April 



■ Exhibition "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A 

 History of American Sweatshops, 1820-Present," an 

 exhibition that opened at the National Museum of 

 American History in April, represented an ambitious 

 intellectual and design treatment of a complex and 

 controversial topic. The Office of Exhibits Central 

 designer's innovative use of materials, media, design, 

 and lighting to express distinct time periods and diverse 

 content issues enhanced the exhibition's intellectual 

 content and facilitated the understanding of challeng- 

 ing subject matter. 



April 



■ Online Exhibition In partnership with ASTC, SITES 

 launched the online exhibition "Rotten Truth (About 

 Garbage)." The exhibition provides information to 

 educators, students, and home users regarding the 

 complex environmental issues surrounding daily trash 

 disposal. Links to related Web sites give users easy 

 access to wide ranging information and opinions on the 

 topic. As visitors review the exhibition, they will find 

 suggestions for activities they can do at home or in the 

 classroom. "Rotten Ttuth (About Garbage)" was made 

 possible in part by support from Rodale Press Inc. 



April 



■ National Meeting SERC hosted a national meeting 

 on invasive species for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- 

 vice. The meeting brought together the leading re- 

 searchers in biological invasions of marine and aquatic 

 ecosystems to develop national guidelines for long-term 

 monitoring of species introductions. 



April $-6 



■ Outreach At the National Science Teachers Associ- 

 ation's annual convention in Boston, the National 

 Science Resources Center exhibited its programs, 

 conducted presentations, and gave wotkshops on its 

 Science and Technology for Children curriculum. 



April 10-August 2} 



half of the twentieth century. Highlighting such per- 

 sonalities as Mae West, Will Rogers, and Josephine 

 Baker, the more than 200 caricature objects explored 

 the intersection of wit, stylized design, and mass media- 

 generated celebrity. Along with many virtually unknown 

 onginal drawings, the show featured caricature on a silk 

 dress, on a theater curtain, on the walls of Sardi's restau- 

 rant, and in a series of animated cartoons. The exhibition 

 will travel to the New York Public Library in April 2000. 



April 1 3 



■ African American Family Day The Zoo's annual 

 African American Family Day featured performances of 

 jazz and gospel music along with African storytellers, 

 drummers, and special animal demonstrations. 



April 1$ 



■ Publications The Office of Public Affairs issued its 

 general information brochure in six languages — Arabic, 

 Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish — for 

 distribution from information desks in each museum. 



April 16-19 



■ Study Tour Smithsonian Study Tours, a division of 

 The Smithsonian Associates, offered the first in a series 

 of tours called "American Snapshots" during a four-day 

 program on Amelia Island, Florida. Snapshots feature 

 smaller towns and regions known for their unique 

 heritage, such as Amelia Island's well-preserved Vic- 

 torian architecture. Other planned Snapshots featured 

 the Amish community in Holmes County, Ohio, and 

 the maritime heritage of Puget Sound, Washington. 



April 22— November 



■ Exhibition "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A His- 

 tory of American Sweatshops, 1820-Present" — This Nation- 

 al Museum of American History exhibition was designed 

 to help the public understand the history of sweatshops in 

 the United States and efforts to reform and control their 

 proliferation. The exhibition looked at global competition, 

 government regulation, immigration, business practices, 

 and racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination. 



■ Exhibition "Celebrity Caricature in America" was on 

 view at the National Portrait Gallery. This landmark ex- 

 hibition reintroduced an inventive form of portraiture 

 that captured the spirit of the modern era in the first 



April 23 



■ Anniversary Barro Colorado Island, the Smithson- 

 ian's oldest field station and one of the oldest in all the 



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