------/ o THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH No. 78-6 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. June 1978 Regents Approve Parking Study The Smithsonian Board of Regents has The management consultant , selected by allocated $70,000 in trust fund monies for the Regents Executive Committee, is Her­ an expert study of the possibility of under­ man P. Bretsch, who is associated with the ground Mall parking to alleviate the acute Institute of Public Administration. In addi­ shortage.of vi sitors ' parking space. tion to looking into relations with the The Board has al so approved hiring of a Congress, Bretsch was charged with study­ management consultant for a 75-day per­ ing the functions of the under secre­ iod to draw up recommendations for taryship, and the bylaws and operational strengthening communications among procedures of the Regents. the Regents, SI staff, and members of The Board also moved to continue efforts Congress. to secure transfer by the General Services These decisions were announced by Administration of the old Tariff Building, Michael Collins, the Institution ' s new on F Street, NW., between 7th and 8th under secretary, at a press briefing im­ Streets. The building, now housing the mediately after the Board's regular May U .S. International Trade Commission, meeting. would be used for the overflow of collec­ tions of the National Collection of Fine Collins, who conducted the briefing Arts, the National Portrait Gallery, and the along with John Jameson, assistant secre­ Archives of American Art. tary for administration, pointed out that the The Regents heard a report on the suc­ Mall parking problem would inevitably cess of "The Smithsonian Experience," grow more serious as a result of the open­ the first venture into the field of popular ing of the East Building of the National publishing by Smithsonian Exposition Gallery of Art. Books, formerly the Smithsonian Publish­ Surveys conducted for the Institution ing Task Force. A .first edition of 250,000 show that 57 percent of the Mall's visitors has been exhausted, and a second printing arrive by car and that a third of them must of 85 ,000 is now on sale. park more than six blocks from the mu seum The Board voted to approve publication buildings they wish to visit. At present, of two new general readership books by the there are 600 parking spaces on the Mall same organization, subject to the results of and another 450 in the garage beneath the test mailings. "The Smithsonian Book of Air and Space Museum. Invention, " prepared by SI cholars and The feasibility study will focu on esthet­ outside specialists, will deal with the proc­ ics, financing, management, location of the ess of invention and its social impact. . A garage entrances, and impact on traffi c second popular work, largely compiled by patterns. The stu dy will explore the advisa­ Museum of Natu ral History staff, will deal bi lity of constructing a garage with 1,500 with natural history field expeditions and spaces and eventually two other garages their results. with an additional 1,000 spaces. The Regent s also received a report on T he decision ro carry out the survey was progress in the installation of the Multipl e made after preliminary discussions on the Mirror Telescope, a joint project of SI and parking problem with a variety of agencies, the University of Arizona, at the Smith­ ranging from the National Park Service to sonian 's Mount Hopkins Observatory near Gallery's East Building Adds the Commission on Fine Arts. Collins em­ Tucson. This instrument, the third largest phasized that a go-ahead on construction of its kind in the world, is intended for would require approval by the Congress research in both infrared and optical as­ Dramatic New Space for Art other bodies. tronomy. (See story, Page 8.) Standing in the middle of the central center will feature a six-story library with court of the National Gallery 's new East an open reading room as its focal point. Building, which opens to the public on June 1, the visitor has an overwhelming Six shows mark opening sensation of space and light. So effective is To inaugurate the new building, the architect I. M. Pei' design that the interior National Gallery is opening six major space seems greater than all outdoors. exhibitions displaying aspects of the per­ Just outside the building sit s a monumen­ manent collections as well as loaned works . tal bronze sculpture in two pieces by the One of the exhibitions opening here on British master Henry Moore. Titled " Knife the fir ~ t leg of a three-city tour is "The Edge Mirror Two Pioce ," it may be the Splendor of Dresden: Five Centuries of Art sculptor'S largest work ever. Moore, who Collecting." Works of art for the show, the arrived in Washington last month to super­ first from the German Democratic Republic vi se installation of the sculpture, said he to be sent to the United States, have been wanted to make sure that it would get full gathered from eight museums in Dresden . sunlight at sometime every day. The 700 pieces, spanning periods from the " You can 't tell a person in words what a 16th century to the present, were collected sculpture means," Moore said . " If you in Dresden from all over the world. could, there would be no need to make it. Because large crowds are expected for This one describes every mood I 've felt the Dresden show, which includes paint­ over the nine months it 's taken to create." ings, sculpture, jewelry, porcelain, armor, decorative objects, prints, and drawings, Seven works commissioned the Gallery has set up a free pass system to The sculpture is one of seven monumen­ minimize lines at the entrance to the exhibi­ tal works in the media of painting and tion . The Dresden show will remain tapestry, as well as sculpture, which have on view in the East Building through been commissioned through gifts from pri­ September. vate donors . Five other exhibitions mark the building Moore was openly impressed by the opening. " Piranesi: The Early Architec­ East Building, which he toured with Pei tural Fantasies " includes a full range of and pianist Byron Janis, who came to te·st imaginative work by the 18th century the building 's accoustics. He also admired graphic artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi another of the commissioned pieces, a (1720-1778). mobile by the late American scu lptor Alex­ The exhibition "Aspects of Twentieth ander Calder. The huge sculpture, sus­ Century Art " presents a survey of major pended and in continual motion above the artists and innovative styles including court, was completed around the time of fauvism , cubism; futurism, surrealism, ex­ Calder's death in 1976. pressionism, constructivism, and other The East Building, a gift of Paul Mellon, creative movements of the first half of this the late Ailsa Mellon Bruce, and the An­ century . drew W. Mellon Foundation , brings to the A selection of French impressionist and Mall a host of new facilities including postimpressionist paintings are included in exhibition galleries, a new restaurant called the exhibit " Small French Paintings from the Terrace Cafe, and a Center for Ad­ the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce. " vanced Study in the Visual Arts, to open at The sixth exhibition, "Master Drawings a later date. and Watercolors," includes approximately Three towers offering 95,000 square feet 115 works by 77 artists dating from the PRIZE WINNER-Jean W. Gwaltney of the Charles Willson Peale Papers won first of gallery space on three floors off the 12th into the 20th centuries. Included are prize in the Torch Photo Contest with this view of the National Archives Building central court will house additions to the pieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael , and through a lOO-year-old stained glass window in the Portrait Gallery. Other award­ National Gallery's permanent collection as Michaelangelo, as well as offerings by winning photos are on page 7. well as temporary exhibitions. The study Degas, Van Gogh, and Cezanne. Page 2 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH June 1978 Construction Work Awes Visitor7--~ --- With a growing number of construction close again while the portico roof is re­ projects now underway in Smithsonian placed, a task which should take about four buildings, there are days when it almost to six months, according to OFPES admin­ seems the workers attract more attention istrative officer James Guandolo. During than the exhibits. that period, visitors and staff will be di­ Visitors in the Arts and Industries rected to the side entrance near the Great rotunda crane their necks to watch the man Hall. on a narrow ledge near the ceiling, about This spring, crews began working on the 50 feet from the floor; children appear MHT Mall terrace to correct a water seep­ mesmerized by the cranes that haul slabs of age problem. Water had been leaking marble around the Museum of History and through the terrace into the Museum's Technology terrace; and employees dodge ground floor so slabs were removed to the work sites looking for new ways in and repair the protective polyurethane mem­ out of their offices. brane and add new waterproofing materials. Unlike the basic glass and concrete office The second phase of the project will buildings, the Smithsonian museums are begin in October when the heavy tourist used for public exhibitions, storage of in­ season ends. The completion date for ter­ valuable collections, offices, and dining race reconstruction will depend on appro­ rooms. This variety of functions, combined priation funding and weather, but it's tenta­ with this flow of some 25 million people tively scheduled for 1981, according to walking through the buildings every year, OFPES. makes even simple maintenance a never­ At the Renwick Gallery, which was re­ ending challenge, said Richard Ault, direc­ stored in the late sixties under the auspices tor of support activities. of the General Services Administration, a "When we begin a construction or repair construction company is repairing the project here, we must constantly be aware facade and roof. Until work is finished, a of public and staff safety, esthetics and the shelter over the adJacent sidewalk and the authenticity of our older buildings," Ault Pennsylvania Avenue entrance will protect said. pedestrians and visitors . For the past several months, work has "The Renwick 's problems, like those of been progressing at the north entrance of the A&I building, are complicated by its FIRST LADY VISITS .•• Rosalyn Carter is welcomed to MNH by Director Porter the Castle, th~ MHT terrace, the A&I roof age. We have to restore the facade while Kier (center) and Assistant Secretary Paul Perrot. With Mrs. Carter is Dr. Armand and the Renwick Gallery facade. Each retaining the original character of the build­ Hammer who accompanied her on a tour of "Treasures of Mexico." project has its own contractor, but all are ing," Guandolo said. Completely repairing under the direct supervision of the Smith­ and replacing portions of the building ex­ sonian 's Office of Facilities Planning and terior will probably take another two years, Engineering Services. he added. 