Reports of Programs and Services 



77 



were well publicized by the Post and well attended and re- 

 ceived. In addition, the Washington, D.C., area premiere of 

 a documentary film on Chinese Americans in WW II, They 

 Served With Pride, was shown at NMNH's Baird Auditorium. 



The Citigroup grant funded the creation and launching of 

 a Web site for the Program; www.apa.si.edu is rapidly be- 

 coming an important part of the informational infrasrructure 

 for APA culture and history. The site is updated monthly 

 and features upcoming and past events, donor information, 

 and links ro other APA organizations. The Rockefeller 

 grant will support the creation of an on-line version of the 

 NMAH exhibition "A More Perfect Union," dealing with 

 the WW II experiences of Japanese Americans. 



Director Franklin Odo continued work on two manu- 

 scripts and published a review of a documentary film, award- 

 winning "Rabbit in the Moon," as well as a book review of 

 Japanese-American Students and World War II. He also contin- 

 ued site visits and delivered lectures in various APA com- 

 munities across the country. Several consultations led to seri- 

 ous consideration of Affiliate status: in Seattle, Los Angeles, 

 New York City, and Hawaii. 



Funding from the Latino Center enabled a meeting of 

 scholars to consider an exhibition on comparative cane sugar 

 history, using Puerro Rico, Florida/Cuba, Louisiana, and 

 Hawaii as case studies. Another exhibition concept being 

 developed is "Language in America." 



FY 2000 demonstrated a marked maturation of the APA 

 Program in its third year of operation. It is now recognized 

 as an important part of the Smithsonian infrasrructure, a 

 portal for APA communities to use in order to access the In- 

 stirution, a significant fund-raising force, and a source of 

 intellectual capital for Si's museums and other units. 



The Smithsonian Associates 



Mara Mayor, Director 



In FY 2000, The Smithsonian Associates (TSA) provided a 

 dazzling array of programs designed to highlight and com- 

 plement the work of the Institution to audiences here in 

 Washington, across rhe United States, and around the world. 



Programs In and Around Washington 



Resident Associate Program 



TSA presented a wide array of educational and cultural pro- 

 grams designed to reflect on the twentieth century and to look 

 ahead to the twenty-first. Tim Berners-Lee, named by TIME 

 magazine as one of the ioo greatest minds of the twentieth 

 century, came to the Smithsonian to tell the story of his revo- 

 lutionary creation, the World Wide Web. Richard Stolley, 

 senior editorial adviser of Time, Inc. and a former LIFE maga- 

 zine reporter and editor, used photographs selected from the 

 archives of LIFE and orher major collections, to bring to life 

 the people and events that shaped the twentieth century. A 



yearlong celebration of "Discoveries of the Twentieth Cen- 

 tury," cosponsored with the National Science Foundation in 

 honor of its 50th anniversary, included world-renowned U.S. 

 scientists, researchers, engineers, and educarors, including 

 Nobel Prize-winners Richard Smalley and Robert Solow. And 

 in recognition of the coming new millennium, TSA proudly 

 inaugurated a series of distinguished speakers who reflected on 

 their work and the future in conversations with Marc Pachter. 

 Glass artist Dale Chihuly and naturalist E.O. Wilson were the 

 first two speakers in this series. 



TSA continued its strong collaborations with Smithsonian 

 museums. A course on the Vikings complemented the spec- 

 tacular exhibition "Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga" at the 

 National Museum of Natural History. A weekend seminar, 

 "Triptych in Barcelona — Dali, Picasso, and Miro," paid 

 homage to the exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and 

 Sculpture Garden, "Salvador Dali — Optical Illusions." In a 

 special program introduced by Doug Evelyn, deputy director 

 of the National Museum of the American Indian, curator 

 emeritus Herman Viola interviewed the descendants of the 

 Indians who participated in the Battle of Little Bighorn, in- 

 cluding Joseph Medicine Crow. There were a number of 

 programs crafted to accompany the "Piano 300" exhibition, 

 including "Twentieth-Century Piano Masters in Sight and 

 Sound," with distinguished broadcast personalities Eric 

 Friesen and Martin Goldsmith. 



In spring 2000, TSA, in collaboration with the Embassy of 

 Italy, the Italian Trade Commission, and Alitalia Airlines, 

 presented a challenging array of more than 30 courses, semi- 

 nars, and special events on the history, arts, cuisine, and 

 cultural traditions of Italy, entitled "La Bella Italia." A high- 

 light of the celebration was "Saving Venice," a special 

 evening event ptesented in cooperation with Save Venice, Inc. 



Noteworthy were several programs focusing on the contri- 

 butions of African Americans. Outstanding African 

 American wrirers, including Ocravia Butler, Bebe Moore 

 Campbell, Nathan McCall, and Walter Moseley, gathered at 

 the Smithsonian to share the secrers of their careers and suc- 

 cess. Another program, entitled "African Americans and the 

 Media," featured Gwen Kill, managing editor of "Washing- 

 ton Week in Review" and senior correspondent for PBS's 

 "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," along with Donna Britt, 

 Michael Wilbon, Phil Bennett, and Bertie Howard. Mayor 

 Anthony Willians and his mother, Virginia Williams, ralked 

 about their lifetime accomplishments during an evening to 

 honor Mrs. Williams. "Twenty-first-Century Sisters Celebra- 

 tion," cosponsored with Essence magazine, featured timely 

 subjects important to African American women. 



There were a number of notable guests who visited the 

 Smithsonian, including Marcel Marceau in a rare speaking 

 role, legendary scientist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, au- 

 thor and feminist Betty Friedan, author and scholar Harold 

 Bloom, and architect Philip Johnson. 



Two special events stand out among TSA's vast array of 

 wonderful programs. "A Festival Celebrating Fryderyk 

 Chopin" brought eminent scholars, a documentary film pre- 

 miere, and piano, dance, and theatrical performances 

 together to honor the great composer. This multi-day event 



