       challenge to use technology and            American History: “When you’re
                                                                                               Henry’s crowd—more than 600—            partner with “the crowd” in new            invisible people assume you’ve
                                                                                               pales in comparison to the numbers      ways to identify gaps in our collec-       done nothing.”
                                                                                               of citizen scientists and virtual       tions and surface new stories
    RIGHT
                                                                                               volunteers who contribute to the        about women to add to the web
    Nearly 10 million pictures of species
    in their locales have been uploaded                                                        Smithsonian’s mission today.            to present a more balanced view
    to the eMammal project by citizen                                                          Nearly 48,000 U.S. teachers,            of U.S. history.
    scientists around the world. Visit
    emammal.si.edu to see more.
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
8   SMITHSONIAN | 2018                            Vince Rossi                                              9
                                                  3-D Program Supervisor
                                                  Digitization Program Office

                                              Adding Three-
                                              Dimensional
                                              Depth
                                              Throughout human history we have used a near-infinite
                                              range of tools to share our knowledge and insight into
                                              the world around us. Hand drawings bring the natural
                                              world into sharper focus. Microscopes and telescopes
                                              bring the unseen into view. Photography and video
                                              make it possible to capture a moment in time and
                                              share it with virtually anyone.

                                              These methods have one common quality: They are
                                              two-dimensional representations of a three-dimen-
    RIGHT
                                              sional world. However, with the recent development
    The technology of 3-D scanning makes
    thousands of Smithsonian objects—         of noncontact three-dimensional (3-D) scanning devices,
    from ancient Chinese coins to starfish—
    instantly accessible.                     our ability to document the world has been revolutionized.
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
10          SMITHSONIAN | 2018                         Adding Three-Dimensional Depth          SMITHSONIAN | 2018                            Adding Three-Dimensional Depth                                                        11

T                 oday, by 3-D
                  scanning an object
                  we make it instantly
                  accessible via the
                  web, and allow
                  anyone to experi-
 ence the object using any number
 of platforms, from an augmented
 reality (AR) app on a cellphone to
 an immersive virtual reality (VR)
 experience using a headset. We are
 expanding our perception beyond
                                                                                        I now scan objects and specimens          Portrait Gallery. I thought users would     to access our data, whether for
 the constraints a two-dimensional
                                                                                        across the Smithsonian. The variety and   make 3-D prints of the busts. This          an augmented reality experience
 depiction offers. How we leverage
                                                                                        breadth are humbling —from million-       student took it much further, creating      on a smartphone or virtual gallery
 this revolution will help define the
                                                                                        year-old whale fossils in Chile to the    his own home museum.                        experienced through a VR headset.
 Smithsonian of the future.
                                                                                        Apollo 11 Command Module.
                                                                                                                                  And his is not an isolated case.            With the development of this public
 My career followed a similar trajec-
                                                                                        More than ever I understand how           Teach­ers are using our scan of the         data hub we are meeting the mem-­
 tory from the concrete world to a
                                                                                        3-D digitization will transform the       1903 Wright Flyer to teach the fun­da-­     bers of our audience where they
 virtual one. A sculptor most of my life,
                                                                                        Smithsonian and how our scholars          mentals of flight, an artist in Japan       live, by allowing the platforms they
 I consider form a means of commu-
                                                                                        and scientists document, study            added joints to a model of a woolly         already use to become portals to
 nication. I studied art in Philadelphia,
                                                                                        and share our enormous collection.        mammoth and printed a movable               Smithsonian content. We position
 then worked as a fabricator of props
                                                                                                                                  toy (sharing his creative data back         ourselves not as the gatekeepers of
 and costumes for film, opera and                                                       With less than 1 percent of our nearly
                                                                                                                                  with the Smithsonian), and students         this information but as gateways to
 theater in London. By 2004, I was                                                      155 million objects on display, 3-D
                                                                                                                                  around the world can now virtually          a new know­ledge. We hold the raw
 using molds and casts for Smithsonian                                                  scanning renders what was once
                                                                                                                                  sit inside the Apollo 11 Command            ingredients for discovery, but the
 Exhibits to create objects from images,                                                inaccessible readily available. We
                                                                                                                                  Module and explore its details down         future of know­ledge lies with those
 many of which found their way into                                                     created the first Smithsonian 3-D
                                                                                                                                  to the astronauts’ handwritten              who will unlock it. After all, it is there
 museum exhibitions.                                                                    viewer online through a partnership
                                                                                                                                  graffiti. By allowing free access we        for anyone, anywhere, who wishes
                                                                                        with Autodesk to revolu­tionize
 My life as a sculptor — working with                                                                                             encourage educators to bring the            to turn the key.
                                                                                        our storytelling, where the object
 clay, resins and metal — was trans-                                                                                              Smithsonian’s content directly into
                                                                                        becomes a window for storytelling.
 formed when the Digitization Program                                                                                             their classrooms in powerful,
                                                                                        This viewer is a powerful new tool
 Office purchased the Smithsonian’s                                                                                               engaging and immersive ways.
                                                                                        that allows us to share our data with
 first 3-D scanner, then an industrial
                                                                                        the world — setting it free for users     So, what does the future hold for
 3-D printer. The ability to scan an                                                                                                                                          ABOVE
                                                                                        to experience online or download.         us at the Smithsonian?                      Renderings: Tyrannosaurus rex (vertebra cast),
 object without touching it and create
                                                                                                                                                                              U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha district
 a lifelike replica was pure magic.                                                     The examples of what happens when         We are introducing more and more            and The Museum of the Rockies, Montana State
                                                                                                                                                                              University; Triceratops horridus (composite cast),
                                                                                        you unleash data are astounding. A high   automation into our work, pulling
                                                                                                                                                                              National Museum of Natural History; Massimiliano
                                                                                        school student in Colorado Springs,       content out from the shadows of             Ravenna, George Washington, 1819, after
 RIGHT                                                                                                                            our hidden collections, and devel-
                                                                                        Colo., created his own virtual reality                                                Giuseppe Ceracchi, 1792, National Portrait
 A rendered 3-D scan of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s                                                                                                                            Gallery; Lace coral (pocillopora damicornis),
 space-suit helped conserve the suit and will                                           exhibition of our recently scanned        oping a Smithsonian 3-D data hub            collected 1992, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea,
 provide the public with a new view of the artifact.                                    presidential busts at the National        (API), which will enable any platform       National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
12   SMITHSONIAN | 2018                                                                                                                                     13
                                                                                                                  [TYPE SECTION HERE]   [SUBSECTION HERE]

