March 



Publication: A guide to the new Nature Trail on Barro Colorado Island was completed. 

 "A Day on Barro Colorado Island" was written by Dr. Marina Wong, ornithologist, and 

 Jorge Ventocilla, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Office of Education 

 and Conservation. A Spanish version will be published in 1988. 



March 5 



Acquisition: A reception following a lecture on the Dibner Library honored Silvio A. 

 Bedini, who retired after twenty-six years of service to the Institution. To mark Mr. 

 Bedini's contributions, Smithsonian Institution Libraries purchased for its Special 

 Collections Branch a finely illustrated volume of Misura del tempo (Padua: 1665) by 

 Giuseppe, de Capriglia. Misura del Tempo is believed to be the first book on 

 clocks, one of Mr. Bedini's many fields of scholarship. 



March 6 



Installation: For the first time since its opening in January 1972, the Renwick 

 Gallery installed prime objects from its permanent collection— forty-four works chosen 

 to represent all contemporary craft media. During the year, the gallery presented 

 lectures by artists whose works are included in its collection. 



March 9 



Acquisition: The Office of Horticulture was given the Garden Club of America's 

 comprehensive slide collection of notable parks and gardens. 



March 12-15 



Special Event: National Associates attended lectures and private tours in conjunction 

 with the Matisse exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. 



March 15 



Groundbreaking: Construction began on a new dining facility at the National Air and 

 Space Museum. Scheduled to be completed in fall 1988, the new facility will include 

 an 800-seat, self-service cafeteria and a self-service restaurant seating 180 

 persons. 



March 16 



Milestone: At a meeting of the entire staff of the National Museum of Natural 

 History, Director Robert S. Hoffmann summarized the results of a six-month study of 

 the museum's organizational effectiveness and highlighted four areas where changes 

 were recommended. The study was conducted by McKinsey and Company, Inc. 



March 24 



Exhibition: "Louis Sullivan: The Function of Ornament," an exhibition devoted to the 

 work of one of America's most influential architects and organized by the Chicago 

 Historical Society and the St. Louis Art Museum, opened at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. 

 Presentation in New York was made possible by a generous grant from the J. M Kaplan 

 Fund, Inc. 



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