NAMM/International Music Products Association gave a 

 generous gift to support the National Museum of American 

 History's "Piano 500" project, which will explore the history 

 and life of this influential instrument on the occasion of the 

 300th anniversary of its invention. 



Foundations 



Foundation support was strongly felt this year with programs 

 as varied as the historically significant Star-Spangled Banner 

 Preservation Project (through a leadership gift from the Pew- 

 Charitable Trusts), the inventive Web hit "Revealing Things" 

 (supported by the Rockefeller Foundation), and the exhibition 

 "Speak To My Heart: Communities of Faith and Contem- 

 porary African American Life" (underwritten by the Lilly 

 Endowment and the Henry Luce Foundation). Foundations 

 value the Smithsonian as a partner for leveraging change in 

 people's lives, both on the community and the national levels. 

 Through their investments in scholarly and popular education 

 programs, research endeavors, professional development and 

 training, collection sharing, and access to unparalleled exper- 

 tise, foundations help the Smithsonian apply its considerable 

 resources to enhance the quality of life for people around the 

 world. 



Smithsonian Benefactors Circle 



The Smithsonian Benefactors Circle this year honored two 

 longtime friends who continue to have a strong impact on re- 

 search. Dr. and Mrs. Herbert Axelrod received the circle's an- 

 nual award in recognition of their gift this year to establish 

 the first endowed chair ar the Smithsonian. The Herbert and 

 Evelyn Axelrod Revolving Chair of Systematic Ichthyology at 

 the National Museum of Natural History will have a three- 

 year occupancy and rotate among curators in the Department 

 ofVertebrate Zoology's Division of Fishes. Dr. Axelrod's gift 

 ensures the vitaliry of research in the field to which he has 

 devoted his professional life. 



The Axelrods also established two chamber music endow- 

 ments in the Division of Cultural History at the National 

 Museum of American History to support care for their other 

 major gifts — four Stradivarius instruments and four 17th-century 

 instruments by Jacob Stainer — and to enable wider audiences to 

 hear these priceless instruments in live performance. 



The Benefactors Citcle continues as a way to honor friends 

 who have made significant commitments to the Institution. 



Smithsonian Women's Committee 



The Smithsonian Women's Committee, a volunteer group 

 chaired in 1998 by Paula Jeffries, continued outstanding 

 service through its coordination of the 16th annual Smithson- 

 ian Craft Show. One hundted twenty artists were chosen from 

 1,600 applicants to exhibit at the prestigious show, chaired by 

 Eleanor Carter and held again at the National Building 

 Museum. Nearly 17,000 people attended the four-day event 

 in April. 



The Women's Committee raised more than $320,000, which 

 it will distribute in a competitive grants program. Proceeds 

 from the 1997 show, distributed in the spring of 1998, funded 

 27 projects in 12 museums and offices across the Smithsonian. 

 Research was a strong component, with such projects as an ex- 

 hibition on the famous and mysterious "Iceman" mummy and 

 a program of biology and wildlife management courses in 

 Uganda, Brazil, and China. 



A New Rose Garden and Fountain 



Outside the east door of the Smithsonian Institution Build- 

 ing, a beautiful rose garden flourishes through the generosity 

 of individual donors. The renovated Kathnne Dulin Folger 

 Rose Garden is the gift of Lee and Juliet Folger and the Fol- 

 ger Fund in memory of Lee Folger's mother. At the center of 

 the garden is the Gur-Karma-Rana Keith Fountain, resrored 

 and installed as a gift of the Keith family: Gurdit Singh 

 Keith, Karam Kaur Keirh, Mahinder Singh Keith, Rajinder 

 K. Keirh, and Narinder K. Keith. 



Juliet and Lee Folger are Contributing Members, and 

 Mr. Folger is the former chair of the Smithsonian Luncheon 

 Group and a supporter of the Smithsonian Luncheon Group 

 Endowment Fund. The Folgers and the Folger Fund are 

 generous contributors to many philanthropic causes in the 

 Washington area. Narinder K. Keith, a member of the 

 Smithsonian Legacy Society and a Smithsonian volunteet, has 

 supported the Fund for the Future, as well as the Freer and 

 Sadder Galleries. 



A tree planted in the garden honors the memory of Joseph 

 Coudon VII, special assistant to the Secretary from 1980 to 

 1988. His mother Katherine H. Coudon Murphy established 

 the Joseph Coudon VII Fund for Acquisitions fot the Archives 

 of American Art after his death in 1988 and has been a 

 generous contributor to the fund. 



The Folger Rose Garden space has had a number of uses 

 over the years — a curved gravel entrance, a lawn, shrubbery, 

 and evenrually a rose garden, created in 1978 and redesigned 

 in 1998. The three-tieted Victorian fountain was made in the 

 late nineteenth century by the J.W Fiske Iron Works of New 

 York Gry. The Smithsonian acquired it in 1977 from the estate of 

 Nanette F Dunlop. A new fountain in the courtyard of Blair 

 House, the President's guest quarters, was cast from a mold of 

 the Smithsonian fountain. 



The new Folger Garden is a tangible reminder of how valu- 

 able individual support is to the Smithsonian. The generous 

 gifts of Lee and Juliet Folger, the Keith family, and Katherine 

 H. Coudon Murphy have helped to create a restful spot that 

 thousands of visitors will enjoy in the years to come. 



Smithsonian Washington Council 



The Smithsonian Washington Council, established last year 

 by the Secretary and regional leaders, remained dedicated to 

 expanding the Smithsonian's relationship with the 

 Washington region. Chaired by Washington attorney and 



4" 