                                                         Teaching
                                                         Machines
                                                         to See
                                                         The potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to make
                                                         sense of our era’s deluge of big data is enormous.
                                                         And the Smithsonian, with an encyclopedic collec-
                                                         tion of objects and specimens spanning centuries,
                                                         is an ideal AI test bed.
     RIGHT
     Unknown, Moonwatch Volunteers, 1965.
                                                         How? AI could allow for a more intuitive search for
     Smithsonian Institution Archives
                                                         images by cross-referencing other images, or with
     The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
     (SAO) launched Operation Moonwatch in               rapid, automatic transcription of handwritten labels.
     1956, training citizen astronomers to spot
     artificial satellites and gather statistics for
                                                         It also might reveal artistic influences between
     SAO’s computation center, in an era before
     the launch of optical tracking stations. This
                                                         unrelated works, or ease the daunting task of
     was an early example of how machines                charting genetic relationships among the planet’s
     revolutionized research by facilitating the
     collection and interpretation of scientific data.   biodiverse organisms.
Smithsonian | 2018 - Smithsonian Institution
14   SMITHSONIAN | 2018   Teaching Machines to See                                                         SMITHSONIAN | 2018                                  Teaching Machines to See                      15

                                                     A
                                                                        ­
                                                                       revolution is              After these successes, we recog-                 Zorich adds that the Smithsonian
                                                                       underway, in fact.         nized that similar AI approaches                 also might play a role in correcting
                                                                       It started with the        could be applied across all different            biases that remain prevalent in AI.
                                                                       most unassuming            kinds of collections at the Smithsonian.         For instance, AI that initially identi-
                                                                       of things: plants.                                                          fies a particular Hopi object as a
                                                                                                  Along with the Smithsonian Research
                                                                                                                                                   doll might be taught to correctly
                                                     Specifically, using thousands of digital     Computing Office inthe Office of
                                                                                                                                                   identify it as a kachina. And once
                                                     photos of mosses and ferns in the            the Chief Information Officer and
                                                                                                                                                   this identification is made, AI might
                                                     National Herbarium collection at the         the Google Arts & Culture Lab, we
                                                                                                                                                   be taught to differentiate the types       TEACHING
                                                     National Museum of Natural History,          convened a workshop in late 2018
                                                     two pilot projects showed the enor-          bringing together more than
                                                                                                                                                   of kachinas used in certain ceremo-
                                                                                                                                                                                              MACHINES TO
                                                                                                                                                   nies. That’s where the hand of a
                                                     mous potential for artificial intelligence   40 experts from 22 Smithsonian
                                                                                                                                                   curator comes in, the person               “SEE” NUANCES
                                                     to com­pletely reshape how scholars          museums and research centers
                                                                                                                                                   familiar with an object’s deeper
                                                     can quarry the Smithsonian’s vast             to introduce AI’s possibilities.
                                                                                                                                                   story, and the input of data scientists,
                                                                                                                                                                                              AND BRINGING
                                                     holdings for research.
                                                                                                  One result: a real-time demon­                   who can program the machines               TOGETHER OBJECTS
                                                                                                                                                   with data context.
                                                     Using super-fast computers,                  stration of how to train a machine
                                                                                                                                                                                              FROM ACROSS
                                                     Smithsonian researchers initially            to learn algorithms to recognize
                                                                                                                                                   “We’re hoping that our work may
                                                     put an AI computer program to                unique hand gestures that can
                                                                                                                                                   help drive AI development, to
                                                                                                                                                                                              THE SMITHSONIAN
                                                     work analyzing more than 15,000              call up $1, $5 and $10 bills from
                                                     digital photographs of mosses.               the National Museum of American
                                                                                                                                                   push companies doing AI to                 COLLECTION
                                                                                                                                                   address biases better in the work
                                                     Some specimens had been treated              History’s numismatics collection.
                                                                                                                                                   they’re doing,” Zorich says. “It’s just    WOULD BE A
                                                     with mercury to protect them
                                                     from pests, while others had not.
                                                                                                  “Artificial intelligence has the                 a theory now, but the Smithsonian
                                                                                                                                                                                              GAME CHANGER.
                                                                                                  potential to help us re-examine                  — and all museum collections —
                                                     Though the staining is evident to            and recatalog our collection so                  could bring something valuable
                                                     the human eye, researchers sought            that objects have more context                   to the table for tech companies
                                                     to determine whether a computer              and can be used in different ways,”              jumping on the AI bandwagon.”              DIANE ZORICH
                                                     could learn to “see” the discoloration       says Diane Zorich, director of the
                                                     too. It did, 91 percent of the time.         Digitization Program Office.
                                                     Next, they used 140,000 images
                                                                                                  The next challenge is to expand
                                                     of ferns from 86 different genera.
                                                                                                  the processes like those tested on
                                                     The goal: to test whether the program        the botany collections, streamlining
                                                     could teach itself to identify the genus     them into a systematic approach
                                                     with no infor­mation other than the          that can be used across the Smithsonian
                                                     image of the plant. The computer             and eventually in other museums
                                                     was successful 95 percent of the time.       and research institutions.
                                                     Where it missed the mark was between
                                                     closely related species with only            LEFT
                                                     microscopic physical differences.            Tony Reyna (Taos Pueblo), Kachina Doll Mother,
                                                                                                  1960–1963. Gift of Elsie W. Latham, National
                                                                                                  Museum of the American Indian

                                                                                                  Artificial intelligence might be taught to
                                                                                                  differentiate among types of kachina dolls
                                                                                                  used in Hopi ceremonies.
16   [TYPE SECTION HERE]   [SUBSECTION HERE]   FINDING MY STORY       National Museum of American History                    17

                                                                          1
                                                                  Finding
                                                                  My Story
                                                                  Twenty-some years ago when I became a
                                                                  National Museum of American History curator
                                                                  in the history of medicine, I was doing straight-up
                                                                  history of medicine — a little infectious disease,
                                                                  a few prosthetics, a big dose of ophthalmology.
                                                                  The objects were my teachers. As engaging as
                                                                  they were, my attention wandered.

