to the African American heritage and to making this 

 music a worldwide cultural force. 



tors from New York, New England, the Southeast, and 

 the West Coast. 



October 14 



■ Public Program Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the 

 first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, 

 spoke about her life, personal philosophy, and hoped-for 

 legacy in an interview program conducted by veteran 

 Washington broadcast journalist Maureen Bunyan and 

 presented by The Smithsonian Associates' Resident As- 

 sociate Program. 



October 18 



■ Special Event The Office of Membership and 

 Development organized the Smithsonian Benefactors 

 Circle Dinner to recognize and honor those individuals 

 whose gifts, over their lifetimes, have preserved the 

 traditions of the Smithsonian and furthered its vision. 

 At the October 1997 dinner, Herbert and Evelyn Axel- 

 rod received the Circle's annual award for their support 

 including endowment gifts for a revolving chair in che 

 Department of Fishes at the Natural History Museum, 

 and for the Chamber Music Program of the American 

 History Museum's Cultural History Department. 



October ip 



■ Exhibition and Publication The SITES exhibition 

 "Seeing Jazz" premiered at the International Gallery. 

 The book, also entided Seeing Jazz, published for the 

 premiere, complemented and expanded on the themes 

 of the exhibition, including more artworks and literary 

 selections. As pan of its national tour, select works from 

 the exhibition were shown at The Jazz Gallery in New 

 York City on February 22, 1998. The New York City 

 Host Committee brought the exhibition there as part of 

 city-planned events for the Grammy Awards. Support 

 for the exhibition was provided by America's Jazz 

 Heritage, A Partnership of the Leila- Wallace-Reader's 

 Digest Fund and the Smithsonian Institution. 



October 20-2} 



■ Collecting The Archives of American Art held a four- 

 day meeting of all regional collectors from around the 

 country at the Washington Center. The meeting 

 provided an opportunity for Washington staff to meet 

 and discuss a wide varietv of Archives' issues with collec- 



October 22- April 26 



■ Exhibition The National Museum of African Art 

 opened the Sylvia H. Williams Gallery, the first per- 

 manenr gallery to be devoted to modern African art in a 

 U.S. museum, reflecting the museum's expanded mis- 

 sion to collection and display of modern African art. 

 The gallery's inaugural exhibition, "The Poetics of Line: 

 Seven Artists of the Nsukka Group," featured 64 paint- 

 ings, drawings, prints, wood sculptures, and mixed- 

 media works by seven Nigerian artists connected to the 

 Department of Fine and Applied Arts at the University 

 of Nigeria. In conjunction with the exhibition, the 

 museum organized a symposium with the seven 

 featured artists and leading scholars from Africa, 

 Europe, and the United States who explored Nsukka 

 art and related the artists' work to the larger contem- 

 porary art scene in Nigeria and throughout the world. 



October 23-May 12 



■ Exhibition "Oil from the Arctic: Building the Trans- 

 Alaska Pipeline" at the National Museum of American 

 History examined the engineering, economic, cultural, 

 and environmental issues involved in building the 800- 

 mile-long Trans-Alaska Pipeline. A 21-foot section of 

 the pipeline was placed on display. 



October 25 



■ Outreach The National Science Resources Center par- 

 ticipated in the 1998 Smithsonian Office of Education's 

 Teachers Night. Staff handed out thousands of informa- 

 tion packets about the curriculum materials and out- 

 reach and leadership developments programs of the 

 National Science Resources Center. 



October 23 



■ Training Seminar The Smithsonian Accessibility Pro- 

 gram presented a training session titled "Service 

 Animals Welcome at the Smithsonian." The session was 

 offered to accessibility liaisons, Office of Protection Ser- 

 vices staff, and all staff responsible for working with the 

 public. Presenting the session were speakers from the 

 Delta Society National Service Dog Center and the U.S. 

 Department of Justice's Disability Rights Section. 



