Library, a branch of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, con- 

 tains more than 20,000 volumes on African art and material 

 culture. The Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives specializes 

 in the collection and preservation of visual materials on African 

 art, culture, and the environment. This year the Archives 

 received a donation of the Michael and Lona Kenney Col- 

 lection of black-and-white prints and negatives taken by 

 Dr. Michael Kenney in the Belgian Congo in the 1930s. In 

 addition, the Archives purchased an album with more than 53 

 albumen prints from the Belgian Congo, dating to the 1880s; 

 a vintage album with 146 images from the Nupe region in 

 Nigeria dating to 1900— 1905; and an album with 152 prints 

 from Ghana, dating to around 1890— 1920. 



National Museum of American History 



Spencer R. Crew, Director 



The National Museum of American History dedicates its col- 

 lections and scholarship to inspiring a broader understanding 

 of our nation and its many peoples. Drawing on more than 17 

 million objects in its collections and the holdings of its 

 Archives Center, the museum creates learning opportunities, 

 stimulates imaginations, and presents challenging ideas about 

 our nation's past through original research, exhibitions, publi- 

 cations, and public programs. 



In FY 1997 the museum presented a wide range of exhibi- 

 tions reflecting the breadth of its collections and the diversity 

 of the American historical experience. In honor of the 

 Smithsonian's 150th anniversary, the museum contributed a 

 large number of its collections and staff to the Institution's 

 traveling exhibition, "America's Smithsonian" and also orga- 

 nized "Mr. Smithson's Legacy," an exhibit highlighting the 

 history of the exchange of scientific ideas between the United 

 States and the United Kingdom. An international video 

 conference with the Science Museum of London was held on 

 October 22, 1996, in conjunction with this exhibition. 



"Red, Hot, and Blue: A Salute to American Musicals" was 

 a joint project between the Museum of American History and 

 the National Portrait Gallery. This major exhibit interpreted 

 the history of the Broadway and Hollywood musical from its 

 immigrant roots in 19th-century vaudeville, through its 

 heyday on both "The Great White Way" and the silver screen, 

 to its redefined cultural role today. Curators Dwight Blocker 

 Bowers and Amy Henderson produced the catalogue for the 

 exhibit and created a traveling version. The exhibit was 

 supported by Discover® Card. 



The invention and evolution of the electric guitar was the 

 topic of "From Frying Pan to Flying V: The Rise of the 

 Electric Guitar." This display, produced by the museum's 

 Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation 

 showcased inventors, makers, and players involved in the 



process of inventing and popularizing the electric guitar. 

 Historic instruments, photographs, and guitar accessories 

 illustrated how innovators combined the guitar with a pickup 

 (sensor) and amplifier to create a new instrument and a new 

 sound that profoundly changed popular music — blues, 

 country, jazz, and rock and roll — in the 20th century. 



"Twenty-Four Hours In Cyberspace" was a photo exhibition 

 that depicted how the Internet affects people's lives. The photos 

 were taken by more than 150 photojournalists who, on February 

 8, 1996, fanned out across the globe to document how people use 

 the Internet. These compelling photographs presented an in- 

 timate and emotional portrait of people whose lives have been 

 influenced and changed by the on-line revolution. 



Another documentary photography exhibit, "Serving 

 Home and Community: Women of Southern Appalachia," 

 featured 60 photogtaphs taken by Barbara T Bierne and 

 showing women who have survived the hardship of life in 

 the Southern Appalachians. Taken in 1990, the portraits 

 depict women who have coped with hard lives and economic 

 hardships to support and care for their families. Beirne's richly 

 detailed photographs were accompanied by quotations drawn 

 from interviews in which these women told their grim but 

 inspiring stories. 



The 50th anniversary of baseball legend Jackie Robinson's 

 first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers (April 15, 1947) was 

 commemorated with a showcase exhibit, "Jackie Robinson 

 and the Integration of Major League Baseball." The exhibit 

 explored Robinson's career and its historical significance in 

 spawning racial integration in American sports. The exhibit 

 included Robinson's Dodgers uniform shirt, autographed 

 baseballs, Rookie of the Year button, baseball cards, and 

 photographs of the Negro Leagues. 



Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, seminal figures in the 

 history of American music, were featured in two exhibits. 

 "Ella Fitzgerald: Photographs by Herman Leonard" presented 

 samples from the jazz photographer's notable collection of - 

 images, which in this exhibit, included Fitzgerald at the Olym- 

 pia Theatre in Paris and the Downbeat Club in New York City 

 with luminaries such as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. 

 The annual "Duke Ellington Youth Art Exhibition: Artistic Im- 

 pressions of Ellington" presented the artistic work of students 

 from public schools in the District of Columbia. Based on the 

 museum's model Duke Ellington Curriculum Project and inspired 

 by the rich collection of Ellington materials in the museum's Ar- 

 chives Center, the displayed art revealed the varied interpreta- 

 tions that students created about Ellington and his times. 



"American Families in Photographs" presented an intimate 

 portrait of some of the many ways that American families 

 have appeared in photography since the mid-nineteenth cen- 

 tury. The images reflected both continuity and change in 

 family life over the past 150 years. The exhibit included 

 photographs from the Smithsonian's collections and others 

 solicited from families nationwide. All submitted 

 photographs were accessible through interactive kiosks. The 

 exhibit was supported by Discover® Card. 



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