                                                                  I became increasingly aware— then frustrated—
                                                                  that the presence of gender-nonconforming, non-
                                                                  binary rebellious spirits like myself was missing from
                                                                  the galleries and deeply buried in the storerooms.
                                                                  Invisibility has had dangerous consequences
                                                                  throughout history as well as in our own time.
                                                                  There is a lot at stake.

                                                                  LEFT
                                                                  Fifty years ago, the Stonewall protests in New York City
                                                                  launched a national movement for gay rights.
18            SMITHSONIAN | 2018                        National Museum of American History                                      SMITHSONIAN | 2018                         National Museum of the American Indian                                       19

                                           W
RIGHT                                                                e don’t have
William Page, Charlotte Cushman, 1853.
                                                                     a formal
National Portrait Gallery
                                                                     division or
One of the best-known American

                                                                                                                          2
actresses in the 19th century, Charlotte                             collecting
Cushman won praise for portraying                                    program
Romeo, Hamlet and Cardinal Wolsey,
as well as Lady MacBeth.
                                                                     devoted
                                           to LGBTQ+ history, but through
                                           the years several of us have been
                                           consciously collecting and docu-
                                                                                                                          Native American Innovators
                                           menting this history. The academic
                                           scholarship of the last few decades                                            Jane Mt. Pleasant, a renowned
                                           made this work much easier, and                                                Native agricultural scientist and
                                           major social changes made it a                                                 member of the Tuscarora Nation,
                                           lot safer.                                                                     studies Haudenosaunee agricultural
                                                                                                                          practices, specifically corn and the
                                           This year marks the 50th anniversary
                                                                                                                          productivity of the “three sisters”
                                           of the Stonewall uprising in New York
                                                                                                                          cropping system — planting corn
 MUSEUMS HOLD                              City. Those five hot summer nights
                                                                                                                          alongside squash and beans.
                                           of protests by bar patrons who were
 IDEAS UP FOR                              sick of police harassment are often
                                                                                                                          Though a monoculture of corn
                                                                                                                          yields a more bountiful crop, her
                                           called the beginning of the modern
 DISCUSSION AND                            gay rights movement. In organizing
                                                                                                                          research proves that when the

 HELP US COEXIST                           for the anniversary, it is crucial to
                                                                                                                          “three sisters” are planted together,
                                                                                                                          the nutritional values are higher
                                           demonstrate that the struggle for
 WITH HARD ISSUES.                         rights, inclusion and even existence
                                                                                    Museums hold ideas up for discus-
                                                                                                                          and provide a more sustaining meal.
                                                                                    sion and help us coexist with hard
                                           began long before Stonewall.             issues. This is one of the most                                                                                      ABOVE
                                                                                                                          Mt. Pleasant’s years of research        Through games, hands-on activities
                                                                                                                                                                                                         In the imagiNATIONS Activity Center, students
                                           Smithsonian objects are still eloquent   significant contributions we make     are the basis of a game at the new      and interactive media, imagiNATIONS
 KATHERINE OTT                                                                      to the civic good. The National       imagiNATIONS Activity Center
                                                                                                                                                                                                         learn how Native people were the original

                                           teachers. They are powerful evidence                                                                                   demonstrates the complex scientific    innovators in the Americas.

                                           of the presence and influence            Museum of American History            at the National Museum of the           principles behind the innovations,     The activity center is made possible by
                                           of LGBTQ+ people throughout              recently accessioned artifacts        American Indian – New York, George      such as the geometry used to ensure    the United States Congress and the City
                                           American history, from those who         from Matthew Shepard, who             Gustav Heye Center. The Cropetition     igloos won’t bulge or cave in, the     of New York, with support from the Office
                                                                                    was targeted as gay and brutally                                                                                     of the Mayor, New York City Council, and
                                           came before “gay” was an identity,                                             Challenge asks players to choose        advanced mathematics developed         the Manhattan Borough President’s Office
                                           from actress Charlotte Cushman,          murdered 20 years ago.                the best combination of crops for       by the Maya, and the physics Arctic    through the Department of Cultural Affairs.
                                                                                                                                                                                                         Lead funding is provided by Valerie and John
                                           who played both male and female                                                nourishing their families. The game     hunters used to catch game.
                                                                                    For marginalized people and the                                                                                      W. Rowe and The Rockefeller Foundation.
                                           dramatic roles, and President James                                            rewards cooperation over competi-                                              Major funding is provided by the Booth
                                                                                    histories that have been ignored                                              “Teachers and students alike
                                           Buchanan in the mid-1800s (although                                            tion, reinforcing a holistic Native                                            Ferris Foundation, Margaret A. Cargill
                                                                                    or erased, information carries even                                           are amazed to learn about the          Philanthropies, Margot and John Ernst,
                                           his niece destroyed his letters,                                               American approach to critical
                                                                                    greater weight. Schools have found                                                                                   The George Gund Foundation in memory
                                           Washingtonians considered him                                                  thinking, creative problem-solving      many innovations developed by          of George Gund III, the Nathan Cummings
                                                                                    that simply acknowledging LGBTQ+
                                           a couple with Senator and future                                               and sustainability.                     Indigenous peoples throughout          Foundation, the National Council of the
                                                                                    existence reduces bullying and                                                                                       National Museum of the American Indian
                                           Vice President William Rufus King)                                                                                     the Americas,” says Johanna
                                                                                    makes the school environment safer.                                                                                  and The Walt Disney Company. Additional
                                           to basketball’s Jason Collins, the                                             Native people are the original          Gorelick, the education services       funding provided by Catherine Morrison
                                                                                    Just naming it makes us all safer.
                                           1990s hit show Will and Grace, and                                             inno­vators of the Americas, in areas   manager for the museum. “This          Golden, the New York State Council on
                                                                                    How simple is that?                                                                                                  the Arts with the support of Governor
                                           hundreds of buttons, T-shirts and                                              ranging from agriculture to chemical    topic is largely absent from most      Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State
                                           publications from across the country.    Katherine Ott, curator                processes to advanced engineering.      school curricula.”                     Legislature and the Rauch Foundation.
20   SMITHSONIAN | 2018                                  National Portrait Gallery                                                               SMITHSONIAN | 2018                                      Anacostia Community Museum                                               21

