for the film "Yentl." Other artists in the series were Jon 

 Hendricks, songwriter and member of the jazz vocal group 

 Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and three-time Oscar winners 

 Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, who created "Buttons and 

 Bows" and "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)." 



The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra completed 

 its most demanding season to date, with a full schedule of per- 

 formances locally and on tour as well as a special performance 

 in Atlanta for the Olympics and appearances at the opening of 

 the Smithsonian's 150th anniversary traveling exhibition at 

 each of its locations. The latter took the orchestra to Los An- 

 geles, Kansas City, New York City, and Providence, Rhode Is- 

 land. As every year, the orchestra presented a repertoire that 

 showed the breadth of big band |azz, including music of 

 Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Stan 

 Kenton, Woody Herman, and Miles Davis and Gil Evans. 



The Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, in ensembles 

 ranging from the full chamber orchestra to the Castle Trio, of- 

 fered seven weekends of performances locally and also ap- 

 peared abroad. Guest artists joined many of the performances, 

 and this year the Smithsonian Chamber Players released their 

 latest recording under the direction of Kenneth Slowik. 

 "Metamorphosis" features Sir Edward Elgar's Serenade, Op. 

 20, Elegy, Op. 58; Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings; and 

 Richard Strauss's "Metamorphosen." The Chamber Players 

 perform on original instruments, thus creating the sound to 

 which these composers were accustomed and for which their 

 music, written in the late 19th century and first half of the 

 20th century, was intended. 



The museum helped ring in the 150th Birthday Party on 

 the Mall — staff members provided essential technical support 

 in the creation, installation, and operation of the new clock 

 and bell system in the Castle's clock tower. For the party it- 

 self, more than 70 staff members from the museum helped 

 present "Live 'n' Jumpin,'" two days of performances by 

 twelve groups representing Washington DCs diverse com- 

 munities and their musical heritage — from Brazilian batuki 

 music to zydeco. The Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra also per- 

 formed on the Mall. 



And this year, during a difficult shutdown of the federal 

 government, the National Museum of American History was 

 one of the few Smithsonian ot government buildings that 

 remained open, thanks to the annual Holiday Celebration. 

 Tens of thousands of visitors flocked to the museum for the an- 

 nual festival of music, storytelling, and demonstrations of 

 holiday crafts and foods that reflect the many ways that 

 Americans celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the 

 New Year. 



Scholars from the museum delivered lectures across the 

 United States and in Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, and 

 other countries. Steven Lubar received the G Weslev Johnson 

 Prize, given for the best article in "The Public Historian," for 

 his article "In the Footsteps of Perry: The Smithsonian Goes 

 to Japan." Paul Johnston received the Great Lakes History 

 Prize for his article, "Downbound: The History of the Great 



Lakes Propeller Indiana" in "The American Neptune." Eliza 

 Elvira Clain-Stefanelli was awarded the prestigious Farran 

 Zerbe Award from the American Numismatic Association. 



Important acquisitions included a prototype of the amino 

 acid analyzer developed by Stanford Moore and William Stein 

 at Rockefellet Univetsity. They used this apparatus to 

 elucidate the primary structure of ribonuclease, the first en- 

 zyme to have its sequence revealed. For this work they won 

 the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Cirrus System Inc. and 

 Mastercard International donated an early ATM machine to 

 commemorate the 30th anniversary of the ATM. Olympian 

 Dominique Dawes donated the leotard she wore during her 

 gold medal performance at the recent Atlanta Olympics. Staff 

 also traveled to the New Hampshire primary and both 

 presidential nominating conventions to collect 1996 presiden- 

 tial campaign memorabilia. Their efforts wete recorded by 

 CBS-News in a feature shown on CBS Nightly News and they 

 also appeared on the "Today" show. Other recent acquisitions 

 include material relating to worker safety, including a door 

 from the Hamlet, N.C. chicken-processing plant where a fire 

 killed many workers, and sewing machines and other artifacts 

 from a sweatshop in California. In reviewing its collections 

 this yeat, the museum also deaccessioned and offered for sale 

 at public auction approximately 1,200 items — mostly 

 European arms, armor and militaria. Many of the items are 

 duplicates of items currently in the museum's military history 

 collections or are artifacts outside the collecting scope of the 

 museum. The items were part of a very large bequest made 

 several years ago by Charles Bremner Hogg Jackson. The 

 museum also helped to produce "Time Machine" magazine 

 this year, a new history magazine for kids published 8 times a 

 year in partnetship with American Historical Publications. 



Visitors also had the opportunity to en|oy a complete 

 renovation of the museum's main dining area. A new food 

 court, Main Street Cafes, opened in the spting of 1996. 



National Postal Museum 



James H. Brum. Director 



Inscribed on the front of the National Postal Museum build- 

 ing is a message which aptly desctibes the mission of this 

 nation's mail service. The inscription reads in part: 



Messenger of sympathy and love 

 Servant of parted friends 

 Consoler of the lonely 

 Enlarger of common life 

 Carrier of news and knowledge 

 Promoter of mutual acquaintance 

 Of peace and goodwill 

 Among men and nations 



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