12th·Annual Folklife Festival Roof repair on the Castle's north portico The Smithsonian's most extensive proj­ closed the Mall entrance this spring while a ect is the A&I roof reconstruction (See Set For Columbus Day Weekend crew installed a protective barrier to pre­ Torch, January 1978). Replacement of the vent plaster falling on passersby. This tem­ copper and lead coated roof in the rotunda The 12th annual Festival of American program has been planned to coincide with porary structure, which has been painted to and four major exhibition halls, now Folklife will be held from Wednesday, "Mexico Today, " an international sym­ match the entry way , will remain up for underway, will take about a year to com­ October 4, through Monday, October 9, on posium opening in Washington on Sep­ about six months, allowing people to use plete. Following this phase, the remaining and around the Mall. tember 29 and continuing for six weeks. the north door. half of the roof will be replaced and "Community " is the theme of the 1978 The symposium is funded by the National In fiscal year 1979, the entrance will exterior building work on bricks, down­ Festival, featuring representatives from five Endowments for the Arts and Humanities spouts, gutters and windows will begin. major groups: citizens of Mexico from the and sponsored by Meridian House Interna­ The new roof will be a brighter shade of states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Vera Cruz; tional, the Smithsonian Resident Associate Smithsonian Names gray, but it will take on a more 19th­ Mexican-Americans from California or the Program, and the Center for Inter-American century look after a few years of exposure Southwest; Chesapeake Bay fishing com­ Relations. ews Service Chief to oxygen and Independence Avenue car munities; coal and oil producing com- The contributions of the people of San exhaust pollution. What looks like another munities' d the at' Juan Pueblo will include demonstrations of ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-~o~~~';;o~n pro muntty 0 eb 0 In sue era ts as- pottery rna the Hirshhorn and A&I is really a storage weaving, and construction of mu ical in ­ and staging area for the roof reconstruction . With the help of demonstrations of tradi­ struments. Indian singers and dancers will " But a 19th-century look is exactly what tional crafts, mu sic, dance, and cooking, perform ceremonial dances outside the we don 't want at the Hirshhorn or the Air the Festival will explore how common cul­ Museum of Natural History. and Space Museum ," Ault said . "We have tural concerns tie peop'le together in Representatives of oil and coal areas will to tailor our designs and plans for buildings communities. offer demonstrations of the technological as young as two years and as old as 123 . " The Mexican and Mexican-American processes involved in their industries and will share the songs and tales which have become popular in their communities. The presentations, centered on the Washington Comings and Goings Monument grounds, will be sponsored by the Department of Energy. Again this year, museum exhibits will Peter Marzio, curator of graphic arts in Steve Balkcom has joined the staff of provide backdrops for Festival workshops MHT 's Division of Cultural History, was the Office of Smithsonian Symposia and and demonstrations in the Museum of His­ named director of the Corcoran Gallery of Seminars. A native Georgian , he is a histo­ tory and Technology. Plans include demon­ Art last month. When he assumes the rian specializing in medieval Italy and strations by pipe organ makers in the Hall directorship on July 1, Marzio will fill a France. of Musical Instruments and workshops in position which has been vacant since Roy Charles Lada, a former Smithsonian school lore at the Dunham school exhibit. Slade left the Gallery in May 1977. Gilbert Fellow of CFA, has been named a Bok Fel­ In MNH , Festival participants from Kinney served as acting director during the low at the University of Arizona and will Chesapeake Bay fishing communities will Alvin Rosenfeld intervening year. accept a two-year appointment with the retell their folklore and display such skills Alvin Rosenfeld, 'a veteran news corre­ Marzio, 35, was one of the curators University 's Steward Observatory. as net and sail making, crab picking, oyster spondent and editor, has been appointed responsible for MHT's exhibition, "A Na­ Neville Woolf, an astronomer on the shucking, and decoy carving. deputy director of the Office of Public tion of Nations . " He also served as editor staff of the University of Arizona, has been The Family Folklore program in MHT Affairs and chief of its news service. of the 670-page exhibition catalog. A scho­ named acting director of the Multiple Mir­ will again offer visitors an opportunity to Rosenfeld, who has experience in both lar of American history and American art ror Telescope, a joint project of the Univer­ learn how to collect their own family print and electronic al.!as of journalism, has history, he received his Ph .D. from the sity and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Ob­ histories. Daily workshops will give the covered major news stories on three conti­ University of Chicago in 1969. servatory . The telescope is now nearing visitors practical tips on interviewing fam­ nents and served as a diplomatic corre­ Marzio's most recent show, "Cut on completion at the Institution's Mt. Hopkins ily members and collecting photos, films, spondent and editor in Washington. He Wood: The Art of Woodengraving in facility near Amado , Ariz. and personal memorabilia. comes to the Smithsonian after serving as a America," opens at MHT on June 2. (See Carleton Craven and Robert Osborne American musical instrument makers and senior editor on The Trib in New York. article, Page 5). have joined the Office of Equal Opportu­ Mexican craftsmen will demonstrate their Rosenfeld, born in St. Louis, Mo., holds Suzanne Miller Pogell has joined the nity as EEO specialists. Craven, who pre­ work daily at the Renwick Gallery. a bachelor's degree from Washingion Uni­ CBCES staff as public information officer. viously worked with an airline trade associ­ The children 's area, part of the Folklife versity in that city and a master's degree She was formerly a public participation ation as administrative officer, will handle Festival from 1974 through 1976, will be from the Graduate School of Journalism at consultant in St. Louis where she also programs for the handicapped and upward revived for the '78 Festival and will be Columbia University in New York. designed and directed regional, state, and mobility activities. Osborne, a military re­ located at the Washington Monument site, He worked as a reporter for the Interna­ national public information programs on tiree , will be responsible for EEO com­ opposite MHT . Highlights will include a tional News Service in Washington, an environment, education, and the arts. plaints. stage for presentation of children 's singing editor for United Press in New York and a Robin Russell Parkinson has been William Kloss, exhibition coordinator games and stories, a special area for con­ staff member for The New York Post named as Cooper-Hewitt's first staff exhibi­ for SITES , has left to complete his doctoral struction of sandcastles, and an exhibit of before going overseas as a foreign corre­ tions designer. He comes to the Smithso­ dissertation in art history . children's folk art drawn from Washington spondent for the Post. He later served as nian from the Museum of Science in Sally Slater has assumed duties as as­ elementary and junior high schools. bureau chief for NBC News in Madrid and Boston. sistant registrar at SITES, filling a position The Festival was scheduled for early Jerusalem and was assigned by NBC to Claude Russell has moved from his vacated by Zaida Gipson who is relocating October to include three school days, cover stories for radio and television in position as NASM general foreman to as­ to another city. thereby permitting organized groups of Western Europe, Algeria, Central Africa, sistant building manager for the Museum. schoolchildren to attend, and to encompass Cyprus and India. Olav Oftedal, formerly with Cornell SMITHSONIAN TORCH a three-day weekend. Monday, October 9, is Rosenfeld also reported from the Middle University, has asssumed duties as a nutri­ June 1978 the Columbus Day holiday . East for The New York Herald Tribune and tionist in NZP's Office of Animal Published for Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian 's Office of Elementary The Washington Post. He served as the Management. personnel by the Office of Public Af­ and Secondary Education will sponsor spe­ NBC State Department correspondent and Alta Walker, a lunar geologist, is now fairs: Carl W. Larsen, Director; Alvin cial workshops in July and September for as an editor for the "Outlook" section of with NASM's Center for Earth and Plane­ Rosenfeld, Deputy Director; Susan teachers preparing to take their students to The Washington Post before participating tary Studies. She formerly held a post­ Bliss, Editor; Kathryn Lindeman, As­ the Festival. in the planning and launching of The Trib doctoral fellowship in geology at Rice sistant. The Festival will be open daily from IO in New York. University. a.m. to 5 p.m. June 1978 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH Page 3