                                                                           3
     BELOW
     Auguste Edouart, Oliver Caswell, 1843. Gift of
     Robert L. McNeil, Jr., National Portrait Gallery

     Silhouettes—cut-paper profiles—were a hugely
     popular and democratic form of portraiture in the
     19th century, offering virtually instantaneous
     likenesses of everyone from presidents to those                       Bringing Shadows to Light
     who were enslaved. Black Out: Silhouettes Then
     and Now examined the art form and its rich                            “Traditionally, portraiture was an elite art form
     historical roots.
                                                                           that favored those in power,” says Kim Sajet,
                                                                           director of the National Portrait Gallery. Cut-
                                                                           paper silhouettes, however, provided a quick
                                                                           and inexpensive way to capture the likenesses
                                                                           of all kinds of people during the decades that
                                                                           preceded the advent of photography.

                                                                           Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now shed
                                                                           light on everyday lives that frequently have
                                                                           been eclipsed from our national narrative.
                                                                           For example, the exhibition included portraits
                                                                           of people who had been enslaved and the
                                                                           first known image of a same-sex couple,
                                                                           Sylvia Drake and Charity Bryant, who lived
                                                                           and worked together in early 19th-century
                                                                           Vermont. “When people see those who look
                                                                           like themselves, they can realize that they
                                                                           have within them all the ingredients to make
                                                                                                                                         ABOVE Tenant protest in Washington, D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, 1978.
                                                                           their own important contributions to the

                                                                                                                                         4
                                                                           national narrative,” Sajet says.
                                                                                                                                                                                            They viewed his pop-up exhibition           an experimental recording and
                                                                           The show also called attention to extraordinary                                                                  drawn from the Smithsonian                  exhibition space on wheels. During
                                                                           artists such as Moses Williams, a former slave,                                                                  Anacostia Community Museum’s                the festival, Meghelli recruited more
                                                                           and Martha Ann Honeywell, a woman born                                                                           A Right to the City, which explores         residents to participate in future
                                                                           without hands who cut silhouettes using her                   History by and for the People                      how ordinary citizens have a hand           oral history interviews.
                                                                           mouth. Works by contem­porary female artists                                                                     in developing neighborhoods by
                                                                           reconceptualized the silhouette to explore                    You built this neighborhood. Get                                                               “We tell stories from the perspec-
                                                                                                                                                                                            fighting for good schools, green
                                                                           how questions of gender, race and representa-                 to know it. That’s exactly what                                                                tive of the people who’ve lived
                                                                                                                                                                                            spaces and public transportation.
                                                                           tion persist in modern-day America.                           Washingtonians did during the                                                                  through and shaped history in
                                                                                                                                         40th annual Adams Morgan Day                       Meghelli’s conversations and the            this city,” Meghelli says. “This
                                                                           Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now was made possible         street festival last fall. They listened           pop-up exhibition were produced             requires deep and sustained
                                                                           by the Thoma Foundation, Andrew Oliver Jr. and Daniel
                                                                           Oliver, Mr. and Mrs. Michael H. Podell, Dr. and Mrs. Paul     to Smithsonian Curator Samir                       in conjunction with American                engagement in the communities
                                                                           Carter, The Richard and Elizabeth Dubin Family Foundation,    Meghelli interview local activists.                University’s Humanities Truck,              themselves.”
                                                                           The Forman Family Foundation, Glen and Sakie Fukushima,
                                                                           Stephanie and Timothy Ingrassia, Philip and Elizabeth Ryan,
                                                                           The Abraham and Virginia Weiss Charitable Trust, Amy and      A Right to the City was funded by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which receives support from the National Endowment
                                                                           Marc Meadows, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation and an        for the Arts, and from the Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. In addition,
                                                                           anonymous donor. Additional support was provided by the       this exhibition received federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific
                                                                           American Portrait Gala Endowment.                             American Center. Additional support was provided by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.
22          SMITHSONIAN | 2018                       Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery                          SMITHSONIAN | 2018                              Smithsonian Science Education Center             23

