Design, New York City junior high school students 

 began constructing a 36-foot model of a suspension 

 bridge. The bridge was finished July 26 and remained 

 on view through the fall. 



July 10 



■ Grant The National Museum of American History 

 received a $1 million gift from the Occidental Chemical 

 Corporation to work with teachers in secondary schools 

 and colleges to develop a national prototype model and 

 curriculum materials for science education at the 

 middle-school level. 



July II 



■ Research On the day of the total solar eclipse, a 

 rocket-borne x-ray telescope developed by the Smithson- 

 ian Astrophysical Observatory and IBM gathered data 

 chat will help create a three-dimensional model of the 

 solar corona linking density and temperature variations 

 with structure in the sun's extended atmosphere. A sec- 

 ond, ground-based, Smithsonian experiment the same 

 day produced infrared images of the solar corona. 



J«ly is 



■ Facility Design The Office of Design and Construc- 

 tion selected an architect/engineer firm to design a new 

 seven-story building in the East Court of the National 

 Museum of Natural History. 



July 30 



m Buildings and Grounds The Office of Horticul ture 

 hired an entomologist to identify plant pest problems 

 and suggest alternatives to environmentally harmful 

 chemicals. The installation of a centrally controlled irri- 

 gation system throughout the Smithsonian will meet de- 

 mands for cost savings and conservation of human and 

 natural resources. 



July 31 



■ Milestone Attendance at the National Museum of 

 American Art for the first half of 1991 showed a dra- 

 matic 60 percent increase over the same period in 1990 

 due to efforts to expand the visibility of the museum. 



August 



■ Exhibition Thirty-two Native American selectors 

 completed object selection for "Points of View," the 

 major inaugural exhibition for the George Gustav Heye 

 Center of the National Museum of the American Indian 

 in New York City. 



August 



■ Publication Long-Term Assessment of the Oil Spill at 

 Bahia Las Minas, Panama: Interim Report summarized 

 the first three years of a five-year study on the effects of 

 a major oil spill near the Smithsonian Tropical Research 

 Institute's Galeta field station in Panama. 



July 15-26, July 28-August p 



m Expedition During the Smithsonian National Associate 

 Program's Research Expedition "Paleolndians and Large 

 Mammals," Associates helped scientists in the discovery of 

 footprints in Saltville, Virginia, of a prehistoric giant 

 ground sloth, only the second set of such prints found. 



July 19-24 



■ Public Programs The Smithsonian National Associate 

 Program's U.S. & International Events Division held a 

 highly successful series in San Diego, the fifth Smithson- 

 ian series of events in that city. Lt. Gen. Benjamin O. 

 Davis, Jr., the first black graduate of West Point in this 

 century and author of the Smithsonian Institution Press 

 book Benjamin 0. Davis, Jr.: American, was a featured 

 speaker. 



August 



■ Publication Smithsonian Institution Press published 

 The Presidents, by National Portrait Gallery historian 

 Fred Voss. The book offers biographical information 

 and related facts on all the United States presidents in- 

 cluding George Bush. 



August 



■ Acquisition The Anacostia Museum acquired more 

 than 300 objects reflecting the life of Ethel Payne, an in- 

 ternationally known journalist who wrote for the Chi- 

 cago Defender and the Washington Afro-American 

 newspapers. She was also involved in a number of politi- 

 cal and women's organizations. 



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