SI in the Media lind Intern Joins NASM Staff By Johnnie Douthis Living Portraits at NPG Boston Globe revealed that the suit worn Begining in January, the National Por­ by Orville 's mannequin, who sits at the trait Gallery sponsored a series of four oral controls of the Kitty Hawk Flyer, is ac­ "self-portraits" given by people chosen for tually Paul Garber's " old blue suit. " the significance of their influence on Amer­ Garber is NASM 's hi storian emeritus. ican life . Lectures were given by union Art at the Museums leader Harry Bridges, city planner Robert " Any art exhibition named after a bar Moses, acting teacher and innovator Lee can't be all bad , " Benjamin Forgey wrote Strasberg, and psychiatrist Karl Menninger. in hi s Washington Star piece on "Els An editorial in the Washington Star Quatre Gats" at HMSG. Forgey found the praised the series as an opportunity for show to be "a fascinating episode in the diverse personalities to make "their self­ early career of Pablo Picasso, and some­ images part of a national treasury of per­ thing a bit more. " ceptions about the past. " The Post carried a lengthy illustrated Wolf Von Eckhardt, wfltlng in the article by Sarah Booth Conroy on " Maria Wa shington Post, compared Robert Moses' Martinez: Five Generations of Potters," at talk to a Jackson Pollock painting. Another the Renwick . of the lecturers, Lee Strasberg, "sketched a Philadelphia Inquirer art critic Victoria lot of affectionate detail into his portrait of Donohoe wrote that the Cassatt show at the American theater," Von Eckhardt said . NCFA serves notice that "the winds of At the Zoo popular taste have shifted." According to Last month 's Torch "Q&A" about Zoo Donohoe, the turnabout coincides with the Registrar Judith Block tipped off the Post's growth of the women 's movement, which Mike Causey to a good story . Causey, who claims Cassatt as one of its heroines. writes "The Federal Diary," devoted hi s Forgey of the Star thinks it is a good full column on Saturday, May 6, to an idea to include the Time covers in NPG 's interview with Block on the intricacies of collections where they will get professional Zoo residents' family trees. curatorial care. He wrote that the images A recent article by the Star 's Thomas will be available for trivia games, serious Crosby vividly described early morning scholars, and those who just like to be sights and sounds at the Zoo. Crosby, who entertained by history's winners and losers . Rene Zelickson and Harold Snider examine raised line drawings of NASM. has written extensively about the Zoo for Paul Richard of the Washington Post the newspaper, said that the hours before agreed, calling " The Time of Our Lives" By Kathryn Lindeman living allowance during the internship to the buildings open and people arrive is just exhibit "a zippy little show. What one "For the first time that we know of, a aid with education and career choices. the time to see "the real Zoo. " notices at once," Richard said, " is its handicapped museum intern is being spon- Zelickson , who will be at NASM until Spring apparently triggers a reaction range, its wit, its flash. " sored by a State agency of vocational mid-August, is a recent graduate of the among newspapers across the country: it 's rehabilitation ," said Harold Snider, the Orientation Center for the BI ind where she time to join the "panda watch" for signs of More About SI National Air and Space Museum's coor- learned braille, cooking, cane travel , and a successful mating between Hsing-Hsing The publication of one of the 20 volumes dinator of programs for the handicapped. other mobility skills . "After she gets famil- and Ling-Ling. But alas, May 10 brought that will make up the "Handbook of North " We hope this will be the first in a string iar with the Mrtseum and its exhibits, " Crosby 's sad story in the Star, headlined, American Indians " prompted an article in of such opportunities. There are a lot of Snider said, " Rene will be exploring new " Pandas Flunk the Mating Game for Fifth the Washington Star. The Smithsonian is jobs in museums that blind people could techniques for cassette tours." Time. " accustomed to massive projects, the article do," said Snider, who is himself blind, " Cassette tours produced for the blind A Different Zoo said, " but the Indian Handbook project, as "and only through such a program can have been too complicated or boring to be a group effort written by specialists (at the blind people, museum people, and rehabili- practical ," Snider explained. "Here at MNH's Insect Zoo contines to capture gOIng. 1910 rate 0 f two cents a word) , tatlOn' counse Iors b ecome aware 0 f h ow NASM , we tried reading the labels onto the attention of reporters. Baltimore Sun almost boggles the Smithsonian mind that many possibilities are open. " tape cassettes, but this was tedious for the reporter Randi Henderson wrote th at the is used to being boggled. " The intern is college student Rene listener. In our new program, we hope to 2~='f!lal\1r~g"'le m' ~f;ru ~rr~y:;;-b;;o~d~i'lieedtttr.ai1r""an"Sti5Urela'CsTi~iflw~e'rir'Se ""ai'i.m n°'TinFeg::=.:m;~A~S~ta;;r~f~e~a;;tu~r~e....;b~rfB~e~tfty.'=fJ~a~m:,;,;e~s~d~e:;ta;;i;;le;d~~Z;;;e~li~ck~s~o~n;':'lb~lind since birth, and the spon- be able to make the tapes more interesting e opera IOn of""NN ,t e so IS t -e aJl1'ul'fiTliSrnre=Lh~tffiire1m=N-lWYllnncclliuding sounas such as rocket engines. exhibit. "There's a lot of information here statIOn. In. MH T's exhibition, "A Nation of Vocational Rehabilitation. The State We would rather have catchy descriptions for the person whose knowledge of insects Nations." agency pays the intern's expenses and a for 3 or 4 minutes than 6 or 7 minutes of is limited to the roaches crawling in the label reading. " kitchen or the crickets out on the lawn," Henderson said . V" Snider said that when approaching an airplane on exhibit, a sighted person can Fun at Air and S.,ace take in the wings, propeller, shape, and NASM is putting together a "gourmet markings as well as a line of the caption in aerospace cookbook," in the words of a the first few seconds. But for a blind recent Associated Press story picked up by person, it may take 5 to 10 minutes to feel the Washington Star . So far, former the propeller and examine all the parts. Museum Director Michael Collins' letter to Even a verbal explanation about a non- air and space "old timers " has brought in touchable item takes more time, so a blind recipes for Orville Wright 's biscuits and visitor can't cover as many exhibits as a Wilbur's jams and jellies, contributed by sighted person. one of the Wright nieces. Other recipes, the "If an exhibit is touchable," Zelickson article said, include air mail meatloaf, grits :;:.,. commented, "you have a better idea of souffle, and campfire-baked blueberry pie. ~.. ' what it 's like, but just hearing a good And speaking of Orville Wright, the .;- description helps a lot. It takes participa­ tion on both ends-along with the descrip­ Participation Up tion , the blind museum visitor also has to ask questions whenever possible. Although In RAP Programs cassettes can't respond with answers, in­ teresting descriptive words could be used to By Michael Roney tell about different items. Naturally , all Member interest in Resident Associate museum exhibits cannot be touchable­ Program activities has increased signifi­ many are just too delicate. But you don 't cantly since 1976, according to a random have to touch an exhibit to really appreciate sampling of members surveyed by RAP in it. Other alternatives can be found. " early March. With 860 members respond­ Zelickson, who can see outlines of ob­ ing, the survey showed program participa­ jects, feel s that the Air and Space Museum tion to be 33 percent above the level is a good place to develop these tours indicated by a similar canvass two years because it is fairly accessible-more so ago. than any other building she 's been in be­ RAP 's Assistant Director for Program­ fore . It is also not as d ark as other ming Michael Alin, who coordinated the museums, she said . study, attributed the increased participation While at NASM, Zelickson also hopes to to activities that are timely and responsive learn about museum work in general and to the expressed interests of members. how to design exhibits. " I like to draw and The survey also indicated that about half will be getting a raised line drawing device the membership is married (51 percent) and and talking calculator to help with meas­ female (51.6 percent). Most members are urement and calculations. " college graduates (75 percent) and, of these, 40 percent hold graduate degrees. Membership is drawn almost equally from Special Gifts all age groups with the largest number aged 26 to 45. A significant back-to-the-city National and Resident Associate mem­ trend has emerged this year, with 39 per­ berships, including one-year subscrip­ cent of members residing in D .C., com­ tions to Smithsonian magazine may be pared to 25 percent in 1976. Thirty-eight purchased by employees and eligible vol­ percent live in Virginia and 23 percent in unteers for themselves or as gifts. Na­ Maryland. tional Associate memberships cost $6 According to the survey, 69 percent of (foreign postage $3.50 extra). Resident the members have been Associates for more ST ATUE FOR VICTORIAN GARDEN ... This statue of Spencer Fullerton Associate membership rates are as fol­ than two years, whereas in 1976 only 44 Baird was unveiled in May to commemorate the Centennial of Baird's lows: $15 single; $18 double; $23 family. percent had been. Ninety-four percent indi­ appointment as the second secretary of the Smithsonian. The 7-foot bronze Applications for all categories of mem­ cated an intention to renew their RAP is a work of the American artist Leonard Baskin. bership are available at the Castle Re­ memberships. ception Center. Page 4 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH June 1978

Calendar Features New MNH Hall Traces Western Civilization 36 Black Women A three-year desk calendar (1978 -80) By Thomas Harney titled " Black Women : Achievements 7 Against the Odds" has been produced by For a challenge, try putting together more the Smithsonian Institution Traveling than 1,600 objects from the national collec­ Exhibition Service to accompany an exhibi­ tions in such a way as to show the con­ tion which was researched and produced by tinuity and increasing complexity of the the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum for a traditions of Western Civilization from national tour by SITES . early prehistoric times to the present. Each month of the calendar features a Scientists and exhibits staff at the professional field in which black women Museum of Natural History faced this task have excelled: education, medicine, busi­ when they began planning " Western ness, civil rights, music, law, theater, the Civilization : Origins and Traditions, " armed forces , fine arts, literature, govern­ which could be the largest and most com­ ment, and sports. The 36 full-page spreads plex exhibit ever seen at MNH, where it include photographs and captions about opens on June 9. outstanding bl ack women, selections of One of the first jobs of exhibits re­ each month 's significant dates, and discus­ searcher Dr. Robert Evans was to see what sions about black women in the month 's specimens were in storage that could be featured profession during one of three used in the hall. Evans , an archeologist and periods: pre-Civil War, post-Civil War, and specialist on the history of Greece and the the modern era. Aegean, spent months, with the help of a The calendar is one of the first extensive team of six student volunteers, sifting compilations of information about black through thousands of objects that had women in American history. Employees can purchase copies from the National Portrait Gallery Museum Shop for $4.80, 20 percent le ss than the regular price of $6. In MHT 's McGraw-Hill Book Store, the calendar is available with a 10 percent discount to employees.

