also provided with reserved seating at the evening's con- 

 cert and fireworks. Contributing Members were invited 

 to a special Hospitality Suite. 



The National Zoo's pavilion on the Mall featured spe- 

 cial presentations on animals and behind-the-scenes work 

 at the Zoo. Welders, plasterers, carpenters, locksmiths, 

 finishers, horticultural experts, geneticists, zoologists, 

 nutritionists, veterinary pathologists, reproductive 

 physiologists, wildlife ecologists, and, of course, animal 

 keepers explained their tasks and accomplishments to the 

 delight of thousands of pavilion visitors. 



The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition 

 Service's (SITES) new Home Page on the World Wide 

 Web made its debut at the Smithsonian's 150th 

 Birthday Party. The Web Page allows viewers to find 

 out when SITES exhibitions will appear in their cities 

 and states; read the latest news about the museums, col- 

 leges, and cultural centers that host SITES exhibitions; 

 learn how to get SITES publications, posters, and 

 guidebooks; and request information about bringing 

 SITES exhibitions and tesources to their communities. 



August I J 



■ Special Event The Office of Membership and 

 Development and the Office of Special Events and Con- 

 ference Services coordinated a buffet supper to celebrate 

 the opening of "America's Smithsonian" traveling ex- 

 hibition in Providence, Rhode Island. 



August 22-2$ 



■ Exhibition The Festival program, "Iowa — Commun- 

 ity Style," was restaged in Des Moines and was the center- 

 piece for the state's year-long sesquicentennial celebration. 

 The Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies 

 produced the program in cooperation with the Iowa 

 Sesquicentennial Commission and the Iowa Arts Council. 



August 23 



■ Special Event To promote the Smithsonian as primary 

 destination for African American tourists, VIARC co- 

 hosted a reception with the Washington, DC Conven- 

 tion & Visitors Association at the National Portrait 

 Gallery for African American Heritage tour planners 

 from across the country. 



August $0— September 1 



■ Exhibition "Image of the President: Photographs by 

 George Tames, 1944-1974" was on view at the National 

 Portrait Gallery. In more than four decades on assign- 



ment for the Neiv York Times. George Tames (1919— 1994) 

 covered all sides of the American presidency, and 

 received numerous awards, including two Pulitzer 

 Prizes, for his photography. Curator was Mary Panzer. 



September 



■ Television Program Based on the National Museum 

 of American History's American Encounters exhibition, 

 Smithsonian Productions produced a one-hour 

 television special examining issues of cultural survival 

 among Hispanics and Native Americans in New 

 Mexico. 



September 



■ Contract Award SAO was selected to operate the 

 Flight Operations Control Center for the Advanced 

 X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) satellite, now 

 scheduled for launch in 1998. Together with the pre- 

 viously awarded contract to operate the AXAF Science 

 Center, SAO will be responsible for every aspect of the 

 space observatory's mission after launch — from plan- 

 ning observations, to analyzing results, to archiving 

 data for the world scientific community. 



September 



■ Publication The Office of Equal Opportunity and 

 Minority Affairs published the new "Let's Do Business 

 with the Smithsonian" handbook, a valuable and infor- 

 mative 28-page guide that assists small, minority- and 

 women-owned businesses seeking information on how 

 to do business with SI. 



September 



■ Radio Special and Audiobook Smithsonian Produc- 

 tions produced an election-year radio special featuring 

 the Nixon-Kennedy Debates from the i960 Presidential 

 campaign, and packaged the complete tecordings of the 

 debates in a four-cassette audiobook for retail sale. 



September 



■ New Department The National Museum of 

 American Art established a new department — the office 

 of information and technology — to coordinate com- 

 puter service needs museurnwide, recommend hardware 

 and software purchases, integrate all databases, and pro- 

 vide liasion with other Smithsonian programs. 



4^ 



