rojournalist Srephen H. Warner, who was killed in 

 action. "Going Strong! Older Americans on the Job," an 

 exhibition of photographs by Harvey Wang, captured the 

 images and stories of more than 35 Americans well past 

 retirement age who still continued in their chosen 

 professions — from a typesetter to a shepherd ro a scrap 

 metal dealer. The History in the News series presented 

 one-case exhibitions such as "Asbestos: Promise, Problems, 

 Panic, Prudence," "Earth Day 1970," and "Cinema's 

 Centennial," commemorating the 100th anniversary of 

 moving pictures. 



In June, the museum also co-sponsored a special display of 

 student-created exhibitions that featured the work of selected 

 state winners of the National History Day competition. The 

 competition is designed for students in grades six through 

 twelve who present months of research in media productions, 

 papers, performances, and table-top projects. 



Acquisitions of note this year included the gown worn by 

 Hillary Rodham Clinton's to inaugural balls in 1993. Now a 

 part of the First Ladies Collection, the gown is on exhibit in 

 the "Ceremonial Court," which displays many artifacts belong- 

 ing to past presidents and first families and re-creates architec- 

 tural details of the 1902 White House. The University of 

 Maryland School of Nursing donated a Florence Nightingale 

 Nursing Cap, affectionately known to the school's gradu- 

 ates as "Flossie," to the Medical Sciences Collection. The 

 Flossie was patterned after a cap worn by Florence Nightin- 

 gale. The museum also received a bacterial culture replic- 

 ator from the laboratory of Joshua Lederman of the 

 University of Wisconsin. Lederman's research won him a 

 Nobel Prize in 1958. The Warner-Lambert Company do- 

 nated the last glass Listenne bottle to be manufactured; 

 the first plastic bottle of Listenne; and the bottle with the 

 oldest, rarest label. The Archives Center accepted the pa- 

 pers of Robert G. Chamberlain, a mechanical engineer, 

 business school graduate in finance, and one of the first 

 numerical control programmers in the United States. 

 Chamberlain's work centered on the use of computers in 

 controlling machine tools and to problems of ensuring 

 accuracy in metal cutting and forming operations under 

 computer control. 



Around, beside, beneath, and among all the programs 

 and activities, the National Museum of American 

 History continued to remake itself, both organizationally 

 and physically. The museum's continuing Master Plan saw 

 extensive repair and renovation to the fifth floor and base- 

 ment this year. More significantly, 1994-95 marked the first 

 full year of the museum's reorganization under Director 

 Spencer Crew. The process has brought forth both a new 

 organizational structure at the museum and new goals 

 and strategic objectives — in areas including visitor orien- 

 tation at the museum, electronic access, computerized col- 

 lections, space planning, project management, and staff 

 development — that will guide the museum in the years 

 ahead. 



National Postal Museum 



James H. Brum. Diector 



As a new museum, during 1995 the staff concentrated on estab- 

 lishing operational priorities, developing departmental goals 

 and objectives, formulating the museum's first long-range 

 "Planning and Budget Document," and writing essential 

 operational procedures and plans. 



Among the operating plans prepared in 1995 were the 

 museum's "Collecting Plan," "Collections Management Pol- 

 icy," Public Affairs Policy," "Hazardous Materials Policy," and 

 "Exhibitions Policy." 



In cooperation with the Office of Membership and Develop- 

 ment, the museum drafted its long-range "Endowment Plan." 

 This plan, which will be part of the "Smithsonian Fund for 

 the Future," calls for the creation of $10 to $15 million in en- 

 dowments over the next ten years. 



The museum dramatically expanded its educational out- 

 reach with the publication of "We Were There: Letters from 

 the Battle Front," an activity book and resource guide for sec- 

 ondary school students; the "Postal Pack for Elementary 

 Schools," a curriculum guide and activity book that integrates 

 letter writing and postal history into language arts, history, 

 geography and math classes; and "Pen Friend," an mter-gener- 

 ational letter writing project guide book. 



During 1995 the museum's curatorial and collections man- 

 agement staff processed 95 accessions, acquisitions that con- 

 sisted of over 10,900 objects. 



Three exhibits opened in 1995, including "Best Wishes: 

 Greetings from the White House" (November-February), 

 "Are We There Yet' Vacationing in America" (May- 

 lndefinite), and "The Graceful Envelope" (July-August). The 

 latter exhibit began as a national calligraphers' demonstration 

 and workshop sponsored by the museum. Hundreds of hand- 

 crafted envelopes were mailed to the museum. The "most 

 graceful" of these were placed on temporary exhibit. Many of 

 these will soon be the subject of a book. 



During 1995 the museum's education department con- 

 ducted 24 pubic programs, including lectures by prominent 

 philatelists, historians, and scholars. Among the museum's of- 

 ferings were "Marilyn Monroe: The Myth and the Message," a 

 invitational lecture by theater and film critics Molly Haskell 

 and Andrew Sarris conducted in conjunction with the issu- 

 ance of the Marilyn Monroe stamp. Other presentations were 

 provided by National Air and Space Museum curator Bob Van 

 Der Linden, who lead a discuss of the role of the Post Office 

 Department in the creation of America's commercial airlines 

 and National Museum of American History curator William 

 Withuhn, who presented a program about American emigrant 

 trains. Another offering included historian and author Alvin 

 Josephy, who presented "A Portrait of Chief Joseph," a discus- 

 sion of the legacy of the leader of the Nez Perce tribe of the 

 American northwest in the late 19th century. Donations of 



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