celebrates the scientific and social achievements of African 

 Americans through their service and communications 

 innovations. 



Education 



In conjunction with the Envelope Manufacturers Association 

 Foundation, the U.S. Postal Service, and America's Promise: 

 The Alliance for Youth, the National Postal Museum in- 

 augurated a new series of educational activity kits that ate 

 aimed a promoting literacy, reading, and the history of writ- 

 ten communication. The activity kits — called "classrooms in 

 a can" — are provided free of charge to schools nationwide 

 with student populations that are disadvantaged or at risk of 

 failing. This five-year initiative was first envisioned in 1997 

 when General Colin Powell asked each museum director to 

 consider what could be done to reach out to such at nsk 

 children. The National Postal Museum tesponded by pioneer- 

 ing the concept for a new educational activity kits that con- 

 tain instructional materials that allow individual children to 

 proudly create something themselves, while learning about 

 our shared heritage. The museum, and its partners in this 

 project, realized that something was needed that would entet- 

 tain and stimulate an at risk fourth-to-sixth grader, which is 

 the target point in many school curricuiums where reading 

 and writing skills are honed. This is also the point where 

 many at risk children can be saved ... or lost! While the 

 museum had the idea for these "classroom in a can" kits, the 

 staff realized that it would require resources to turn this good 

 idea into reality, so the museum turned to the Envelope 

 Manufacturers Association and its Foundation and to the U.S. 

 Postal Service for support, and they more than measured up to 

 the challenge. 



With the help of our longtime partners, the museum is 

 committed to producing five different "classroom in a can" ac- 

 tivity kits over the next five years. The first of these cans was 

 released in 1998. The initial kit was devoted to cuneiform 

 writing, the first form of written communication. The emer- 

 gence of civilized society was characterized, in part, by the 

 development of writing. The earliest written symbols, 

 developed by the Sumetians, were pictographs impressed with 

 a stylus in soft clay tablets. The writing, or cuneiform, was 

 commonly inscribed on clay tablets about the size of a small 

 bean bag. What could be called the wotld's first envelope was 

 a outer wrapping of clay that covered the cuneiform tablet, 

 safeguarding the message. Cuneiform was gradually modified 

 and a phonetic alphabet was developed between 2500 and 

 2000 be. By 2000 bi., cuneiform was sophisticated enough to 

 allow for the expression of complex thought. 



Each cuneiform kit includes all of the supplies needed to 

 complete the lesson, self-contained in a decorative paint can. 

 The cuneiform kit contained everything needed to create a 

 cuneiform tablet: clay, instructional guides, activity catds, 

 and a writing stylus. 



Subsequent "classroon in a can" activity kits will highlight 

 papermaking, colonial lettet wtiting, envelope making, and 



contemporary letter writing. The kits will be given to schools 

 that ate financially strapped and in need. 



International Outreach 



The 1937 sketch by Franklin Delano Roosevelt for a postage 

 stamp commemorating the 350th anniversary of the birth of 

 Vitginia Dare, the first known European child bom in 

 America, was exhibited at the Musee des Timbres et des Mon- 

 naies in Monaco. The sketch was donated to the Smithsonian 

 in 1956 by James A. Farley, who served as FDR's postmaster 

 genetal from 1933 to 1940. The three-day international 

 philatelic exhibition in Monaco was otganized as part of a 

 yearlong celebration of the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldi 

 dynasty in the tiny principality. In addition co the FDR 

 sketch, the exhibition featured some of the world's best 

 known philatelic rarities. 



"Celebrate the Century" Stamp Launch 



The U.S. Postal Service chose the National Postal Museum as 

 the site for the national launch of its "Celebrate the Century" 

 program. This stamp program features images reminiscent of 

 each decade of the twentieth century on stamps that will be 

 issued between 1998 and 2001. 



New Web Page 



In 1998 the museum redesigned its Web site to include an 

 array of new categories of information and images, including 

 a "What's New" section and features devoted to exhibits, 

 educational programs, membership, library topics, events 

 calendats and expanded general information. 



Future plans call of the museum's Web site to include infor- 

 mation about the collections and "virtual exhibits." 



Smithsonian Center for Materials 

 Research and Education 



Lambertus van Zelst, Director 



The Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education 

 (SCMRE), formerly known as the Conservation Analytical 

 Laboratory (CAL), is the Smithsonian's specialized facility 

 dedicated to research and training in the area of conservation, 

 analysis, and technical study of museum collection and related 

 materials. Conservation and preservation research seeks to in- 

 crease our understanding of the mechanisms that affect the 

 preservation of materials in museum collections, in order to 

 formulate improved exhibit, storage, and other use condi- 

 tions, as well as to develop, test, and improve treatment tech- 

 nology. In collections-based reseatch, objects from museum 

 collections and related matetials ate studied to increase their 



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