Books

If you have authored, edited, or illus­ This ancient Egyptian wood and bronze trated a recently released book , please figurine of an ibis symbolized the god notify Smithsonian Press Assistant Director Thoth, patron of scribes and god of wis­ Felix Lowe, so that your publication can be dom and science. The bird was a gift to li sted in Torch. President Eisenhower from the Govern­ " Endangered and Threatened Plants of ment of Egypt. (Photo by Kim Nielsen) the United States," by Edward Ayensu and Robert DeFillipps, MNH, Smithso­ nian Institution Press, 1978 . "Algorithms for RPN Calculators," by John A. Bali, CFA, John Wiley & Sons, 1978. "The Pennsylvania-German Decorated C hest ," by Monroe H. Fabian, NPG , Universe Books, 1978 . "History of Technology, " by John White, Jr. , MHT , The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978 . drifted into the Mu seum collections over wa s a Bicentennial gift from the same the past century. nation . Many objects had been on display from The Hirshhorn Museum has lent a metal 1911 through 1960 in the Museum 's Old Etruscan spirit boat, an alabaster Cycladic World Archeology Hall. Dr. T . Dale figurine, a Mesopotamian female figurine, Touching a Piece fthe Moon Stewart, whose physical anthropology and a ceramic statuette of an early Mes­ exhibits supplanted the old hall in the early opotamian king. The statuette is installed in By Louise Hull 1960 's , recalls that it had r~w after row of a section of the exhibit that explains the Eight-year-old Cara Sullivan knew di splay cases and plaster casts of sculpture. emergence of kings as leaders of the mod­ exactly what to do when she reached the "It was a time when they got as many ern state. The exhibit explains how human National Air and Space Museum 's touch­ specimens as they could into a case and as affairs became increasingly complex as able moon rock . many cases as they could into a hall ," civilization evolved from camp to village to She tried to smell it. Stewart said . state and finally to empire. " I thought it might have a moldy Evans researched the exhibit with An­ One of the most spectacular artifacts is smell, " the blond third-grader related. thropologist Brian Hesse . As they the six- by seven-foot mosaic fragment " But it smelled like nothing!" examined the material in storage, they from a first century B.C. Carthaginian When Cara touched the blackish slice of fo und a wide variety of specimens to illus­ temple. The design shows a lion attacking a basalt that rests in the Museum 's Mile­ trate the hall theme. There was material wild ass. Because it had been badly shat­ stones of Flight Gallery, she also reported, from such diverse locations as an early tered sometime in the past, NMH's An­ "It felt like wax, probably from everyone farming village in Iran, Egyptian pyramids, thropology Conservation Laboratory la­ touching it. " the lakes of Switzerland, and ancient cities bored for more than a year to restore this Not everyone who sees the moon rock of Mesopotamia , Greece , Etruria, and treasure. wants to feel it. A few walk up to it, read Rome . Some features were either specially the label, and study the rock from a dis­ Some of the finest examples were added grown or fabricated for the exhibit. Staff at tance. to the collection in the 19th century. Ob­ the Department of Agriculture station in These wary individuals, however, are in jects excavated in Bronze Age Swiss lake Beltsville sowed, harvested, and pickled the minority . Most of the museum goers villages were acquired then in an exchange barley in a preservative for the display on who visit the display have this irresistible exposed to water or free oxygen. Thus, with a Swiss museum, and outstanding the beginning of agriculture. There will be desire to make physical contact with the even those who study lunar material are not classic Greek pottery was sent back by slide shows, films, and murals . For the rock . aJlowed to touch it. civilian and military officials overseas. A dioramas, the Office of Exhibits Central Freda Rhodes, an elderly visitor from Unless, of course, they visit the fascinating collection from ancient Troy, produce'd mannequins ranging from early Yorkshire, England, found the experience Smithsonian. including jewelry and royal drinking gob­ Iranian farmers to a Mesopotamian soldier. thrilling. "I never thought I'd be able to lets, was given in the 1890 's by the widow Emphasizing the continuity of Western touch a piece of the moon. It has always Louise Hull is a staff assistant at N AS M. of Heinrich Schliemann, the man who ex­ Civilization, the exhibit shows traditions seemed so far away . " cavated that famous city of Homeric that originated thousands of years ago and legend. persist to the present day. The visitor will Yet some of NASM's visitors are quite Kaleidoscope Day Among the most recent acquisitions are be able to thumb through a laminated copy blase. Kaleidoscope Day will be held at the two bull mummies given by the Brooklyn of an early Roman cookbook and see that Steve Swaney, 10, from Charles County, National Collection of Fine Arts on Museum and material brought back by its recipes are remarkably similar to those Md., said, " I always thought I'd touch a Saturday, June 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Smithsonian expeditions to Bad edh-Dhra, of modern French cuisine. piece of the moon after I saw the movies of All events will be free, with materials Jordan; the Iranian village of Ali Kosh; and A label near the model of the Acropolis the astronauts on TV. " provided by the museum. The emphasis Ezion-Geber on the Gulf of Akaba, thought will suggest a glance out the window over­ When Steve was told that the rock was will be on color, as local artists demon­ to be King Solomon's seaport. It was at the looking the Federal buildings on Constitu­ formed 4 billion years ago, he brightened, strate a variety of crafts, and invite the Ezion-Geber site that a priceless seal signet tion A venue that reflect the same Greco­ saying, " Gee, that rock might be as old as audience to make their own. Children ring of Jotham, King of Judah, was exca­ Roman architectural style . items from King Tut's tomb! " may design colorful hats to be worn in a vated . All these treasures will be included The exhibit was designed by Steven Steve might have been more impressed parade throughout the museum; learn in the exhibition. Makovenyi of the MNH Office of Exhibits. had he known a little more about this about Dippity Dye, a material for batik­ There will be gifts from foreign govern­ Makovenyi said he tried to give the hall a particular piece of lunar material. Approx­ ing on paper; design museums out of ments to the United States-an exquisite clean sense of architecture to avoid the imately 800 pounds of the moon returned clay; make soft sculpture with fabric ink; wood and bronze figurine of an ibis given feeling of being in a maze. The most with the astronauts, but almost all remains or watch a weaving demonstration. Also to President Eisenhower by the Egyptian difficult part of the job? "Getting it done sealed in boxes. Scientists are trying to on the program: films, stained glass Government and a funerary tablet with on time." (See related story: " Q&A, " keep the lunar material in its pure state, and demonstrations, puppet shows, drawing, hieroglyphics dating back to 1420 B.C. that Page 8.) on the moon, a rock would never be and T-shirt silkscreening. June 1978 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH Page 5

