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Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 2000 



June 15 



■ Presentation As part of the commemoration of Joseph 

 Henry Day in Galway, New York, the first Secretary of the 

 Smithsonian was recognized by the state of New York. The 

 New York State Legislature was presented with the volumes 

 of The Papers of Joseph Henry. The volumes have been placed 

 in the legislative library. 



June 19 



■ New director Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence 

 Small appoints Lucy H. Spelman new director of National 

 Zoo. 



June 19 



■ Symposium The National Museum of Natural History- 

 hosted symposium "Biodiversity of Colombia: Linking 

 Science and Policy for Biodiversity Conservation" included 

 presentations by the directors of Instituto Alexander von 

 Humboldt, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costera 

 (INVEMAR), and Centro Internacional Tropicale Agricul- 

 tural, as well as other representatives of these Colombian 

 organizations. Meetings focused on development of a 

 significant proposal to support research, training, and infra- 

 structure through a collaborative relationship were held after 

 the symposium. 



June 20 



■ Bulletin launched The Dibner Library News, funded by the 

 Dibner Fund, inaugurated its first issue with reports about 

 current Dibner Library Resident Scholars activities, a report 

 on history of mathematics collections in the library, and a re- 

 port about Bern Dibner and the origins of the Dibner 

 Library. The News will be published twice a year and is dis- 

 tributed to the history of science and technology community 

 and to friends of the Libraries and the Institution. It appears 

 on-line at www.sil.si.edu. 



June 21 



■ Interview Yusef Lateef, a multi-reedist and composer, was 

 interviewed for the Smithsonian Institution Jazz Oral His- 

 tory Program. The Jazz Oral History Program is part of 

 America's Jazz Heritage, a partnership of the Lila Wallace- 

 Reader's Digest Fund and the Smithsonian Institution. 



June 22 



■ Programs "Latin Music on the Plaza," a weekly series of 

 free outdoor concerts featuring Caribbean and Afro-Cuban 

 music, South Ametican rhythms, and Latin jazz, began at 

 the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden as part of Art 

 Night on the Mall. The series, for the second year, was co- 

 organized by the Prince George's County (Maryland) Arts 

 Council. On August 3, in a multi-museum program dubbed 

 "Hot Night on the Mall," South African saxophonist Sydney 



Banda led a march of his own concert audience at the Na- 

 tional Museum of African Art to the Hirshhorn plaza, where 

 a lively jam session with Latin musicians attracted an audi- 

 ence of 1,400. Art Night programs also included a 

 well-attended series of gallery talks, Improv Art workshops 

 for families, and six weekly screenings of free films. 



June 22 



■ Signature event The Smithsonian Associates hosted 20 

 California high school students participating in the Aaron 

 Price Fellows Program. This all-day program was the culmi- 

 nating event in their weeklong visit to Washington, D.C., 

 and offered them a firsthand glimpse at some of the Smith- 

 sonian's many research, conservation, and exhibition 

 activities. 



June 23 



■ Opening ceremony The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, pro- 

 duced by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, 

 opened with distinguished speakers representing the thtee 

 major programs, including Moises Loza, Executive Director 

 of the Housing Assistance Council, Lodi Gyari, Emissary of 

 the Dalai Lama to the United States, and Anthony Williams, 

 Mayor of the District of Columbia. 



June 23 



■ Public program "Must Be the Music: Songs from Making 

 Tracks" — Second Generation Productions presented songs 

 from the hit rock-musical Making Tracks. Journeying 

 through two centuries of unsung Asian American Tales, 

 from the building of the railroad to the creation of the In- 

 ternet, a young Asian American rock musician set the 

 beat in this innovative and colorful new musical. Review- 

 ing its New York Off-Broadway debut, the New York Times 

 hailed the piece as "promising, energetic, and hopeful" 

 and NBC's "Today in New York" said it was "making Asian 

 American history." Organized by the Program for Asian 

 Pacific American Studies Program. Funded by the 

 Washington Post. 



June 23 



■ Publication Dr. Storrs Olson of the National Museum of 

 Natural History's Department of Vertebrate Zoology was in- 

 terviewed by USA Today, the New York Times, Newsweek, 

 Science, and other magazines and newspapers regarding 

 Longisquama, a Triassic reptile with unusual primitive feath- 

 ers, as reported in the June 23 issue of Science. Scientists, 

 including Dr. Olson, who reject the "birds evolved from di- 

 nosaurs" view tout the feather structures seen in Longisquama 

 as further confirmation of their interpretation of the fossil 

 record. The article has generated a lively debate on the iden- 

 tification of the fossil itself, the process of avian evolution, 

 and the application of hypothesis 