                                        5                                                                                  6
BELOW                                                                          from the annual Burning Man
No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man
featured a temple created by David
                                                                               gathering in Nevada’s Black Rock
Best and the Temple Crew to be                                                 Desert. The exhibition took over
adorned with visitor inscriptions.
                                                                               the entire Renwick and included
                                                                               public art sculptures in the
                                        Collaborative Creativity                                                           You Can’t Be Her
                                                                               surrounding neighborhood.
                                                                                                                           If You Don’t See Her
                                        In the Smithsonian American Art
                                                                               Viewers were invited to leave their
                                        Museum’s Renwick Gallery, on a                                                     Growing up in Pittsburgh, Carol
                                                                               thoughts. Hidden in a niche in
                                        blackboard stenciled with the                                                      O’Donnell didn’t know any women
                                                                               the Temple, an intricately carved
                                        provocatively incomplete phrase                                                    scientists, but that didn’t stop her.
                                                                               wooden structure filling the Bettie
                                        “Before I die I want to…,” someone                                                 She loved science, earned a Ph.D.,
                                                                               Rubenstein Grand Salon, a visitor
                                        scrawled, “Be rich with love.”                                                     and taught physics. Now, as the
                                                                               wrote on a piece of recycled wood,          director of the Smithsonian Science
                                        Someone else wrote, “Swim in
                                                                               “It doesn’t feel real yet….”                Education Center, which is trans-
                                        every sea.”
                                                                                                                           forming the teaching and learning
                                                                               “It’s all about being there, being
                                        No Spectators: The Art of Burning                                                  of K-12 science throughout the
                                                                               fully present and not just observing,”
                                        Man broke the boundaries between                                                   nation and the world, O’Donnell
                                                                               says Nora Atkinson, the museum’s
                                        art and audience with a stunning                                                   wants the next generation of
                                                                               Lloyd Herman Curator of Craft.
                                        collection of participatory works                                                  girls to pursue careers in science,
                                                                               “This exhibition also invites people
                                                                                                                           technology, engineering and math
                                                                               to talk with their neighbors as they
                                                                                                                           (STEM) —despite today’s odds that
                                                                               interact with the art.”
                                                                                                                           show women are significantly
                                                                               The nonprofit Burning Man Project           underrepresented in these fields.
                                                                               advised Atkinson on her selections
                                                                                                                           “We bring female engineers, scientists,
                                                                               for the exhibition, and the local
                                                                                                                           technologists and manufacturers
                                                                               Burning Man community volun-                into classrooms to engage with
                                                                               teered as museum greeters.                  students,” O’Donnell says. “We are
                                                                               Atkinson adds, “Burning Man art             not only creating those gateway
                                                                               is all about creating community.”           experiences for young girls, but
                                                                                                                           are providing them with the role                                                     IF A YOUNG GIRL
                                                                                                                           models they need so that they can
                                                                                                                           see themselves in others and chart
                                                                                                                                                                                                                SEES SOMEONE IN
                                                                               Intel provided generous financial and in-
                                                                               kind support as the lead sponsor of the
                                                                                                                           a course toward a STEM career.”                                                      A STEM ROLE, SHE
                                                                               exhibition. Additional financial support
                                                                               was provided by the Carolyn Small Alper
                                                                                                                           The center, which provides a                                                         WILL BELIEVE SHE
                                                                               Exhibitions Fund, Sarah and Richard         curriculum based on Smithsonian
                                                                               Barton, the Bently Foundation, the Diane    science to schools around the world,                                                 CAN DO THAT TOO.
                                                                               and Norman Bernstein Foundation,
                                                                               The Bronner Family, the Elizabeth Broun     is partnering with Johnson & Johnson
                                                                               Curatorial Endowment, DAWSON                to make sure girls remain on track
                                                                               Companies, the James F. Dicke Family
                                                                               Endowment, Ed Fries, Ping Fu, the James
                                                                                                                           to study STEM. The joint initiative,
                                                                                                                                                                     ABOVE
                                                                                                                                                                                                                CAROL O’DONNELL
                                                                               Renwick Alliance, Nion McEvoy, Debbie       Women in STEM Manufacturing               A scientist from Johnson & Johnson
                                                                               Frank Petersen, Bobby Sarnoff, Albert H.    and Design (WiSTEM2D), has                visits a STEM classroom in Costa Rica to
                                                                               Small, Myra and Harold Weiss, Kelly                                                   teach about the science of sound, using
                                                                                                                           reached more than 50,000                  a lesson developed by the Smithsonian
                                                                               Williams and Andrew Forsyth, and an
                                                                               anonymous donor.                            young people.                             Science Education Center.
24           SMITHSONIAN | 2018                         Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute                             SMITHSONIAN | 2018                   National Museum of African American History and Culture                  25

BELOW
Populations of the northern bobwhite
have declined since the 1930s. The
Smithsonian, conservation groups and
landowners are creating healthy habitats
                                                                                                                        8
to maintain the birds’ population.
                                                                                                                        Taking a Moment to Reflect

                                                                                                                        At the National Museum of African
                                                                                                                        American History and Culture we
                                                                                                                        ask visitors to reflect on their experi-
                                                                                                                        ences by answering one of four
                                                                                                                        questions, including: “Which of
                                                                                                                        the exhibitions that you just walked
                                                                                                                        through are most memorable to
                                                                                                                        you and why?” and “How do you
                                                                                                                        think race and racism affect your
                                                                                                                        day-to-day activities and why?”

                                                                                                                        Their answers encompass a wide
                                                                                                                        range of moving and thoughtful
                                                                                                                        responses and are recorded in our
                                                                                                                        Reflections Booths, located on each
                                                                                                                        museum level—Slavery and Freedom:
                                                                                                                        1400–1877, The Era of Segregation:
                                                                                                                        1876–1968, and A Changing America:
                                                                                                                        1968 and Beyond.

                                                                                                                        I am ever amazed that a complete
                                                                                                                        stranger can bring tears to my eyes
                                                                                                                        in such a short span of time. Visitors

7
                                           They continue for 10 minutes.           Their data — gathered mostly on      email the recordings to themselves
                                           If they’re very lucky, they’ll hear     private agricultural land, then      and can share them with us. We use
                                           the distinctive call of the northern    shared with participating land-      the shared recordings in a variety of
                                           bobwhite, which has suffered a          owners at the end of the year —      ways: Some are posted on our YouTube
                                           significant population decline.         reveal the impact on native bio­-    page or on Twitter, others are incorpo-
The Power of Citizen Scientists                                                    diversity of land-use practices,     rated into short documentaries, and
                                           These volunteer citizen scientists      such as the choice of grasses to     still others find their way into outreach
As birdsongs fill the air, the first       are conducting a survey for Virginia    plant in pastures. “We couldn’t      presentations given by our staff. So far,
rays of dawn pierce the mist over a        Working Landscapes, a privately         exist without citizen scientists,”   we have collected more than 45,000
Northern Virginia meadow. A group          funded program of the Smithsonian       says Amy Johnson, program            reflections—and no two stories are
of people stands close together,           Conservation Biology Institute. In      director and one of three staff      the same. The possibilities for their
listening intently. One names each         2018, citizen scientists donated        at Virginia Working Landscapes.      impact are endless.
bird she hears or sees within 100          nearly 2,000 hours to the program,      “With them, we’re a team of more
                                           completing about 500 surveys of                                              Kelly Elaine Navies, oral historian
meters — she’s been rigorously                                                     than 60 people working together                                                                                 ABOVE
                                                                                                                                                                                                   Visitors to the National Museum of
trained and tested for the task —          birds, bumblebees, arthropods           to use science to inform conserva-                                                                              African American History and Culture
while the others take notes.               and grassland plants.                   tion land management.”                                                                                          reflect on issues of race and equality.
All in a Day
     At any hour on any day,
     around the world, something is
     happening at the Smithsonian.