Newsmakers SI Staff to Decide On Labor Union In a referendum to be held June 29, By Johnnie Douthis tive editor; Helen Marvel, editor; Mar­ Radio Astronomer Eric Chaisson was approximately 1,300 Smithsonian Federal garet Lee, art director; and Michael featured on the "Consider This" portion of employees not now represented by a union Four Smithsonian staff members visited Roney, assistant editor, represented the WCBV-TV (Boston) "News Center 5" will have the opportunity to decide whether the People 's Republic of China in May. newsletter at the award ceremony. nightly news May 8 . The mlnI­ they want Local 2463 of the American Under Secretary Michael Collins, MNH Jim Wallace, director of the Office of documentary spotlighted Chaisson 's use of Federation of Government Employees to Director Porter Kier, Zoologist Devra Printing and Photographic Services, and SI the large radio antenna at the Haystack represent them. Employees outside Wash­ Kleiman of NZP, and General Curator photographers Dane Penland and John Observatory in Massachusetts to search for ington will bemailedballotsonJunel.to Jaren Horsley of the Zoo's Office of Wooten recently visited the Alderman possible extraterrestrial intelligence. be returned by June 29. Animal Management left Washington on Studios in High Point, N.C. While in the George Victor, a CFA astrophysicist, The vote has been directed by the U. S. May 6 and reached Peking on May 9 for the area they attended the Southern Short has been named a visiting fellow for Department of Labor in response to a first leg of a 12-day visit. The group toured Course in News Photography held in Fay­ 1978 -79 at the Joint Institute for Labora­ petition from the AFGE local, which cur­ zoos and museums in Peking, Canton, etteville. tory Astrophysics of the National Bureau of rently represents about 1,000 Institution Shanghai, and Nanking. Nathan Reingold, editor of the Joseph Standards and the University of Colorado. employees. Thomas Lawton, director of the Freer, Henry Papers, led a discussion on "Federal Alan Kornacki, a research assistant with Eligible to participate in the election, will visit the National Palace Museum in according to the Department of Labor, will Support for Science and the Process of the CFA Lunar Petrology Group, has re­ Taiwan, the Republic of China, for 10 days Discovery " in New York City during May. be "all the unrepresented General Schedule beginning June 15. During his stay at the ceived a National Science Foundation fel­ The program was jointly sponsored by the lowship that will support his four years at and Wage Grade employees . . . excluding museum, Lawton will present a lecture American Museum of Natural History and management officials, professional em­ entitled, "Tradition and Connoisseurship: Harvard where he is now a first-year the Science and Society Workshop of the graduate student in the geology department. ployees, confidential employees, employ­ The Four Treasures of Ku Tsung-i." New York Institute for Humanities, which Eight CBCES scientists attended the ees engaged in Federal personnel work in NASM Acting Director Melvin Zisfein is part of New York University. other than a purely clerical capacity, and gave a talk about the Museum to the United American Chemical Society's 12th Middle Eileen Harakal, public information offi­ Atlantic Regional meeting in Hunt Valley, supervisors. " Technologies Management Club in The election will be decided by a simple cer for SITES, spoke to the Department of Md . , April 5 -7. The group, composed of Hartford, Conn ., st month. p -A majority of those participating. Smithso­ Cultural Affairs of New York about the David Correll, Tung L. Wu, Nancy Mick, nian officials have urged every eligible (Ne . 1..$;' exhibition service's programs. Bonnie Fox, Kevin Walls, David Hast­ ings, Thomas Burnstiel, and David At­ employee to vote. Claudia Kidwell, associate curator in Further information about the referen­ kins, presented five papers on their her­ MHT's Division of Costume, and Barbara dum, including location of polls, will be bicide and heavy metals research . Coffee, museum specialist in the Division provided to employees through an interof­ of Political History, spent three days in James Lynch, principal zoological in­ fice memorandum. Questions may be ad­ Chicago during May attending the Costume vestigator on the CBCES' Upland Ecology dressed to James Douglas, Office of Per­ Society of America Symposium. Coffee Program staff, recently delivered a lecture sonnel Administration, ext. 6271. also presented a talk, "Preserving our to Princeton University's Zoology Depart­ Fashionable Past," to the Spring Institute ment on "Turnover and Equilibrium in of the Indiana University Home Economics Attention Artists Bird Communities Associated with Forest Alumni Association . Patches. " A' sketch group meets every Friday from Forrest Pogue, director of the 6 to 8 p.m. in the Museum of Natural Eisenhower Institute for Historical Re­ John Falk, associate director for educa­ History Ecology Theater. The current fee search at MHT, served as commentator at a tion at CBeES, presented a paper entitled of $2, which covers the cost of a model, is recent program concerning "Films in "An Analytical Look at the Outdoor Sci­ subject to change depending on the World War II" at the Organization of ence Field Trip " at the recent meeting of number of people attending and the rate American Historians held in New York the National Science Teachers Association. required by the model. City . David Culbert, former Woodrow Wilson Center fellow, gave one of the major papers , and Eric Barnouw, another former Wil son Center fellow , presided . Otto Mayr , chairman of MHT 's De­ partment of Science an d T e~hno l ogy , or-

Rise of the American System of William Clark and John Stine aboard the ture" at MHT in March. In addition to Tall Ship Eagle. distinguished scholars from some of the country's leading universities, participants William Clark, administrative officer, included curatorial staff from several MHT Office of Exhibits Central, and John Stine, departments. museum specialist in the MHT Division of Cynthia Jaffee McCabe, curator of Transportation, sailed aboard the United exhibitions at HMSG, was the single juror States Tall Ship Eagle on its training run for the Fifteenth Anniversary Art Exhibi­ between Baltimore and New London, tion of the Center Club in Baltimore. The Conn., in March . In 1976, the U. S. Coast exhibition was on public view at 1 Charles Guard ship visited the port of Alexandria, Center. Va., as part of our Bicentennial celebra­ tions and also led the Tall Ships of the Adelyn Breeskin, NCFA consultant for world into New York Harbor on July 4. 20th-century painting and sculpture, served Woodengraving proof of a fish by 19th-century engraver John Andrew. Richard Hirsh, a research fellow in on an Internal Revenue Service art panel in NASM's astronautics department, pre­ April and lectured on May 1 at the sented an illustrated talk at the Joint Atlan­ Woman's National Democratic Club on tic Seminar in Troy, N. Y., in a history of "Women in Art. " science meeting on April 7. The talk was Celia Betsky, a Smithsonian fellow at entitled " The Riddle of the Gaseous NCFA, has won an American Association MHT Exhibit Recalls Old Craft Nebulae: What Are They Made Of?" and of University Women award for study next By Mary Combs unique strength of Smithsonian collections concerned astronomy's six-decade quest to year to complete her dissertation. When Even before photographs, Americans which include original tools, materials, understand the spectral colors emitted by Celia's mother applied for an AAUW grant probably took the illustrations in books, examples of engravings in several stages of large gaseous bodies in space. 26 years ago, she was told she could not newspapers, advertising, and fine art re­ production and even pictures of wood­ Farouk EI-Baz, research director at receive a grant because she had a baby­ productions as much for granted as we do . engravers at work . N ASM, addressed the Twelfth International Celia. While today's lavish illustration is made The craft was brought to America in the Symposium on Remote Sensing of Envi­ Susan Hobbs, NCFA assistant curator possible by complex mechanical processes, late 18th century by Alexander Anderson, a ronment in Manila, Philippines, on April for 18th- and 19th-century painting and it used to be executed by the hands of physician who copied the work of the 21. His topic was "Earth Photography by sculpture, lectured on "Charles Lang artisans whose craft is explored in "Cut on English master, Thomas Bewick. the Large Format Camera. " Freer, Patron and Detroit Connoisseur" at Wood: The Art of Woodengraving in Although early woodengravings differ Staff from several registrars' offices the Detroit Institute of Fine Arts in April. America," an exhibit opening at the Uttle from woodcuts, which are less de­ around the Smithsonian attended a late­ Peter Bermingham, NCFA curator of Museum of History and Technology on tailed, the distinction became rapidly more April seminar at New York 's Plaza Hotel the education department, wrote "Art on apparent as techniques were perfected. sponsored by Atlantic-Trans American Van June 2. the Shoals" in "A Stern and Lovely Scene: Woodengraver's blocks were cut in cross­ Lines . The one-day session focused on Woodengraving was used for all kinds of A Visual History of the Isles of Shoals. " sections, against the grain of the wood, to Interstate Commerce Commission rates and images mass-produced for the popular mar­ The book is an exhibition catalog for the assure the maximum resistance to the knife, how they affect shippers such as museums . ket. Peter Marzio, curator of graphic arts at University of New Hampshire. allowing fine detail. Since boxwood trees Attending were Smithsonian Registrar MHT, said, "It