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Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 1999 



January 1 



■ Event The National Air and Space Museum's new collec- 

 tions information system, The Museum System (TMS), 

 became fully operational. After rigorous testing, existing 

 collections data were migrated into the new system, and a 

 new decentralized method of inputting object information 

 was adopted. 



January 2-16 



■ Workshop The National Museum of Natural History held 

 the first annual AMP (Alliance for Minority Participation) 

 Scholars Winter Workshop, titled "Explore." Representing 

 nine different AMP Centers, 12 freshman/sophomore-level 

 students from across the United States participated in an in- 

 tense two-week workshop during their winter break. The 

 workshop was designed to give AMP students an opportu- 

 nity to learn more about our collections, what natural 

 history research is, how it is conducted, and what careers are 

 available in the field. These students explored natural history 

 by shadowing an NMNH research scienrist, participating in 

 their activities and learning about their career. In addition, 

 the workshop featured special lectures, inreractive discus- 

 sions, hands-on demonstrations, and tours of the natural 

 history collections. 



January 5 



■ Exhibition The SITES exhibition "Red, Hot & Blue: A 

 Salute to American Musicals" hit the road for a national tour. 

 Organized as a collective biography, this retrospective on 

 Broadway and Hollywood musicals captures the magic and 

 dynamism musical theater created for diverse audiences over 

 the past century. The exhibition showcases the stars, on and 

 offstage, who gave voice and vision to the American experi- 

 ence over the past 100 years. 



January 1 3 



■ Forum The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage 

 hosted a forum for the Smithsonian Congress of Scholars on 

 our varied involvement in cultural research as public scholar- 

 ship. 



January 21 



■ Exhibit Tropical Research Institute's exhibit "Parting the 

 Green Curtain: the Evolution of Tropical Biology in 

 Panama" traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica, to open at the 

 Costa Rican National Museum. 



January 21 



■ Public program The National Portrait Gallery presented a 

 lecture by Edmund Morris, author of The Rise of Theodore 

 Roosevelt. 



January 22 



■ Exhibition The Archives of American Art opens the exhi- 

 bition "In Sight: Portraits of Folk Artists by Chuck 

 Rosenak" in the Gallery Space of the Archives' New York 

 Regional Center. 



January 24 



■ Radio advertising campaign The first radio advertisement 

 ran in the Office of Public Affairs' Black History Month 

 campaign, one of three radio advertising campaigns this year 

 aimed at local African American audiences, ages 25 to 45. 

 Another campaign was run in the spring for Spring Break 

 and a third in the summer for the Smithsonian Folklife Fes- 

 tival. The following stations were used in the three 

 campaigns in different combinations: WHUR, WMMJ, 

 WKYS, and WPGC. 



January 25 



■ Name change The Smithsonian Institution Board of 

 Regents endorsed rhe Center for Folklife Programs and Cul- 

 tural Studies name change to the Center for Folklife and 

 Cultural Heritage. 



January 28 



■ Award The Visitor Information and Associates' Recep- 

 tion Center's Encyclopedia Smithsonian page on the Internet 

 received the Dow Jones Business Directory "Select Site" 

 award for providing exceptional value to its readers. 



January 29-30 



■ Outreach/public programs Archives of American Art staffer 

 Liza Kirwin participates in a Smithsonian Regional Work- 

 shop Program sponsored by the SI Office of Education, 

 "Shared Heritage: A Cultural Mosaic," in Austin, Texas, pre- 

 senting a session entitled "Legends, Letters, and Lipstick 

 Traces: Latino Holdings at the Archives of American Art." 



January 29-April 18 



■ Exhibition "Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen" was on 

 view at the National Portrait Gallery. The son of an escaped 

 slave, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rutgers College, bril- 

 liantly talented singer, actor, motion picture star, athlete, 

 and political human rights activist, Paul Robeson was one of 

 the twentieth century's most talented Americans. The exhi- 

 bition, organized by Rutgers University, celebrated his life 

 with more than 150 objects, including portraits, personal 

 writings, and other memorabilia. 



January 31 



■ Exhibition "Behind the Himalayas: Paintings of Mus- 

 tang," an exhibition of 19 watercolors by Ausrralian artist 