       12AM                     1AM                      2AM                      3AM                    4AM                      5AM                       6AM                       7AM                      8AM                      9AM                      10AM                     11AM                   12PM                     1PM                     2PM                        3PM                    4PM                       5PM                 6PM                      7PM                    8PM                     9PM                     10PM                       11PM

Cownose rays mate in the                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          The Smithsonian Asian Pacific
                                          In the wee hours, zookeepers                    Scientists at the Smithsonian                              Volunteer Jim Walker                       Conservators install early copies of                                                                                                                                                                In Baltimore, residents bring
Chesapeake Bay every summer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The National Zoo celebrates              Washington Capitals hockey fans                American Center and Pasifika
                                          feed a newborn armadillo pup                    Migratory Bird Center outfit                               photographs National Air                   the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation                                                                            Visitors to the Anacostia           The future of imperiled coral reefs               family photos, videos and records
Then, they disappear. Smithsonian
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  is a bit brighter with a breakthrough                                                                   the birth of Moke, a western             crowd the steps of the National                First Fridays host a poetry slam in Salt
Environmental Research Center             that needs to eat around the clock.             bluethroats with data trackers to learn                    and Space Museum galleries,                and 13th Amendment at the National                   Museum Conservation Institute                            Community Museum add                                                                  to a week-long series of “community
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Lake City, home to the largest Pacific
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          lowland gorilla. Within six months,      Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian
                                          Scientists with the National Zoo’s              how to better protect them. The birds                      when the museum is closed,                 Museum of African American History                   scholars confer with colleagues                          their images to artist Amanda       for freezing and thawing early-stage              curation” events. The National Museum
scientists follow their migration                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         zookeepers dubbed him a big              American Art Museum after an at-               Islander population in the contiguous
                                          Nutrition Department used data from             breed over two months in northern                          and uploads them as 3-D                    and Culture. Technicians at the National             in Nimrud, Iraq. Working together,                       Burnham’s 3-D artwork Block         larvae. Post-doctoral fellow Jonathan             of African American History and Culture
pattern by tagging the cownose                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            boy, as he took his first steps          home victory. Throughout the 2018              United States. Jahra Wasasala, one of
                                          our Milk Repository to create a high-           Alaska; their activities during the other                  panoramas. The virtual tours               Institute of Standards and Technology                the Nimrud Rescue Team is                                Watch, transforming it into         Daly’s work at the Smithsonian                    worked with participants to digitize
rays with acoustic transmitters.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          away from his mom, Calaya.               Stanley Cup playoffs, Caps fans                four poets performing at the event,
                                          calcium armadillo formula after this            10 months of the year are a mystery.                       allow visitors to explore the              collaborated on the design and fabrication           stabilizing and recovering this                          living history.                     Conserva­tion Biology Institute advances          personal objects as part of an effort
Signals are recorded around the                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    commandeer this spot cheering on               traces her heritage to Fiji.
                                          pup’s mother stopped lactating.                                                                            museum online.                             of the documents’ protective casings.                ancient archaeological site.                                                                 reef restoration efforts and safeguards           to preserve and share the stories of
clock, showing that the cownose                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    their team to win the championship.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  at-risk species.                                  African Americans.
rays winter in Florida.
                                                                                                           Ben, a telescope named after                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           The Smithsonian’s epic creative              Conservator Dawn Wallace puts the                  Celebrating the Inti Raymi, the
                                                                                                           astronomer Benjamin Banneker,                  Volunteers weed, water, plant and               The crown jewel of a newly renovated             Puerto Rico–born guitarist José Feliciano                 Awestruck Parker Curry stares               About 10,000 people turn out for                 The Center for Folklife and Cultural            marathon The Long Conversation,              finishing touches on the Ruby Slippers,            transition of seasons, dancers
             After charging all night, Pepper can              NASA’s Parker Solar Probe blasts            is pointed at the morning sky. In 2018,                                                                                                                                                                   at the official portrait of Michelle        the fifth annual Indian River Lagoon             Heritage launches a three-year
             chat all day. Cheerfully engaging                                                                                                            prune thousands of blooms in the                fossil hall, the T.rex is unveiled for the       is a special guest at the naturalization                                                                                                                                                               in the Arts & Industries Building, hosts     worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz,          hold Andean-style fans as they
                                                               off to touch the sun. A suite of            more than 90,000 people from around                                                                                                                                                                       Obama at the National Portrait Gallery.     Science Festival in Fort Pierce, Fla., co-       project to preserve textiles with the
                                                                                                                                                          Institution’s gardens. Working alongside        press at the National Museum of Natural          ceremony of 19 candidates for American citizen­                                                                                                                                                        artists, scientists and thought leaders      before they go back on display at the National     circle the National Museum of
             visitors about art, culture, science and          instruments built by the Smithsonian        the world used the Smithsonian Astro-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Royal Textile Academy in Bhutan.
                                                                                                                                                          Smithsonian Gardens staff from spring           History. It will delight crowds when the         ship at the National Museum of American History.          Curry’s image dressed as the former         organized by the Smithsonian Marine                                                              who share ideas for creating a hopeful       Museum of American History. More than              the American Indian. The parade
             history at six Smithsonian locations, the         Astrophysical Observatory will              physical Observatory’s MicroObservatory                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Hand-woven textiles are among
                                                                                                                                                          through fall, volunteers are critical to the    hall reopens on June 8, 2019.                    The musician donated the guitar on which he               First Lady for Halloween went viral—        Station. Participants explore 80 stations,                                                       future. Performer Sasha Velour takes         $370,000 raised during the Kickstarter             was part of the Smithsonian-wide
             SoftBank-donated humanoid robots are              sample the star’s fiery outer corona.       Robotic Telescope Network to request                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Bhutan’s cherished traditional arts.
                                                                                                                                                          maintenance of these outdoor museums.                                                            played the “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a                leading to a real-life meeting between      including one on how coral reefs form,                                                           the stage in the evening.                    campaign by over 6,400 backers enabled             Solstice Saturday, which featured
             transforming how visitors interact with                                                       images of space.                                                                                                                                World Series game in 1968.                                the girl and her idol.                      facilitated by station researcher Scott Jones.                                                                                                Wallace to spend 200 hours cleaning and            late museum closing hours and
             museum exhibitions.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               conserving the legendary 80-year-old shoes.        events across the National Mall.
SMITHSONIAN | 2018                       We thank 2018’s most generous donors                                                  29

                     The Smithsonian is a community of scholars and
                     educators, sustained by the American people and
                     generous donors. We are the nation’s museums—
                     keepers of the country’s collection—home to experts
                     in science, history, culture and art. We create educational
                     programs that serve millions of families each year. In a
                     rapidly changing world, we are reaching more people
                     where they are, with greater relevance and impact.

