Conservation Analytical Laboratory The Laboratory is a Smithsonian research institute with a focus on the preservation, conservation, and technical study and analysis of collection materials, with a special emphasis on materials in the national collections. Its researchers investigate the chemical and physical processes that are involved in the deterioration of museum objects and specimens, and attempt to formulate conditions and procedures for storage, exhibit, and stabilization that optimize the preservation of these materials. In interdisciplinary collaborations with archaeologists, anthropologists, and art historians, natural and physical scientists study and analyze objects from the collections and related materials to expand our knowledge and understanding of their historical and scientific context. Many of the research projects involve close collaboration with outside scholars and other Government and academic laboratories. The Laboratory also provides active analytical and technical support to conservation and curation efforts in the various museums within and occasionally outside the Smithsonian. The Laboratory's education program offers a wide range of training opportunities, within the areas of its specialty, to professionals in conservation and related museum disciplines. Its outreach program includes students at institutes of secondary and higher education and the general public. For further information, contact the Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Museum Support Center, 4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD 20560. Phone, 301-238-3700. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum The Museum, located in New York City, is the only museum in the country devoted exclusively to historical and contemporary design. Collections in four curatorial areas include nearly 250,000 objects in the areas of applied arts and industrial design, drawings and prints, wallcoverings, and textiles. A fifth curatorial area, contemporary design, is non-collection-based. The library houses more than 50,000 volumes related to design and decorative arts, a rare book room, and archives containing information related to designers, as well as a Latino/Hispanic and AfricanAmerican archive. Changing exhibitions and public programs seek to educate all people by exploring the role of design in daily life. The Museum is open daily except Mondays and Federal holidays. Admission is charged. For further information, contact the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, 2 East Ninety-First Street, New York, NY 10128. Phone, 212-860-6868. Freer Gallery of Art The building, the original collection, and an endowment were the gift of Charles Lang Freer. The Gallery houses one of the world's most renowned collections of Asian art as well as an important group of ancient Egyptian glass, early Christian manuscripts, and the works of James McNeill Whistler together with other 19th and early 20th century American artists. More than 26,000 objects in the Asian collection represent the arts of East Asia, the Near East, and South and Southeast Asia, including paintings, manuscripts, scrolls, screens, ceramics, metalwork, glass, jade, lacquer, and sculpture. Members of the staff conduct research on objects in the collection and publish results in scholarly journals and books for general and specialist audiences. They arrange thematic exhibitions from the collection and present lectures in their fields of specialization. For further information, contact the Freer Gallery of Art, Jefferson Drive at Twelfth Street SW., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-357-4880. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Museum houses major collections of modern and contemporary art. The nucleus of the collection is the gift and bequest of more than 13,000 works of art for the people of the United States from Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899– 1981). Supplementing the permanent collection, which keeps up with current developments through an active acquisitions program, are loan exhibitions focusing on emerging contemporary artists as well as on art movements of the modern era. There is an active program of public service and education, including docent tours through the Museum to introduce visitors to the collections, lectures on contemporary art and artists, films of historic and artistic interest, and others. The Museum houses a collection research facility, a specialized 42,000volume art library, and a photographic archive-available for consultation by prior appointment. For further information, contact the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-357-3091. National Air and Space Museum Created to memorialize the development of aviation and space flight, the Museum collects, displays, and preserves aeronautical and space flight artifacts of historical significance as well as documentary and artistic materials related to air and space. The exhibitions and study collections record human conquest of the air from its tentative beginnings to recent achievements by high altitude aircraft, guided missiles, rockets, satellites, and manned space flight. The principal areas in which work is concentrated include flight craft of all types, manned and unmanned; space flight vehicles; and propulsion systems. The Langley Theater, with a giant screen presentation, and the 70-foot domed Einstein Planetarium are featured. For further information, contact