December 5 



■ Special Event The Smithsonian Associates awarded 

 the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal to Walter 

 Cronkite for his outstanding career in journalism. 



Center's Castle Docents featured Clifford Nelson appear- 

 ing in persona as 19th century paleontologist Fielding 

 B. Meek who lived and died in the Castle. 



December 20-21 



December- 9 



■ International Authority File The Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion Libraries became a participating member of NACO 

 (Name Authotity Cooperative Program), an internation- 

 al project with 213 participating libraries in which 

 cataloging department staff create original authority 

 records for inclusion in the Name Authority File main- 

 tained by the Library of Congress. 



December 10 



■ Special Event The Annual Appreciation Reception for 

 the Visitor Information and Associates' Reception Center's 

 corps of Volunteer Information Specialists included 

 remarks by the Under Secretary, Constance B. Newman. 



December 75 



■ Public Program The Smithsonian Associates 

 presented a weekend seminar on Shakespeare, which fea- 

 tured the Washington premiere of Kenneth Btanagh's 

 film version of Hamlet. In addition to introducing the 

 film, the actor/director spoke on the art of adapting 

 Shakespeare for film in a discussion with other direc- 

 tors, scholars, producers, and commentatots, including 

 Shakespeare Theater artistic director Michael Kahn and 

 commentator Robert MacNeil, with National Public 

 Radio's Susan Stamberg moderating. 



December 29 



■ Family Program "Reflections and Renewal: A Com- 

 munity Celebration," a program of the Anacostia 

 Museum and Center for African American History and 

 Culture celebrated the principles of Kwanzaa through 

 music, testimonials, performances, and storytelling. 



■ Film Premiere "The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld 

 Story," a film by Susan W Dryfoos, made its 

 Washington premiere at the National Portrait Gallery. 

 The film, distributed by Castle Rock, centered on the 

 art and times of the famous caricaturist. 



December 16 



1997 



■ Repatriation The National Museum of the American 

 Indian continued its commitment, under federal law 

 and museum policy, to repatriate human remains and 

 objects of religious and cultural pattimony to native 

 groups throughout the hemisphere. 



■ Science Gallery Opens The Amazonia Science Gallery 

 opened at the National Zoo. This new permanent 

 exhibit on biodiversity is located in a wing of the 

 Amazonia habitat. Visitors can learn about the work of 

 Smithsonian scientists who are investigating the com- 

 plexities and interrelationships of plants and animals 

 and the effect of human activities on the environment. 

 Included in the Science Gallery are displays about the 

 diversity of life in the rainforest, a biodiversity study 

 center in which visitors can examine a variety of 

 small creatures and objects under microscopes, and 

 laboratories where working scientists can be observed 

 investigating animal behavior, genetics, and nutrition. 



December 18 



■ Special Event The Annual Appreciation Reception 

 for the Visitor Information and Associates' Reception 



1997 



■ Construction Construction of the museum's Cultural 

 Resources Center, which began in September 1996, con- 

 tinues throughout the year. Clark Construction Group, 

 Inc., served as the general contractor for the project. 



1997 



■ Anniversary Although collecting cultural objects has 

 been part of the Smithsonian's work since the 

 institution's founding in 1846, 1997 marked the 100th 

 anniversary of the formal creation of the Department of 

 Anthropology, now part of the National Museum of 

 Natural History. Today, curators and other scientists 

 conduct research in ethnology and linguistics, archaeol- 

 ogy, and physical anthropology, and the department en- 

 compasses initiatives in archaeobiology, human origins, 



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