was like television is are seldom very broad, the woodengraver Philip Leslie; Burgess Coleman, NCFA; Val Lewton, NCFA assistant chief for today, " the most pervasive picture medium would Qften bolt several small blocks to­ Emily Dyer, SITES; Douglas Robinson, exhibition and design, ran and completed of its time . The technique of woodengrav­ gether to form a large working surface. the Boston Marathon on April 17th in 2 HMSG; Elizabeth Burnham, C-H; and ing produced the fine detail and texture of After transferring the image to a block, he hours , 51 minutes, and 57 seconds. Larry Bird, MHT. metal intaglio, but in relief, so that blocks would skillfully and painstakingly cut away Vernon Lee Kin, shipping clerk at Marlene Palmer, librarian for NCFA could be printed simultaneously with type. all the areas which were to appear as white MNH, won first prize, special awards cate­ slide and photograph archives, is associate This facilitated quick and inexpensive pro­ space. gory, in the Maryland Kite Festival for his editor for "Training and Development Or­ duction of illustrated text. Woodengraving When an image was used to make a large homemade kite. The festival was held in ganizations Directory" published by Gale flourished until the 1890's, when the de­ number of copies, in Harper's Weekly for Baltimore on April 29. Research Company in Detroit. velopment of photochemical reproduction example, a metal duplicate of the original The Smithsonian Associate newsletter CFA Astronomer Wolfgang Kalkofen made the craft obsolete. hand-engraved block was made by recently won the Metro Area Mass Media provided additional narration for the Fortunately, the Smithsonian was also stereotyping or electrotyping. This dupli­ Award in the category of "locally pub­ WGBH-TV (Boston) production of flourishing at the time. Except for two cate could be replaced if damaged and lished periodical. " The award is presented "Peanuts," a part of the PBS-BBC series, items relating to the development of would resist wear. annually by the American Association of "World." Kalkofen, strictly an amateur woodengraving in England, the entire Woodengraving is almost a lost art now, University Women. Other publications in announcer, was apparently chosen because exhibit is drawn from SI's collection, practiced by a few artists who choose that the category include Forecast magazine, the producers thought his German-accented amassed by the Institution when the art of medium to express their individual creativ­ The Washingtonian, and Washington English gave the show about peanut farm­ woodengraving was in its prime. Marzio, ity. In "Cut on Wood" one can savor the Calendar Magazine, last year 's winner. ing in Georgia and Senegal an appropriately who was named director of the Corcoran days when woodengraving was a vital part RAP Director Janet W. Solinger, execu- international flavor. Gallery of Art last month, pointed to the of American daily life. Page 6 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH June 1978

Artists, Celebritie ingle at Portrait Gallery Sports By Linda St. Thomas

A goodly number of the people at the Bowling opening of " The TIME of Our Lives" Summer bowling leagues are now form­ ex hibit at the National Portrait Gallery on in g and new participa nts are invited . May I had faces you ' ve seen before . League tenpin action is scheduled to begin Others, apparently impressed by seeing at Parkland Bowl in Suitland on Friday , those faces in real life, wondered aloud " Is June 2, at 6:30 p.m. For more information , that so-and-so?" or " Isn 't that just what contact Nat Gramlin , ext. 5831 or Jim you 'd expect him to look like?" Lawson , ext. 5463. The celebrities-whose portraits have Currently, Divi sion of Fi shes remain s the appeared on the cover of Tim e magazine leading team, having won 85 games and over the past 20 years-included a Water­ lost 34 . Libraries trails with 80 wins and 39 gate judge , a Presidential candidate , a gen­ losses. eral who served in Vietnam, and a noted HMSG Guard George Hannie captured chef. They mingled with cover artists, hi gh game honors with a 249, while Librar­ Tim e editors, and other gue sts at a dinner in ie s' Inez Buchanan remains secure for the the museum 's Great Hall . women with a high game of 204. She also Time donated the originals of some 900 keeps on top with a game average of 157 . covers-paintings, watercolors, photo­ graphs, and sculptures-to NPG , which Football selected 107 works for the current show, The SI football team won its fin al game set to run through August 30 . of the season with a 20-8 victory over At a cocktail reception preceding the UniBank . Their record is 3-2. form al dinner, several celebrities re­ Scoring three touchdowns in the second minisced with a television reporter about half to erase an eight-point deficit , the SI the period when they were chosen for the team converted on three pass plays of 50, cove r story. Former Senator Eugene 60, and three yard s. Ken Samuels, com­ McCarthy talked about the cover story that puter services, sparked the team 's winning appeared March 22, 1968 , just after he had Marvin Sadik greets Lady Bird Johnson at NPG reception. efforts with a pass interception . surprised the pollsters by getting 42 .2 per­ cent of the Democratic vote to Lyndon Cliburn, Buckminster Fuller, Lady Bird sporting two pipes-one in hi s mouth and Baseball Johnson 's 49.4 percent in the New Hamp­ Johnson , and General William C. one in hi s hand . " I haven 't seen it in such a The SI baseball team won its first game shire primary. Westmoreland . long time," she said . " It still looks good. " of the season by forefeit over the Army Watergate Judge John Sirica, who made About 70 arti sts were represented, in­ Wh y the two pipes? " Because he has too Corps of Engineers. Two subsequent games the cover in January 1974, said he was cluding Jamie Wyeth, Robert Rauschenberg much of everything," Mari sol replied. were rained out, and 10 games remain in honored to be enshrined in a national (who did hi s own collage self-portrait), The guest who was most familiar with the regular season . museum. When asked how he felt about the Escobar Mari sol , Roy Lichtenstein , and the art work was arti st Boris Chaliapin, Volleyball fact that his portrait was hung near one of Pietro Annigoni. Many of them painted , who has 13 of his 300 Time cover pieces in Volleyball matches are scheduled for former President Nixon , he laughed and sculpted, or sketched their subjects in rec­ the current show. Tuesday evenings after work . Interested said "no comment. " ord time to meet the weekly news maga­ Vi sitors to ' 'The TIME of Our Lives" employees should contact Richard Hirsh of Sirica isn 't the only person who made zine 's deadline. Cover artist Robert Hein­ may be surprised at the size of these art Time's cover as a result of hi s role in del received a color slide of Daniel Ellsberg works-Marisol 's sculpture of 'Heffner, for NASM, ext. 6234. Watergate. In fact , one wall of the exhibit late one evening and completed his oil example, stands six and a half feet high . It is devoted to the period and holds portraits painting the following morning, a tight was photographed and reduced to the of former Senator Sam Ervin (April 16, deadline considering that it took Gilbert standard eight and a half by eleven inches Five K-9 Teams Win 1973), Nixon (May 14, 1973), and John Stuart and John Trumbell more than five for the March 3, 1967 , cover of Time . Dean (July 2, 1973) as well as former Vice years to finish the portrait of John Jay now Sidney Nolan's painting of Rudolf T phies in Trials President Spiro Agnew (October 1, 1973). in the Gallery. Nureyev, a four-by-four-foot oil painting, Reading the labels, visitors recalled the At the opening, artist Frank Gallo, who was on the cover of Time in 1965 when days when the cover personalities were sculpted the five-foot likeness of Raquel Nureyev was beginning a tour of the United LOusehoLd...names-if only fOL a few weeks. Welch in a bikini , said, " It isn 't often that States with Britain 's Royal Ballet. Remember when Clifford Irving made the an artist is honored in thi s way. This is the All the portraits, including the 700 or so cover in 1972? OrJ.D. Salinger in 1961 ? kind of thing that makes you feel it 's all work s of art not shown in thi s exhibit, will Among the real-life subjects roaming worthwhile . " remain in the NPG collection . Time-Life, around the Portrait Gallery for opening Marisol spent a few minutes in front of Inc . is making arrangements to donate ht ceremonies were Julia Child , Van her wooden sculpture of Hugh Hefner subsequent cover art to the Portrait Gallery.

Lobo does a window jump.