                     We thank those who make today’s Smithsonian possible.

                     BELOW
                     The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden commissioned Los Angeles-based artist Mark Bradford
                     to create one of his largest artworks, Pickett’s Charge, spanning nearly 400 linear feet. Bradford was
                     inspired by French artist Paul Philippoteaux’s 19th-century cyclorama of the final charge of the Battle
                     of Gettysburg. By layering colored paper with reproductions of the original, the artist transformed
                     historic Gettysburg imagery into a series of eight powerful abstract paintings, inviting viewers to
                     reconsider how narratives about American history are shaped and contested.

                     Mark Bradford: Pickett’s Charge, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2017.
                     Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth © Mark Bradford PHOTO CATHY CARVER
30   LEADERSHIP GIFTS                                    We thank 2018’s most generous donors                          LEADERSHIP GIFTS                                   We thank 2018’s most generous donors                           31
     			                                                 for their gifts of $2.5 million or more                       			                                                for their gifts of $2.5 million or more

     Dagmar Dolby                                           Barron Hilton /                                     Ann and Gilbert H. Kinney                The Volgenau Foundation                      Dr. Coralyn Wright Whitney
     LIGHTS, CAMERA, CULTURE!                               Conrad N. Hilton Foundation                         DOCUMENTING ARTISTS                      A KNOWLEDGE BRIDGE                           COLLECTING EARTH’S TREASURES

                                                            PUSHING BOUNDARIES

     Rock ’n’ roll. Symphony concerts. Hollywood            The seven-year reimagining of the National Air      The Archives of American Art is          Saving endangered species requires          The Whitney Flame Topaz—a rare,
     blockbusters and independent films. America’s          and Space Museum, which began in fall 2018,         the preeminent resource for those        sustained conservation efforts over         vivid red topaz named after donor
     favorite pastime—baseball—and the lights of            encompasses upgrades to exhibitions about           seeking new insights into the history    many generations. The Smithsonian           Coralyn Wright Whitney—ignited
     Broadway. Entertainment connects us, reflects          historic American trailblazers as well as           of visual arts in America. It holds      Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI)       wonder among gem enthusiasts
     our shared experiences and comments on                 educational experiences that equip children—        more than 20 million primary source      in Front Royal, Va., with a school and      around the globe when it was unveiled
     public issues. A $5 million gift from Dagmar           and adults—for a lifetime of discovery. A $10       materials, including the papers,         research facility—where scientists          at the National Museum of Natural
     Dolby and Dolby Laboratories, along with a             million gift from Barron Hilton/Conrad N.           photographs and oral histories of        study and breed more than 20                History in September. A second gift
     donation of Dolby audio and visual equipment,          Hilton Foundation supports both aspects             artists, dealers and other art world     threatened species— allows for this         from the donor in 2018 is equally
     enables the National Museum of American                of this transformation. In the Barron Hilton        figures. Archives trustee Gilbert H.     to happen. The Smithsonian-Mason            awe-inspiring and enduring: a $5
     History to develop Entertaining America, an            Pioneers of Flight gallery, the gift will refresh   Kinney and his wife, Ann, have           School of Conservation connects             million endowment to support the
     exhibition that explores the power of culture.         exhibitions and conserve artifacts that bring       invested in the repository’s growth      world-renowned scientists with              Coralyn W. Whitney Curator of Gems
     Opening in 2020 in the museum’s new Ray and            the stories of famed aviators like Charles          with a gift of $2.5 million to endow     high school, college and graduate           and Minerals. In charge of one of the
     Dagmar Dolby Hall of American Culture, the             Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart to life. The           the position of Gilbert and Ann          students—the next generation of             world’s premier gem and mineral
     exhibition will showcase iconic objects, such as       gift also establishes the Barron Hilton STEM        Kinney New York Collector, who           conservation leaders. Their training        collections, the curator develops
     the Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz, and           Education Fund, an endowment for new                gathers materials from individuals       takes place in the Volgenau Academic        exhibitions to spark the public’s
     the impact of American entertainers. In addition,      science, technology, engineering and math           and organizations in the nation’s arts   Center, named in recognition of             curiosity about the Earth’s basic
     the gift funds the Ray Dolby Gateway to Culture,       programs for middle school students. On-            capital. The collector also writes       The Volgenau Foundation’s $3 million        building blocks and provides scientists
     where installations rewind the history of              site programs, such as curated tours, will          peer-reviewed essays, focused on         gift. The foundation also supports          with a wide array of specimens for
     recorded sound, and improves technology in             engage students who visit the museum,               these newly acquired works, for each     SCBI’s coral restoration and wild canid     research. Coralyn Whitney, a member
     the museum’s Warner Bros. Theater,                     while distance-learning programs will reach         issue of the award-winning Archives      reproduction research and the Virginia      of the board of the National Museum
     a sought-after venue for film screenings               students in under-resourced schools across          of American Art Journal. The donors      Working Landscapes, a program that          of Natural History, also made a
     and discussions that cast a critical and               the nation. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation         have also supported the Freer|Sackler,   promotes native biodiversity and            profound impact on the museum
     appreciative eye on entertainment.                     has been a generous supporter of the                where Ann Kinney previously served       sustainable land use. This past year,       through earlier gifts, including an
                                                            National Air and Space Museum since 1998.           on the board.                            The Volgenau Foundation provided            endowment for the Coralyn W.
                                                                                                                                                         a substantial gift to the Whooping          Whitney Science Education Center,
                                                                                                                                                         Crane Breeding Facility, which houses       an endowment for research related
                                                                                                                                                         six breeding pairs of this critically       to the gem and mineral collection,
                                                                                                                                                         endangered North American bird.             and the prized Whitney Alexandrite.
32          LEADERSHIP GIFTS                                        	We thank 2018’s most generous donors                                                     LEADERSHIP GIFTS                                    	We thank 2018’s most generous donors                                         33
                                                                       for their gifts of $1 million or more                                                                                                          for their gifts of $1 million or more

