March S-io 



March 21 



■ Meeting The Smithsonian National Board spring 

 meeting was held in Los Angeles, with a special focus 

 on the new demographics of the United States and how 

 the Smithsonian could be positioned to serve the chang- 

 ing American and international publics. 



March 13 



■ Species Survival The National Zoological Park's fe- 

 male Asian elephant, Shanti, was sent to Burnet Park 

 Zoo in Syracuse, New York, for breeding. 



March 1$ 



■ Exhibition "The West as America: Reinterpreting 

 Images of the Frontier, 1820— 1920" opened at the Na- 

 tional Museum of American Art to a wave of national 

 press attention and record attendance. 



March 19 



■ Visitor Service The National Air and Space Museum 

 installed an electronic Visitor Information Center. The 

 center's four kiosks are activated by the visitor to offer 

 up-to-date information in seven languages and cap- 

 tioned English about exhibits and programs in the mu- 

 seum and at other Smithsonian bureaus; museum shops 

 and restaurants in the area; and other Washington tour- 

 ist attractions. 



March 19 



■ Symposium Cooper-Hewitt, National Museum of De- 

 sign sponsored an acclaimed symposium, "Design Nar- 

 rative: Nature 2000," which looked at the change in 

 human attitudes toward nature over the past century 

 and what we must do to protect the environment from 

 ourselves. 



March 20 



■ Quincentenary The Office of Quincentenary Programs 

 hosted the Washington, D.C, Quincentenary Roundt- 

 able at the National Museum of American Art. Local, re- 

 gional, and national quincentenary organizations 

 attended the meeting to give the group updates on their 

 activities. 



■ Announcement The National Aeronautics and Space 

 Administration selected the Smithsonian Astrophysical 

 Observatory to plan, develop, and operate the interna- 

 tional science center that will receive, analyze, and ar- 

 chive data from the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics 

 Facility (AXAF), now scheduled for launch in 1998. The 

 value of the contract is expected to be approximately 

 $87 million for the initial 10-year period of operation. 



March 22-23 



■ Mating The Office of Folklife Programs and the 

 George Washington University Folklife Association co- 

 sponsored the annual meeting of the Middle Atlantic 

 Folklife Association focusing on "Mass-Mediating the 

 Folk." 



March 2$ 



■ Seminar The first in a series of "Ways of Knowing" 

 staff seminars exploring the process of collaboration 

 in different fields, organized by the Office of Interdis- 

 ciplinary Studies, concentrated on the creative arts. 

 Subsequent programs, in June and September, dis- 

 cussed the sciences and humanities and social science 

 research. 



March 26 



■ Exhibition "The Cooper-Hewitt Collections: A De- 

 sign Resource" opened at Cooper-Hewitt, National Mu- 

 seum of Design to favorable reviews. The exhibition 

 chronicles the formation of the museum's collection 

 from 1897 to the present. 



March 29 



■ Conference The Office of Printing and Photo- 

 graphic Services sponsored a panel discussion, 

 "Through North American Eyes," at the annual con- 

 vention of the National Hispanic Journalists Associa- 

 tion, New York City. 



March 29 



■ Exhibition Only a few weeks after the conclusion of 

 the Persian Gulf War, the National Air and Space Mu- 

 seum opened a small exhibit on the role of air power in 



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