the National Air and Space Museum, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-357-2700. National Museum of African Art This is the only art museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to portraying the rich, creative visual traditions of Africa. Established in 1964 and incorporated as a bureau of the Smithsonian in 1979, the Museum opened at its new location on the National Mall in September 1987. Its research components, collection, exhibitions, and public programs establish the Museum as a primary source for the examination and discovery of the arts and culture of Africa. In recent years, works of outstanding aesthetic quality have been added to a collection numbering about 7,000 works in wood, metal, fired clay, ivory, and fiber. Examples of traditional art include a wooden figure of a Zairian Yombe carver; a Lower Niger Bronze Industry vessel, with chameleons; and a memorial figure from the Cameroon grassfields. The Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives includes some 100,000 slides, photos, and film segments on Africa. There is also a specialized library of 18,000 volumes and periodicals. For further information, contact the Museum of African Art, 950 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-357-4600. National Museum of American Art The Nation's oldest Federal art collection presents more than 250 years of American painting, sculpture, folk art, photography, and graphic art. A flexibly structured changing selection from the permanent collection of more than 37,500 works of art allows for special groupings based on subjects, media, and other considerations. Approximately 15 special exhibitions are presented each year on various aspects of American art, often accompanied by publications and interactive computer programs. A major center for research in American art, the Museum has dealt with resources that include the Inventory of American Paintings Executed Before 1914, with data on nearly 260,000 works; the Peter A. Juley & Sons collection of 127,000 historical photographs; the Slide and Photographic Archives; the Smithsonian Art Index; the Pre-1877 Art Exhibition Catalogue Index; the Inventory of American Sculpture, with information on more than 50,000 indoor and outdoor works; and the Joseph Cornell Study Center. The library, shared with the National Portrait Gallery, contains volumes on art, history, and biography, with special emphasis on the United States. It also houses the Archives of American Art, with its vast holdings of documentary material on American art and artists. The Museum makes hundreds of images from the collection and extensive information on its collections, publications, and activities available to personal computer users on the Internet (World Wide Web, http:// www.nmaa.si.edu/) and commercial online services. There is a research program for visiting scholars, and university interns are welcomed in many museum departments. The Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art offers changing exhibitions of American crafts and decorative arts, both historical and contemporary, and a rotating selection from its permanent collection of 20th century American crafts. Its Grand Salon is elegantly furnished in the opulent style of the 1860's and 1870's. For further information, contact the National National Museum of American History The Museum's exhibits offer a unique view of the American experience. important elements of the collections present the European background, but emphasis is placed upon the growth of the United States, upon the men and women who have shaped our heritage, upon science and the arts, and upon the remaking of our world through technology. Exhibits draw upon strong collections in the sciences and engineering, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, medicine, printing, photography, ceramics, coins, and glass. Outstanding holdings include Whitney's cotton gin, Morse's telegraph, the John Bull locomotive, and a great variety of scientific instruments. Political, social, military, and cultural history are also well represented. Major installations treat everyday life in America just after the Revolutionary War, science in American life, and the diverse origins of the American people. The Museum offers changing exhibits on a wide range of subjects including information technology, political history, American music, and American cars and trains. Hands-on activities, demonstrations, films, and performances highlight many aspects of the Museum. Scholars may be aided in the use of the Museum's research collections and specialized library facilities by appointment. For further information, contact the National Museum of American History, Fourteenth Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-357-2700. National Museum of the American Indian The Museum was established by act of November 28, 1989 (20 U.S.C. 80q et seq.), and will eventually be located in a museum to be built on the National Mall in Washington, DC, near the turn of the 21st century. In the meantime, some of the Museum's collections are on view in the George Gustav Heye Center located in the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in lower Manhattan in New York City. The Museum, whose collections were transferred to the Smithsonian from the former Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, is dedicated to the collection, preservation, study, and exhibition of the living cultures, history, and