September 6 



September 17 



m Internationa/ Meeting Meeting in Washington, 

 Panama's President Ernesto Perez Balladares presented a 

 letter to Secretary I. Michael Heyman and Smithsonian 

 Tropical Research Institute Director Ira Rubinoft 

 expressing his government's intention to continue 

 supporting STRI beyond the year 2000. 



September 7 



■ Lecture "Case Studies in Preservation and Access to 

 Photographs at the Smithsonian Institution," by Con- 

 servation Analytical Laboratory postgraduate fellow 

 Andrew Robb, concluded this year's presentations for 

 the Research Libraries and Archives Collections Con- 

 servation Task Force. This three-year-old program, 

 coordinated and organized by the CAL paper conserva- 

 tion laboratory, combines educational presentations and 

 demonstrations with practical assistance to Smithsonian 

 research collections. 



September jf 



m Research Grants At the National Museum of Natural 

 History, efforts to identify and describe the world's or- 

 ganisms were strengthened by three grants from the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation's Partnerships tor Enhancing 

 Expertise in Taxonomy program. These multiyear 

 grants support research projects that document poorly- 

 known groups of organisms and help train young re- 

 searchers to continue this important work in the future. 



September 16— January 2 



■ Exhibition Oversized, colorful fiberglass sculptures 

 and powerful graphics made the exhibition "Luis 

 Jimenez: Man on Fire" a popular hit during its run at 

 the National Museum of American Art. Based on an 

 exhibition organized by the Albuquerque Museum, it 

 emphasized the museum's strong holdings of Jimenez' 

 work, including Vaquero. This Mexican cowboy on a 

 rearing horse stands on the steps of the museum and has 

 become its unofficial symbol. 



September 16 



■ Benefit Event The Young Benefactors, a membership 

 group of The Smithsonian Associates, held its sixth an- 

 nual Blast-Off Black Tie Gala and presented the Institu- 

 tion with a check for $100,000, representing funds 

 raised during fiscal year 1995. 



■ Performance The National Postal Museum was the 

 setting for "Return to Sender," a musical program of 

 mail songs performed by Cindy Hutchins, Michael 

 Tilford, and Howard Breitbart of the American Song 

 Company. 



September 18 



■ Facility Improvement After eight and one-half months 

 ot construction on the ventilation systems in half of its 

 laboratories, the Conservation Analytical Laboratory 

 reopened the labs and became fully operational. 



September ip 



m Panel Discussion The Hispanic Herirage Planning 

 Committee, in conjunction with the Wider Audience 

 Development Program in the Office of the Provost, 

 celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with "Nueva 

 Ola/New Wave: Emerging Latino Voices in U.S. Litera- 

 ture." The discussion featured writers Norma Cantu, 

 Judith Ortiz Coter, Gustavo Perez Firmat, and Rosario 

 Ferre. Held at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture 

 Garden, the event received support from the Educa- 

 tional Outreach Fund. 



September 22—25 



■ Film and Video Festival Seventy-five films, videos, 

 and radio programs by Native American directors and 

 other independent mediamakers were showcased at the 

 Ninth Native American Film and Video Festival at the 

 George Gustav Heye Center of the National Museum of 

 the American Indian. 



September 24 



■ Exhibition opening 



"The Power ot the Pen: Islamic 

 ch , 



Calligraphy in the 14 Century" at the Arthur M. 

 Sackler Gallery presented a selection from the Vever 

 Collection of Islamic Arts of the Book, with emphasis 

 on the use of calligraphy to transcribe verses from the 

 Koran. 



September 25 



■ Educational Publication The National Postal Museum 

 published Pen Friends, an intergenerational letter- 

 writing guide and resource booklet for middle school 

 and high school students working with older adults. 



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