al Museum of Natural History's Arctic Scudies Center in 

 Anchorage, and the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, 

 combine staff resources and scholarly and technical expertise, 

 exhibitions, and Native community outreach programs in an 

 effort to enrich this nation's understanding of Alaska's Native 

 peoples. The museum lent significant staff expertise to 

 "Preservation of Cultural Objects," a five-day training 

 workshop at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art held 

 in May and collaborated with the Arctic Studies Center to 

 bring the exhibition "Crossroads Alaska" to the Heye Center 

 in June. Ongoing collaborations with the Anchorage Museum 

 will result in a major exhibition of Yup'ik masks to go on 

 view at the Heye Center in March 1997. 



During 1996, museum staff were also busy preparing for up- 

 coming exhibitions on Navaio weavings and Native American 

 quilts, with ongoing collaborations with the Navajo and Lakota 

 communities. In August and September, the museum's Com- 

 munity Services department hosted a successful artist-in- 

 residence program for two Navajo artists. The artists visited the 

 Heye Center and the museum's Research Branch in the Bronx. 



Repatriation will always be of major importance for the 

 museum. This year, an important return of Wampum 

 materials was made to the Iroquois Confederacy, and a sig- 

 nificant and highly successful international return of human 

 remains took place in Cuzco, Peru over the summer. 



National Museum of Natural History 



Robert W. Fri, Director 



In 1996, the National Museum of Natural History began 

 major renovations to its facilities on the Mall. The opening of 

 the new Museum Shop at the beginning of fiscal year 1997 

 marks the first stage of a project that will dominate Museum 

 life for the next few years. Milestones to come include the in- 

 auguration of the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, 

 Gems and Minerals — a place to present the important scien- 

 tific stories of geology, seismology and planetary research, as 

 well as a striking new setting for some of the Museum's most 

 popular Treasures — the opening of The Discovery Center and 

 premiere of the Samuel C. Johnson Theater, inauguration of 

 the African Voices Hall — the Museum's first new cultural hall 

 in many years — and restotation of the Rotunda. The renova- 

 tions also include new office and laboratory space for some of 

 the Museum's scientific departments and improved storage for 

 many collections. All told, the years ahead will see the comple- 

 tion of Sioo million in construction and new exhibits at the 

 Natural History. This investment directly supports the 

 Museum's commitment to share with visitors the excitement 

 and creativity of research in anthropology and the natural 

 sciences and the contributions these fields make to our under- 

 standing of the world. 



After an intensive search by the Institution, the Board wel- 

 comed Robert W. Fri to the position of director of the 

 Museum on May I, Fri brings to the job a distinguished 

 record of service in science administration and public policy. 

 He has served as deputy administrator of the Environmental 

 Protection Agency and as a member of the President's Com- 

 mission on Environmental Quality. From 1986 to 1996, he was 

 president of Resources for the Future, a nonprofit organization 

 that provides independent research information on conserva- 

 tion, natural resources, and the environment. A native of Kan- 

 sas, Fri has a degree in physics from Rice University and an 

 M.B.A. from Harvard University. In addition to taking on the 

 renovations described above, which were initiated by his 

 predecessors, Fri has called on the Museum to build on its 

 strengths: in science, the study of earth and planetary proces- 

 ses, ecosystem history and global change, and biological and 

 human cultural diversity; in collections, collaborating with 

 other scientists and institutions to make the natural history and 

 anthropology resources in the Institution's care accessible to the 

 world research community; in education, ptesenting to a wide 

 audience accurate infotmation on the current state of knowledge 

 in the museum's fields and, when appropriate, offering the public 

 scientific information relevant to policy issues. 



During 1996, the Museum received gifts, grants, and en- 

 dowments totaling $6 million to supplement federal funding 

 for research, collections, and public programs. The new gem 

 hall was a priority for Museum development this year. Among 

 many generous donors to the hall are the member companies 

 of the National Mining Association. The association is neat its 

 goal of raising $2 million for the hall. Several individuals 

 donated gems to the National Gem Collection, continuing a 

 tradition of philanthropy that has made the collection one of 

 the finest and most balanced in the world. 



Electronic media continue to provide important and cost ef- 

 fective ways to make the Museum's work accessible to people 

 who may never visit the National Mall. The Museum's site on 

 the World Wide Web now includes collections databases in 

 Vertebrate and Invertebrate Zoology, Entomology, and 

 Botany; online exhibitions, including Crossroads Alaska/Siberia 

 and HoloGlobe: and research programs and expeditions such as 

 the Global Volcanism Program, Dr. Clyde Roper's search for 

 giant squid off the coast of New Zealand, and tesearch among 

 the reindeer-herders of western Siberia being conducted by 

 the staff of the Museum's Arctic Studies Center. The NMNH 

 home page also provides news about public programs and of- 

 ferings for school groups at the Museum and the NMNH 

 Naturalist Center in Virginia, and information on Natural 

 H:?tory internships and fellowships. In addition, during 1996, 

 the Museum and its partners in the Electronic Classroom 

 finished prototyping and testing ways to bring scientists and 

 schools together through audio, video, and data linkages, and 

 prepared to move ahead with electronic fieldtrips for classes 

 throughout the United States. 



While working toward the completion of the gem hall — a 

 majot commitment of resources — the Public Programs' staff 



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