Office of Protection Services K-9 teams won five of the 10 trophies awarded in the novice class at U. S. Pol ice Canine Associa­ tion Dog Trials held recently in Largo, Md . One team, James Smith, Jr. , and Duke, won first place for scent work , second place for attack work, and first place for top all over team. Capturing the second place trophy for top all over team were Edward Kelly and Champ, who also won first place in the agility trials. Other Smith­ sonian officers and dogs participating in the tri als were Arthur Canadyan and Colonel and. Arthur Green and Lobo. Don ald Bartel, canine trainer with OPS , said , " The four Smithsonian teams, out of a total of 18 competing, made a good showing at the trials because of their com­ petitiveness and dedication to the K-9 pro­ gram . They have put forth special effort, often working on their own time. " The four teams were all members of the third c lass of officers a nd dogs who graduated in March during exercises at the Metropolitan Police Department Training Southern Gateway, Smithsonian Institution. Center. With thi s class of seven, OPS now has 10 K-9 teams working the Smithsonian area, mostly at night. Three arrests were made on the Mall by K-9 teams in recent A CLOISTERED QUADRANGLE ... When James Renwick provide a cloistered quadrangle." The gates will lead into the months: two for petty larceny and one for drew up his design for the Smithsonian Castle in 1849, he garden from Independence Avenue and be constructed in robbery (purse snatching) . Since the planned these gates for its southern entrance, but they were brick and ironwork according to Renwick's original plan. museums are now open until 9 p.m. for the never built. The Board of Regents now has decided to Can anyone guess why the architect included "THE END" in summer months, the increased number of construct the gates "so as to define the Victorian Garden and his design? We can't. teams will provide additional security for Mall visitors and employees. June 1978 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH Page 7 'Flying For Fun' Features Frisbees By Lynne Murphy Torch Photo contes~inners Chosen

"In this gallery we don 't feature the unique or the record-setters. We just want to show what people can do on a sunny day to have fun ," explained Claudia Oakes, curator of NASM 's Flying for Fun gallery which will open at the end of June. A year in the making, Flying for Fun will feature boomerangs, plastic flying discs, kites , hang gliders, sailplanes, model airplanes, and exhibits on hot-air balloon­ ing, skydiving, and aircraft restoration . The boomerang exhibit will show an example of one that doesn 't come back, an R-shaped boomerang (they can also come looking like a Y, U, or S), a three-bladed boomerang, as well as a King Billy 's Hook, named for the Australian aborigine who designed it. The predecessor of today's popular plas­ tic flying discs, a baking tin from the Frisbie Pie Company tossed by turn-of­ the-century New England college students, will be on display along with some of its notable successors. There will be a Pipco Flyer, the first mass-produced plastic flying disc, invented by W. Frederick Morrison in 1947, and a 1951 Pluto Platter, alongside eight more contemporary Frisbee models by Judges of the first Torch Photo Contest selected three Wham-O Manufacturing Co. winners from among 30 entries submitted by amateur Smithsonian photographers. Jean Gwaltney placed first The Smithsonian 's first aeronautical ob­ with her photograph of a window at the National Portrait jects were kites donated by the Chinese in Gallery. (See Page 1). Vichai Malikul, a scientific 1876. One of these kites is on display in the iIIustrator in the Museum of Natural History entomology gallery, with others ranging from a three­ department, came in second with his picture, "Two and foot test model used by Samuel Pierpont One," of black-billed magpies in the National Zoo flight Langley to a huge kite used by the weather cage. "Wait for Me!!!" which took third place, was shot at bureau for almost 40 years. the entrance to the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden by Dj The two main types of hang gliders are Hassler, an intern at the National Collection of Fine Arts. represented by a brightly-striped Cumulus Prizes of $50, $30, and $20 went to the winners, and lO Rogallo-wing (without structural ribs in Gwaltney received a box of' photographic paper from the the fabric) and a Valkyrie fixed-wing Office of Printing and Photographic Services. model. Sailplanes are unpowered aircraft with large wingspans that enable them to glide long distances. The Schwe\,zer 1-35A sailplane in the gallery's exhibit on soaring won the 1976 cross-country Smirnoff Derby. Pilot Wally Scott 's gold medal for HMSG To Show Collection of 'The Nobl~ Buyer' this race will also be-on-ci'tspI If you prefer to stay on the ground, you By Sidney Lawrence that a collection of his papers, now in the Diaries, letters, ledgers, and other unpub­ will appreciate the colorful array of some About 70 years ago, a brilliant New York New York Public Library, has become a lished materials provided first-hand ac­ 40 handsome model aircraft. The models lawyer named John Quinn began a career as basic source of information on the period. counts of the evolution of Quinn's taste, his range from those built for looks to those a patron of literature and art that earned QUinn's other passion-the art and artists purchases, aspirations, and friendships. built for flight. There are even some him the title "The NQble Buyer. " He came of his time-will be the subject of an His support of French sculptor Raymond radio-controlled flight models. to know such writers as William Butler exhibition opening June 15 at the Hir­ Duchamp- Villon, for instance, was re­ There will also be photographs , Yeats, Ezra Pound, Joseph Conrad, T. S. shhorn. Titled "The Noble Buyer: John markable . Systematically purchasing al­ supplementary documents, and silent films Eliot, and James Joyce. He collected their Quinn, Patron of the Avant-Garde, " the most all the artist's work , Quinn had sev­ complementing the items in the new dis­ manuscripts, corresponded with them, and exhibit will include 78 key works from the eral bronze casts made from fragile clay or play, which was designed by NASM 's John helped secure publication of their work. So enormous art collection that Quinn assem­ plaster originals after Duchamp-Villon died Brown. central was Quinn to this literary vanguard bled in little more than a decade before his in 1918. death, at age 54, in 1924. Dispersed shortly Excursions to France in 1921 and 1923 thereafter, it was, according to HMSG enabled Quinn to enlarge his art collection Curator Judith ZiIczer, who organized the as well as to renew contact with the Center Director Wins B h " , the most important modern art col­ Parisian avant-garde. Among the lighter . ction assembled in the United States be­ moments were picnics with the Picassos, Mary Grace Potter, director of the Vis­ ~fore 1930. The HMSG exhibition will be golf outings with Brancusi and the com­ itor Information and Associates ' Reception the first time the works have been shown poser Erik Satie, and samplings of Bran­ Center, was presented the first annual together for the pUblic. cusi's memorable chicken soup. Robert A. Brooks Award for Excellence in Brancusi 's " The Ki ss," Picasso 's " La In tracking down works, ZiIczer con­ Administration during a recent ceremony. Toilette " and Matisse's " Blue Nude " ­ sulted sales records , contacted heirs of A certificate and silver plate, engraved with masterworks of modern art that were purchasers, and matched old photographs her name and the year, comprised the among Quinn 's most prized possessions­ of Quinn 's art with newer reproductions. award. have been reassembled for the exhibition, She located more than 500 works, scattered along with important works by Cezanne, across the world , and identified a handful " Receiving this honor is personally re­ Van Gogh, Gauguin and others. Quinn not more that had regrettably been destroyed. warding and satisfying," Potter said, "but only collected the most daring art of his Although the exhibition and catalog more importantly, it 's a tribute to my staff time, but also became friends with many of show the fruits of much original research, and to volunteerism. I think we have dis­ its innovators. work still needs to be done. At his death, proven the idea that volunteers aren't worth " There is a satisfaction," he once wrote, Quinn 's collection numbered more than their salt. I would not be getting this award "in feeling that in buying the work of 2,000 works of art. Only about a fourth of if it were not for all these incredible peo­ living men and in helping them to live and these are now accounted for. Museum vis­ ple on my staff who are devoted to the to create, one is in a sense a co-creator or a Smithsonian. " itors will be asked to partake in the hunt; ;; participant in the work of creation. ' , photographs of important "lost" works Formerly assistant development director : Quinn '5 involvement in art extended well will be displayed on a panel in the exhibi­ ~ with the National Council of Girl Scouts, ~ beyond the pleasures of personal posses- tion galleries. "The Noble Buyer" con­ Potter came to the Smithsonian in 1971 sion, howeve~. He was one of the major tinues through September 4 . when the creation of Smithsonian magazine organizers of the legendary 1913 Armory called for a reception center for Associates. Show, America's first international exhibi- "At that time," said Potter, "the Institu­ Mary Grace Potter tion of modern art. In addition, he sup­ tion had no information services for the ported progressive galleries in New York , Robert K. Poole general public so it seemed like the logical provided wartime relief for European art­ Brooks, who served as the Institution 's thing to com bine both under one ists, and lobbied successfully before Con­ Robert K. Poole, founder in 1970 under secretary from 1971 until his death in umbrella. " gress for repeal of import tariffs on art. and from 1972 -75 director of the 1976. Brooks was a noted classical scholar, Remembered less widely than other patrons Smithsonian-Peace Corps Environmen­ As a service organization for staff, As­ translator of Latin verse, and poet as well of his time-Gertrude