54 



Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 2000 



tivity guides, and games — have been developed to comple- 

 ment our traveling exhibitions "Portraits of the Presidents" 

 and "A Brush with History." We continue to explore alterna- 

 tive venue sites for performances and have received a grant to 

 produce a "Cultures in Motion" theatrical performance based 

 on the life of Rita Hayworth for presentation at the Gala 

 Hispanic Theatre. A variety of other public programs have 

 been initiated or are in the planning stages with partnering 

 organizations in metropolitan D.C. as part of the "National 

 Portrait Gallery Around Town" initiative. 



Profile, a new quarterly publication launched by the 

 Gallery is written in a lively style with rich color photos. 

 The quarterly illustrates the Gallery's range of research, col- 

 lections, public programs, gifts and their donors, and invites 

 readers to comment on Gallery activities. The quarterly is 

 the Gallery's first large-scale publication that reaches mem- 

 bers, donors, and visitors and helps sustain relationships. 

 The first of the traveling exhibition publications, Portraits of 

 the Presidents: the National Portrait Gallery, was published by 

 Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., and is a History 

 Book Club selection. A Brush with History: Paintings from the 

 National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom edition title 

 Americans: Paintings from the National Portrait Gallery, Smith- 

 sonian Institution) will be distributed by the University Press 

 of New England, and a Japanese-language edition will also 

 be published. Publications are planned to accompany the 

 "Indian Peace Medals from the Shermer Collection, National 

 Portrait Gallery" and "The Civil War Era: Images from the 

 National Portrait Gallery" exhibitions. 



After an internal restructuring, the new Office of External 

 Affairs (OEA) now includes development, public affairs, and 

 special events. Development activities included appeals to 

 individuals for the Director's Circle and Fund for the New 

 Century. In the coming year the NPG Commission will be 

 expanded and restructured to actively engage in fund-raising 

 activities. Work continues with corporations and founda- 

 tions to support exhibitions and educational programs. 

 Public Affairs, with the assistance of Clifford Associates of 

 New York City, has managed an impressive media outreach 

 for the traveling exhibitions, gaining regional and national 

 impact. While the Patent Office Building is closed, special 

 events will be planned for various locations around the coun- 

 try to coincide with the openings of NPG exhibitions. 



Paul Peck of McLean, Virginia, gave the National Portrait 

 Gallery $2 million to promote understanding of the Ameri- 

 can presidency, the largest individual gift in the museum's 

 history. The gift will endow the Paul Peck Fund for Presi- 

 dential Studies, and support publications, acquisitions, 

 public programs, media outreach, and a Web site. In honor 

 of Mr. Peck's gift, a space will bear his name when the mu- 

 seum teopens. The gift inaugurares a major fund-raising 

 drive at the Gallery. 



Additional private funding for education programs and 

 exhibitions were raised through the expansion of the Direc- 

 tor's Circle and the creation of the Fund for the New Century, 

 a donor group for friends of the Gallery. The Portrait Gallery 

 extends its gratitude to the following corporations and foun- 

 dations for their support of projects during the past year: 



Adler Schermer Foundation, Clarence and Jack Himmel 

 Foundation, JP Morgan, Lucent Technologies, Max and 

 Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Robert Lehman Foundation, 

 Sherman Fairchild Foundation, Warner Lambert, WGMS- 

 FM, as well as the Smithsonian's Educational Outreach 

 Fund, Center for Latino Initiatives, and Research Equipment 

 Fund. 



National Postal Museum 



Miguel A. Bretos, Acting Director 



The National Postal Museum, through its collection and li- 

 brary, is dedicated to the preservation, study, and presentation 

 of postal history and philately. The museum uses research, ex- 

 hibits, education, and public programs to make this rich 

 history available to a wide and diverse audience. 



Winton M. "Red" Blount Center for Postal Studies 



Without question, the highlight of Fiscal Year 2000 for the 

 National Postal Museum occurred on December 8, 1999. On 

 that day, Winton M. "Red" Blount, former Postmaster Gen- 

 eral in the Nixon administration, graciously presented the 

 National Postal Museum with a pledge of a $10 million en- 

 dowment. This generous gift, the largest single gift received 

 by the museum and one of the largest in Smithsonian his- 

 tory, will support the creation and operation of the Center 

 for Postal Studies. Winton M. Blount has been instrumental 

 in the development of the National Postal Museum from its 

 inception. He is the chairman of the National Postal Mu- 

 seum's 15-member Advisory Commission, a leadership 

 position that he has held since the founding of the museum. 



The donation will fund the building of the Winton M. 

 Blount Center for Postal Studies and underwrite the center's 

 operations, including programs, publications, and research. 

 Mr. Blount's gift will endow research positions and will fund 

 fellowships. The center will provide the museum with a 

 state-of-the-art conference center, serve as an educational re- 

 source, and sponsor research that will explore the role of the 

 U.S. postal system in the new millennium. 



Few Americans in our time have had an opportunity to 

 leave their mark in the private sector, in the running of a 

 business within the federal government, and in rhe creation 

 of important national resources, but Red Blount has done all 

 three. 



Founding Blount International Inc. in 1946, Blount be- 

 gan by building fish ponds in rural Alabama and expanded 

 the company into a multimillion-dollar construction and 

 manufacturing company. 



In 1969 Red Blount became the nation's 62nd postmaster 

 general. President Richard Nixon soon charged him with 

 transforming the U.S. Post Office Department, a federal 

 agency that was plagued by decades of patronage appoint- 

 menrs, into a government corporation that operated under 

 business principles. 



