Power of Learning in an Enlightened Information Age," 

 in the Castle Commons. 



May 8-12 



■ Training With the course "Conservation Admin- 

 istration," the students in the class of 1996 at the 

 Conservation Analytical Laboratory's Furniture 

 Conservation Training Program finished their three 

 years of course work. They will graduate after com- 

 pleting one-year internships. 



May p 



■ Special Event Members of Congress and the adminis- 

 tration and their families visited the National Museum 

 of Natural History during its first Open House Expedi- 

 tion. Adults and children followed special maps to lo- 

 cate nearly 50 stations throughout the museum where 

 staff members displayed unusual objects from the 

 museum's collections, described research projects, and 

 answered questions from guests. The event was spon- 

 sored by Motorola. 



May II 



■ Public Program The National Air and Space 

 Museum's most prestigious aviation lecture, the Charles 

 A. Lindbergh Memorial Lecture, was presented by 

 World War II fighter pilot Quentin C. Aanenson. 



May 12 



■ Exhibition "Are We There Yet.-' Vacationing in 

 America," an exhibition devoted to vacation postcards, 

 opened at the National Postal Museum. 



May 14. ipp 1 ; 



■ Exhibition opening "Whistler and Japan," featuring 

 two of the best-known collections of the Freer Gallery 

 of Art, was one of four exhibitions marking the work of 

 the American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler 

 held in Washington, D.C., this year. 



May IJ 



■ Family Packages The Office of Public Affairs released 

 its Smithsonian Family Packages, a collection of useful 

 information for adults who plan to visit the museums 

 with children or young adults, updated for the summer 

 of 1995. The free Family Package, issued in English and 

 Spanish and intended for both news media and the pub- 



lic, contains a guide to museums with exhibitions and 

 activities popular among children and young adults, a 

 Smithsonian quiz for kids, and 10 tips for visitors with 

 children. 



May 18 



■ Benefit Event The Friends of the National Zoo's 

 izth annual fund-taising gala, ZooFari, featured food 

 from 100 Washington-area restaurants and attracted 

 thousands of guests. The proceeds supported 

 National Zoo exhibition, education, conservation, 

 and research programs. 



May 18 



■ Public program A performance of "Kakurenbo (hide 

 and seek), a dance-drama created as part of the Asian 

 Culture Project of The Model Secondary School for the 

 Deaf was offered in the Meyer Auditorium of the Freer 

 Gallery of Art. The project resulted from collaboration 

 among The Model Secondary School for the Deaf, The 

 Freer and Arthur M. Sackler galleries, and the Japan 

 Infotmation and Culture Center. 



May ip 



■ Exhibition A magnificent display of living marine 

 plants and animals went on view in the National Mu- 

 seum of Natutal History's new petmanent exhibition 

 "Exploring Marine Ecosystems." After entering through 

 a simulated undetsea kelp forest, visitors can view mod- 

 els of two of Earth's most fascinating natural communi- 

 ties: the rocky coast of Maine and a Caribbean coral reef. 

 The new exhibition is the second segment of a three- 

 phase rejuvenation of the museum's marine hall. 



May 23 



■ Lecture In commemoration of the 50th annivetsary of 

 Harry S. Truman's inauguration, Pulitzer Prize-winning 

 biographer David McCullough addressed a capacity 

 audience as The Smithsonian Associates paid tribute to 

 the nation's 33rd president. 



May 24 



■ Design Award The Hirshhorn Museum plaza won a 

 1995 Federal Design Achievement Award. The renova- 

 tion and landscaping project by James Urban Associates 

 of Annapolis, Maryland, introduced trees, accessibility 

 features, ateas of lawn, and granite flooring to the plaza. 



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