Stein, Alfred Stieg­ tal Program, was killed in an au­ sociates, and the general public, the Center as an experienced administrator. Prior to litz, and Gertrude V . Whitney, for tomobile accident in Nairobi, Kenya, answers questions through information becoming under secretary, he served the instance-Quinn nonetheless rivaled them last month. At the time of his death,. desks, by telephone, and by letter. Smithsonian as deputy under secretary and in the breadth of his commitment to con­ Poole was director of African opera­ Potter's fUll-time staff has grown from assistant secretary. He also had served as temporary art. tions for the African Wildlife Lead­ one in 1971 to 14. Through the Center, she assistant secretary of the Army in logistics. Documenting Quinn and his collection ership Foundation. Poole had a long also directs 300 to 400 information volun­ The award, supported by the Robert A . has been a major project for ZiIczer, who association with both the Smithsonian teers and places an additional 200-300 Brooks Memorial Fund, is open to all began research on the exhibition three years and the Peace Corps, serving as the volunteers in specific behind-the-scenes full-time Smithsonian employees who have ago. latter organization's country director in projects. made outstanding contributions to adminis­ "Although accounts of QUinn's life had Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, Somalia, The Brooks Award was established ear­ tration of the Institution or one of its been published, the range and depth of his and Kenya from 1962-69. lier this year in honor of Dr. Robert A. bureaus or offices. collection was little known," she said. Page 8 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH June 1978

Q&A MMT Installation Moves Along Despite Storms v ./ Wilma Riley is an artist for the Museum of Natural History Office of Exhibits. For the past two months, she has been working on a mural showing a Bronze Age Swiss lake village in the Museum's new exhibit, "Western Civili­ zation: Origins and Traditions." She has also done murals in the Ice Age Mammal Hall and near the African village. Riley was interviewed by Torch Editor Susan Bliss. Q. Figuring out how to depict such an ancient and exotic culture must be difficult. How do you do it? A. I started on this one by looking at illustrations that the project archeologist Brian Hesse gave me . Mostly, I use slides showing animals, plants, and various struc­ tures. And you'd be surprised how many strangers walking by offer me source pic­ tures that I can use. By James Cornell Q. Do you plan a precise design ahead of time, or do you make changes and addi­ Construction of the Multiple Mirror tions as you go along? Telescope is nearing completion despite A. 've had to work much more rigidly rain and snow , floods and mudslides, which plagued the Mt. Hopkins Observat­ ory this winter and spring. Construction of the Multiple Mirror The· Optical Support System (OSS) was Telescope will be completed this sum­ installed in the five-story rotating building mer. Some scenes from the top of Mt. late last year and then , in February, the Hopkins (clockwise, from top left): 1. cells that hold the six 72-inch mirrors were Building contractors install special insu­ emplaced in the support. lated panels around the MMT's observ­ At the same time , the mirrors themselves ing chamber. 2. Danny West of the Mt. were sent from the University 's Optical Hopkins staff perches precariously on Sciences Center to nearby Kitt Peak Na­ the edge of the MMT building some tional Observatory for "aluminizing " 8,500 feet above the Santa Cruz Valley as (coating of their front surfaces with a thin he holds taut lines guiding equipment layer of reflecting metal) in the vacuum into the structure below. 3. One of the c~er at the 154-inch Mayall Reflector. six cells designed to hold the 72-inch . .... mirrors of the MMT is lowered into the building. 4. Six primary optics, the heart of the MMT, are uncrated inside t building. (Photos by Vicki Chacon.

f than I usuall y do because this mural is monochromatic and requires a different technique from multi-colored painting. It is very difficult to vary the tones enough to define forms without creating choppy areas Flora Smithiantha of light and dark . To learn more about the technique, which was new to me, I studied the gold-and-white frescoes of Andrea del By James Buckler shades of orange. The relatively low­ Sarto [an Italian artist of the late Renais­ growing French marigolds , Tagete s patula, sance]. The late Senator Everett McKinley stand six to 18 inches tall and have one- to Q. The wall you're painting is 25 feet Dirksen lobbied for more than 10 years to two-inch single or double flowers in many long . Isn't it hard to work on such a large make the American marigold our national shades of yellow, orange, mahogany red, scale? floral emblem. As a result of hi s efforts, a or combinations of these colors. In late April , with the road cleared of A. At home I did a painting of two five­ lovely two-foot golden yellow marigold The African-French hybrids, Tagetes foot palm trees, so I do like to work big . winter's debris, the mirrors were trans­ with 4-inch flowers was named Ta getes erecta X T . patu/a, combine the colors of But for the mural, I first do a large sketch ported from Amado up the winding moun­ 'Senator Dirksen ' several years ago, but both species with two- to three-inch double and then transfer it by using a grid system. tain road by flatbed truck and in stalled in a Congress is still debating between whether flowers with height and spread approxi­ complex and painstaking procedure. Elec­ I draw criss-crossed lines over my smaller to have the marigold or the rose as the mately 12-18 inches. The single dwarf tronic systems prepared by the University drawing and transfer the contents of each national flower marigolds, Tagetes tenuifolia pumila or T. were installed shortly thereafter. square onto proportionally larger squares The Office of Horticulture will install the signata pumila, generally grow about 12 The process of bringing the MMT into on the wall. For the people and animals, I cultivars Moonshot, Gold Coin Mix, Petite inches tall, with yellow or golden-orange full operation will take about a year, al­ photograph my sketches, then project them Orange, and Petite Yellow around museum flowers about an inch across, and have though some astronomical research is ex­ onto the wall . I do my painting from these. grounds this summer. delicate fernlike foliage much finer than Q. What other kinds of projects have you pected to start this summer. Marigolds are among the most popular that of the other three types. l The mount of the telescope has been worked on? annual flowers in American gardens. Mem­ Marigolds make excellent summer annu­ successfully driven . This mounting is novel A. In my 15 years at MNH, I 've worked bers of the Composite Family, they are als when used in the cutting border, in mass on lots of different things. My last assign­ in that its two motions around the compass easily grown and reward gardeners with an bedding, terrace pots, window boxes (espe­ points and in elevation angle differ from ment was to do 20 small drawings for the abundance of flowers throughout the sum­ cially the French marigolds), or mixed with the equatorial mounts of conventional tele­ whale hall . The mural is a big jump in mer months. Marigold colors range from other flowers in a border. Unlike petunias scopes. scale , but it has taught me more than I near-white and cream through vivid yellow and many other summer annuals which The drives have already been used to could learn in four years of art school . and orange to brownish red and maroon . bleed out or become leggy in midsummer, smoothly track a star . using a small aux­ Q. What do you hope the visitors to the Even though they have acquired the com­ marigolds are consistently compact, iliary telescope. The optics were first used Hall will gain from your work? mon names of African and French insect-free, and adaptable, growing in most to collect the light of a star on May 15 . The A. I hope the mural will give some life to marigolds, they all have descended from any soil type, and flowering from mid-May mechanical behavior of the telescope is the exhibit-and show how the Bronze Age the wild Mexican species that have been to the first frost. They are easily started now being studied . Finally, during the tools were used. Al so, I have to think of it developed and hybridized to produce four from seed sown indoors four to six weeks summer, the automatic system for bringing as art and something of value, not just a separate types. before the last frost date is due, or direct the light from the six separate telescopes technical project. How else could anyone The African or Aztec marigold, Tagetes seed outdoors about mid-May in the Wash­ into a single image will be brought into convince me to paint a mural with 75 erecta, is the tallest of the marigolds, ington area. Plants may also be purchased operation. cabbages! growing approximately 18 inches to three from most garden centers or plant shops feet tall and bearing large globe-shaped anytime after April 25, but I recommend three-and-a-half- tb five-inch double blos­ that you not plant them until after May 10 CFA Receives Grant for Interns mostly in off-white, yellow, or to avoid any possible late frost damage.

The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for As­ to learn basic research techniques under the trophysics has received a $4,000 grant from direct supervision of CFA staff members . the Polaroid Foundation of Cambridge, The work-study program is sponsored Mass., to help fund its science intern jointly by SI and Harvard University, with program for high school students. additional support since last year from The grant represents approximately half Polaroid. Although the internships are open of the annual cost of operating the summer to all qualified high school students, spe­ work-study program, according to Program cial efforts are made to recruit women and Coordinator Joanne Whitman. The pro­ members of minority groups. gram, now entering its third year, enables The Polaroid grant will be applied speci­ students with sincere interest in scientific fically to the support of students from careers and proven scholastic achievement inner-city Boston and Cambridge schools.