144 



Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 1 999 



for the Interoceanic Region (ARI) for the lease of sites in 

 Gamboa to develop a center for research and education, a 

 laboratory and apartments for scientists, students, and visit- 

 ing scholars. 



April 9 



■ Public program The National Museum of American His- 

 tory's Lemelson Center presents "From Sailboards to 

 Windsurfing: Inventing a Sport," an Innovative Lives pro- 

 gram featuring Newman Darby, inventor of the sailboard. 



April 1 3 



■ Acquisition The National Postal Museum acquires the 

 first adhesive postage stamp (1831 Greek 40-lepta charity 

 tax or postage issue due) on 1848 cover from Matthew Ben- 

 nett Inc. 



April 16-September 6 



■ Exhibition "Franklin & His Friends: Portraying the Man 

 of Science in Eighteenth-Century America," was on view at 

 the National Portrait Gallery. Franklin and his fellow men of 

 science shared their work with like-minded colleagues in 

 America and Europe through correspondence, membership 

 in philosophical societies, and commissioned portraits that 

 featured the accoutrements of their avocations. This exhibi- 

 tion examined the eighteenth-century fascination with 

 science and the "man of science" as an ideal figure through 

 portraits, botanical drawings, rare books, microscopes, tele- 

 scopes, and electrical machines. 



April 19 



■ Exhibition The photographic exhibition "Frozen in Time: 

 The Iceman" opened at the National Museum of Natural 

 History. It tells the story of a 5,300-year-old mummy dis- 

 covered frozen in an Alpine glacier and shows how scientists 

 are reconstructing his way of life. 



April 19-23 



■ International conference The 1 oth International Conference 

 on Modern Trends in Activation Analysis, organized by the 

 National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and 

 cosponsored by the Smithsonian Center for Materials Re- 

 search and Education, was held in Bethesda on the campus of 

 the National Institutes of Health. SCMRE and NIST are 

 partners in a longtime collaborative program applying neu- 

 tron activation analysis in archaeological research. 



April 19-May 28 



■ Training The Tropical Research Institute cosponsored a 

 six-week intensive guide training course with the local 

 tourism industry and the U.S. Agency for International De- 

 velopment, in response to Panama's Tourism, Conservation, 

 and Research Action Plan, designed to develop a sustainable 

 tourism in Panama. 



April 20 



■ Event The Annual Appreciation Reception for Visitor In- 

 formation and Associates' Reception Center's Corps of 

 Behind-the-Scenes Volunteers included remarks by Smith- 

 sonian Secretary I. Michael Heyman. 



April 22 



■ Board of Trustees The Board of Trustees of the Hirshhorn 

 Museum and Sculpture Garden held its second meeting of 

 the year, welcoming J. Tomilson Hill of New York City, who 

 was elected at the previous meeting. Two months later, John 

 Pappajohn of Des Moines, Iowa, was elected by mail ballot 

 as the eleventh member of the board. Founded in 197 1 with 

 10 general members, the Hirshhorn Board, following con- 

 gressional approval, was authorized by the Smithsonian 

 Regents to begin a gradual expansion to 25 members. Also 

 this year, the Board mourned the deaths of two longtime, 

 dedicated members of the Board. Founder of Best Products, 

 Sydney Lewis of Richmond, Virginia, served as Chairman 

 from 1985 to 1 99 1. Jerome Greene, an attorney and philan- 

 thropist from New York City, served as Chairman from 1991 

 to 1997. Both gentlemen began their valued association 

 with the Hirshhorn in the 1970s. 



April 23-September 6 



■ Exhibition The Smithsonian American Art Museum or- 

 ganized a retrospective of Abbott Handerson Thayer's work 

 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of this influ- 

 ential Gilded Age artist. "Abbott Thayer: The Nature of 

 Art" featured his portraits, ideal figures, landscapes, and 

 studies of natural camouflage. The museum's New Media 

 staff and the exhibition curator created a virtual exhibition, 

 available on the museum's Web site. Tipper Gore, wife of 

 Vice President Al Gore, was the Honorary Patron for this 

 exhibition. 



April 25 



■ Exhibition "Nainsukh: Painter from the Punjab Hills," 

 an exhibition of 3 1 paintings by an innovative eighteenth- 

 century artist of northwestern India opened at the Arthur M. 

 Sackler Gallery. 



April 26-30 



■ International workshop The second workshop as part of a 

 Coordinated Research Project on "Nuclear Analytical Tech- 

 niques in Archaeological Investigations" was held in Cuzco, 

 Peru. Funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency 

 and coordinated by the Smithsonian Center for Materials Re- 

 search and Education, the workshop brought together teams 

 of nuclear scientists and archaeologists from Argentina, 

 Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru in a program to de- 

 velop nuclear resources for archaeologists in Latin America. 

 Workshop content and research guidance in problem design, 

 analytical standardization, and data interpretation was pro- 



