Chronology 



167 



biographical, religious, and symbolic dimensions of a 1945 

 painting, opened ar the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture 

 Garden, accompanied by a noontime gallery talk by curator 

 Judith Zilczer. The work by Pippin (1888-1946), who was 

 one of the first self-taught African American artists in this 

 country to gain wide recognition, is a highlight of the Hir- 

 shhorn Museum collection — a quiet tour de force combining 

 a biblical vision of peace with trenchant social commentary. 

 A range of archival materials and artworks that provide in- 

 sight into Pippin's artistic sources and social milieu were 

 part of this compact narrative exhibit, including a rare letter 

 in the artist's own hand, newsclips of race-based killings in 

 the South, and a nineteenth-century Peaceable Kingdom paint- 

 ing by Pennsylvania folk artist Edward Hicks (1780-1849), 

 on loan from the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. 



September 1 5 



■ Exhibition The Smithsonian Center for Materials Research 

 and Education's materials science exhibition "Santos: Sub- 

 stance and SoxAISustancia y Alma" opened at the Arts and 

 Industries Building. This fully bilingual exhibit (cospon- 

 sored by the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives) 

 contained 40 objects from five institutions, and featured an 

 innovative, bilingual Web-based catalog of objects and re- 

 lated scholarship. 



September 1 5-October 1 5 



■ Outreach As part of the Smithsonian's Hispanic Heritage 

 Month activities, the Archives of American Art presented a 

 special Web site location entitled "Selecciones Cubanas: 

 Selections from the Papers of Cuban American Artists at the 

 Archives of American Art." 



September 16 



■ Public program FY 2000 ended on a sweet note with an 

 extraordinary Smithsonian Associates seminar, attended by 

 300 people, entitled "Chocolate: From Secret Indulgence to 

 Good-for-You Pleasure," cosponsored with M&M Mars. 



September 16 



■ Special event The B&O Railroad Museum affiliate 

 (Baltimore, Maryland) held its "Capital Affair" gala at the 

 National Postal Museum, with Secretary Small and Con- 

 gressman Ben Cardin as keynote speakers and honored 

 guests. 



September 16 



■ Symposium "Ancient Instruments, New Music" at the 

 Freer Gallery of Art presented scholars and musicians from 

 the United States, Germany, and China discussing and 

 demonstrating ancient and modern Chinese music and their 

 relation to the instruments in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery 

 exhibition "Music in the Age of Confucius." 



September 1 7 



■ Program The acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pipa virtuoso 

 Wu Man, and Music from China ensemble premiered a new 

 composition by Zhou Long in a concert marking the closing 

 of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery exhibition "Music in the 

 Age of Confucius." 



September 19 



■ Donation The announcement of the gift of Kenneth E. 

 Behring of $80 million to the National Museum of Ameri- 

 can History, the largest single donation in SI history. 



September 19 



■ Press briefing The Office of Public Affairs worked closely 

 with the National Museum of American History and the 

 Smithsonian's Office of Development on publicity for the 

 announcement of the biggest-ever gift to the Smithsonian — 

 $80 million to the American History Museum from 

 California developer and philanthropist Kenneth E. Behring. 

 Along with his $20 million gift to the National Museum of 

 Natural History in 1998, this brings Behring 's total gift to 

 the Smithsonian to $100 million. 



September 20-21 



■ Interview "Bebo" Valdez, pianist, was interviewed for the 

 Smithsonian Institution Jazz Oral History Program. The 

 Jazz Oral History Program is part of America's Jazz Her- 

 itage, a partnership ot the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund 

 and the Smithsonian Institution. 



September 21 



■ Acquisition The Smithsonian Libraries held a reception for 

 members of its Spencer Baird Society, its premiere annual 

 giving and donor recognition group, to welcome a major ac- 

 quisition purchased in July with funds provided by the 

 society. The 220-volume set of the first scientific journal 

 published, the Journal des Scavans (an early form of savants, 

 the French word for scholars), will be available to researchers 

 in the Libraries' Dibner Library of the History of Science and 

 Technology. This major historical resource consists of all vol- 

 umes published from the first volume in 1665 through 

 October 1759. 



September 21-23 



■ Conference The Archives of American Art and The Gerty 

 Research Institute cosponsored "Art in America: A Conver- 

 sation on Archival Collecting" at The Getty Center and the 

 Huntington Library, a conference attended by representatives 

 from the most important art archives organizations in the 

 United States and Canada. 



September 24 



■ Exhibition The National Museum of African Art opened 

 the Point of View Gallery exhibition "Identity of the Sacred: 



