The Smithsonian Associates 



Mara Mayor, Director 



The Smithsonian Associates (TSA) reached out in 1997 to 

 Smithsonian members and the general public, offering a 

 broad array of educational and cultural programs crafted to 

 highlight and complement the work of the Institution. 



Resident Associate Program 



Some of the unique collaborations this year celebrated major 

 sports figures and organizations. In cosponsorship with major 

 league baseball, TSA's Resident Associate Program presented 

 a course that celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Jackie 

 Robinson's breaking baseball's color barrier. The speakers 

 included Shirley Povich, Washington Post sports editor who 

 covered Robinson during his playing days; Joe Black, former 

 Negro League player and Major League player for the Brook- 

 lyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Senators; and 

 John "Buck" O'Neil, Jr., Negro League player and manager 

 from 1937 to 1955. 



As part of the ongoing focus on the role of sports in 

 American life, TSA presented an unforgettable evening with 

 boxing legend Muhammad Ali. And basketball pioneer Ar- 

 nold "Red" Auerbach, Hall of Fame players Bill Russell and 

 Billy Cunningham, and National Basketball Association 

 (NBA) Commissioner David Stern joined TSA and the NBA 

 to commemorate the fiftieth annivetsary of the Association. In 

 an evening highlighting soccer, players from the DC United 

 soccer team recounted their experiences on rhe field to adults 

 and children from the Washington, D.C., area. The interviews 

 were conducted in Spanish with English translation. 



This year TSA was privileged to award the James Smithson 

 Bicentennial Medal to three remarkable individuals: jour- 

 nalist and author Walter Cronkite, singer/songwriter Pete 

 Seeger, and musician and mvencor Les Paul, who appeared in 

 a program cosponsored with the Lemelson Center for the 

 Study of Invention and Innovation. The Smithson Medal is 

 awarded for individual excellence and achievement in the arts, 

 sciences, and humanities. 



In keeping with its educational mission, TSA's "Campus on 

 the Mall" offered a variety of programs in collaboration with 

 organizations outside the Smithsonian. One of these was an ex- 

 tremely popular Mini-Medical School course cosponsored by 

 the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Featured speakers 

 were Harold Varmus, NIH director and a 1989 Nobel Prize 

 winner for his cancer research, and Francis Collins, director of 

 the National Center for Human Genome Research. Another 

 was a collaboration with the George C. Marshall Foundation 

 in which Henry Kissinger and Valery Giscard d'Estaing spoke 

 to an overflow audience on international relations. 



Seminars were also offered in concert with major exhibitions 

 and collections here at the Smithsonian. A tour and weekend 

 seminar featured the "Amber" exhibition at the National 



Museum of Natural History (NMNH). In conjunction with 

 the "Think Tank" exhibit at the National Zoological Park, lec- 

 tures and discussion sessions led by internationally renowned 

 experts explored the primate mind. In collaboration with the 

 Division of Information Technology and Society of the National 

 Museum of American History (NMAH), "Global Connections 

 in the 21st Century" brought together an unprecedented 

 assembly of American and European pioneers and leaders in 

 information technology, including Tim Berners-Lee, inventor 

 of the World Wide Web. 



In children's programming, Discovery Theater produced 

 King Prempeh. an original play based on the life of the remark- 

 able 19th-century king of the Asante nation (now called 

 Ghana). This production, a first-time collabotation between 

 TSA and the National Museum of African Art, was made pos- 

 sible by funding from the Smithsonian Education Outreach 

 Fund. TSA's summer camps again proved popular, as more than 

 600 area children enjoyed such programs as "Euclid in Wonder- 

 land," "Smithsonian Safari," and "The Art of Juggling." 



In an outstanding world-class premiere, TSA presented 

 award-winning actor/director Kenneth Branagh in his new 

 film version of Hamlet, produced by Castle Rock Entertain- 

 ment. Following the screening, Mr. Branagh was joined by 

 Shakespeare Theatre artistic director Michael Kahn and Na- 

 tional Public Radio's Susan Stamberg in a seminar that 

 focused on the art of adapting literary classics to the screen. 



TSA's Resident Associate Program continued its "Radio 

 Theatre— Live!" series with productions of D.L. Coburn's The 

 Gin Game, directed by Arena Stage artistic director Douglas 

 Wager, Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, directed by Michael Kahn, 

 and John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves, directed by Howard 

 Shalwitz of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. The 

 series, produced by the L.A. Theatre Works and presented by 

 TSA in conjunction with the Voice of America (VOA), treats 

 audiences to unique performances and a behind-the-scenes 

 look at radio drama in production. These world-class produc- 

 tions are recorded for subsequent broadcast on public radio 

 throughout the United States and abroad on VOA. 



Composer, performer, teacher, and entertainer Peter Schick- 

 ele came to the Smithsonian for four programs in a delightful 

 series about music and musicians. Schickele, internationally 

 "infamous" as the "perpetrator" of the music of P.D.Q. Bach, 

 drew on his engaging wit and considerable knowledge to 

 bring a fresh approach to the world of music from classical to 

 country. TSA also presented its annual series of chamber 

 concerts by the Emerson String Quartet, the 20th Century 

 Consort, and the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, whose 

 performances continue to set standards for great musical 

 performance. 



Other well-known artists presented by the Resident 

 Associate Program included singer and author Patti LaBelle, 

 playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon, and actors Eli Wal- 

 lach and Anne Jackson. A special evening examining the 

 genius of Jim Henson provided a behind-the-scenes look at 

 the life and career of the creator of the Muppets®. 



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