Alaska Airlines                                     Martha and                                       Mary and                                        CITI                                            Drue Heinz Trust                                    Intel Foundation
                                                    Faustino Bernadett                               John F. Brock lll
                        Little more than a                                                                                                                            A $1 million gift to the       Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design                                       The National Museum
                        century ago, travel                                                                                                                           National Museum of African     Museum offers researchers access to                                     of African American
                        by plane was rare,                                                                                                                            American History and           its exceptional collection of more than                                 History and Culture
                        expensive and fraught                                                                                                        Culture from founding donor CITI helps          147,000 European and American works                                     is the nation’s most
with danger. Today, it is commonplace,                                                                                                               tell the American story through an African      on paper through the Drue Heinz Study              compre­hensive museum devoted to
affordable and safe. The America by Air                                                                                                              American lens. The story starts outside:        Center for Drawings and Prints, which              the African American story and its impact
gallery tells this remarkable history and,                                                                                                           visible from across the National Mall,          opened 17 years ago with funding                   on American and world history. Thousands
with the help of a $1.5 million gift from                                                                                                            the museum’s bronze lattice cladding is         from Drue Heinz. A new gift of $1 million          of unique objects in the museum’s
Alaska Airlines, will engage a new generation                                                                                                        inspired by the intricate ironwork of black     from the Drue Heinz Trust supports                 galleries—from a reassembled South
of visitors through reimagined exhibitions,                                                                                                          artisans in the South. Inside, eight floors     the center’s operations, including                 Carolina slave cabin to Chuck Berry’s
dynamic design and improved educational                                                                                                              of galleries, theaters and interactive spaces   research on two designers represented              Cadillac Eldorado—chronicle narratives
opportunities—part of a multiyear trans­            A $2 million gift from Martha and Faustino       Collisions in a vast cloud of dust and gas      enable visitors to explore complex              in the collection — art nouveau architect          of creativity, resilience and power, while
formation of the National Air and Space             Bernadett enables the Smithsonian Latino         formed the Earth 4.6 billion years ago.         narratives about the African American           Hector Guimard and graphic designer                award-winning interactive exhibitions help
Museum’s building on the National Mall.             Center to establish the Molina Family            Today, human impacts shape the fate             experience. CITI has made many gifts to         E. McKnight Kauffer — in preparation               Americans of all backgrounds understand
This gift also provides needed conservation         Latino Gallery in the National Museum            of life on the planet. To help the National     Smithsonian museums and centers since           for forthcoming exhibitions. The trust             their own relationship to these narratives.
for important artifacts within the gallery.         of American History, the first exhibition        Museum of Natural History tell the story        1982, including the National Museum of          also donated an 1877 oil painting by               The 400,000-square-foot museum is
Alaska Airlines previously has supported the        space on the National Mall dedicated to          of Earth from its beginning to its future,      Natural History, the Smithsonian Tropical       William Michael Harnett, below, to the             supported by a gift of $1 million from Intel
National Museum of the American Indian.             the heritage, culture and accomplishments        Smithsonian National Board member               Research Institute and Cooper Hewitt,           Smithsonian American Art Museum.                   Foundation, a founding donor. Previous
                                                    of Latinos in the United States. While           John F. Brock and his wife, Mary, contributed   Smithsonian Design Museum.                                                                         gifts from Intel Foundation benefited the
Bank of America                                     shining a light on wide-ranging stories          $1 million for Deep Time, the museum’s                                                                                                             Smithsonian Science Education Center.
                                                    of struggle and triumph, the gallery will        reimagined hall of fossils. Opening to          Dick and Betsy DeVos
                                                    illustrate how Latinos have contributed          visitors in June 2019, this 31,000-square-      Family Foundation
                                                    to our national identity and initiate            foot exhibition traces geological processes,
From Nimrud, Iraq, an ancient city recently
                                                    conversations about what unifies us as           ecosystem changes and the evolution
bombed and bulldozed by the Islamic State,
                                                    Americans. The gift also helps support           of species. Understanding these forces                            Drawing on the expertise
to New York, where Hurricane Sandy flooded
                                                    the curator responsible for the gallery’s        enables us to grasp our own role in the                           and collections of multiple
historic theatrical sets, the Smithsonian
                                                    exhibitions, the Dr. C. David Molina             Earth’s unfolding epic.                                           Smithsonian museums and
Cultural Rescue Initiative recovers and
                                                    Visiting Curator.                                                                                                  programs, the American
conserves threatened cultural heritage. Lead
                                                                                                                                                                       Women’s History Initiative
corporate sponsor Bank of America made a
                                                                                                                                                                       amplifies the voices of
gift of $1 million in support of the initiative’s
                                                                                                                                                     women, past and present, and highlights
mission to help U.S. and international
                                                                                                                                                     their contributions to art, history, science,
communities preserve their identities and
                                                                                                                                                     business and culture. Bolstered by a
history. Among the many other Smithsonian
                                                                                                                                                     $1 million gift to the initiative from the
museums and programs that have benefited
                                                                                                                                                     Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation,
from Bank of America’s giving since 1992
                                                                                                                                                     the Smithsonian will build capacity for new
are the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
                                                                                                                                                     research, exhibitions and programming to
Garden, the National Museum of the
                                                                                                                                                     inspire and empower women everywhere.
American Indian and the National Museum
                                                                                                                                                     Planning is already underway for exhibitions
of African American History and Culture.
                                                                                                                                                     at the National Museum of American
                                                                                                                                                     History and the National Portrait Gallery
RIGHT                                                                                                                                                to celebrate the centennial of women’s
Smithsonian conservation experts assessed damage                                                                                                     suffrage in the United States in 2020.
at the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York,
where costumes, ephemera and theatrical sets,
many designed by Isamu Noguchi, were damaged
by Hurricane Sandy. Collections were either                                                                                                          RIGHT
removed and freeze-dried or sent to a warehouse                                                                                                      William Michael Harnett, Fruit Pieces, 1877.
for air drying, and returned once stabilized.                                                                                                        Bequest of Drue Heinz
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