arts of the native peoples of the Americas. Highlights include Northwest Coast carvings; Eskimo masks; pottery and weaving from the Southwest; painted hides and garments from the Plains; goldwork from Colombia, Mexico, and Peru; and Amazonian featherwork. For information on hours and admission fees, call 212-825-6700 (in New York City) or 202-357-2700 (in Washington, DC). For further information, contact the National Museum of the American Indian, Suite 7102, 470 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-287-2523. National Museum of Natural History This museum is dedicated to understanding the natural world and the place of humans in it. The Museum's permanent exhibits focus on Earth sciences, biology, and anthropology, with the most popular displays featuring gemstones, dinosaurs, marine ecosystems, birds, and mammals. Notable attractions include the O. Orkin Insect Zoo, where a variety of arthropods live in five realistic habitats; and the Discovery Room, where visitors can use all of their senses to explore specimens and artifacts. The Museum also produces and hosts a variety of thought-provoking temporary exhibits along with special exhibitions. The public displays represent only a small portion of the national collections housed and maintained by the Museum. These encyclopedic collections comprise more than 120 million specimens, making the Museum one of the world's foremost facilities for natural history research. Some 100 doctorate-level staff researchers ensure the continued growth and value of the collection by conducting studies in the field and laboratory. To this end, the Museum maintains permanent research facilities in Alaska, Florida, Belize, Guyana, and Brazil. For further information, contact the National Museum of Natural History, Tenth Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-357-2700. National Portrait Gallery The Gallery was established by act of April 27, 1962 (20 U.S.C. 75a), as a museum of the Smithsonian Institution "for the exhibition and study of portraiture depicting men and women who have made significant contributions to the history, development, and culture of the people of the United States." It is housed in one of the oldest Government structures in Washington-the former U.S. Patent Office Building, constructed between 1836 and 1867- -on the very site that Pierre L'Enfant, in his original plan for the city, had designated for a pantheon to honor the Nation's immortals. The first floor of the Gallery is devoted to major loan exhibitions, changing exhibitions from the Gallery's collection of paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs, and drawings as well as several galleries with special portrait collections. On the second floor are featured the permanent collection of portraits of eminent Americans and the Hall of Presidents containing portraits and associative items of our Chief Executives. The two-story Victorian Renaissance Great Hall on the third floor of the gallery houses a Civil War exhibition (on the mezzanine), and is used for special events and public programs. Publications include a free bimonthly calendar of events, illustrated catalogs for major exhibitions, an illustrated checklist of portraits in the collection, and educational materials. A 45,000-volume library is shared with the National Museum of American Art and the Archives of American Art. The education department offers public programs; outreach programs for schools, senior citizen groups, hospitals, and nursing homes; and walk-in and group tours. For general information and descriptive brochures on the Gallery's activities, contact the Public Affairs Office, National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202357-2700. National Postal Museum The Museum houses the Nation's postal history and philatelic collection, the largest of its kind in the world, with more than 16 million objects. The 75,000 square-foot Museum is devoted to the history of America's mail service. Five major galleries include exhibits on mail service in colonial times and the Civil War, the Pony Express, the evolution of modern mail service, automation, mail transportation, the art of letters, and displays of the Museum's priceless stamp collection. Highlights include three mail planes, a replica of a railway mail car, a mudwagon, an airmail beacon, displays of letters and greeting cards, foreign and domestic mail boxes, and more than 5,000 U.S. and foreign issue stamps and covers. Located on Capitol Hill next to Union Station, the Postal Museum is geared for a family audience. A state-of-the-art museum setting offers more than 40 videos and interactive displays, as well as a museum shop, a stamp retail store, and a discovery center for educational programs, lectures, and performances. For further information, contact the National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Avenue NE., Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-633-9360. National Zoological Park The National Zoo encompasses 163 acres along Rock Creek in Northwest Washington, DC. Established in 1889, the Zoo is one of the oldest branches of the Smithsonian Institution. The collection today encompasses more than 5,600 animals and 491 species, ranging in size and diversity from leaf-cutter ants to elephants and rhinos. State-of-the-art exhibits include “Amazonia,” a simulated tropical rain forest; "Think Tank," an exhibit focusing on animal thinking; the "Vertebrate" exhibit; "Pollinarium"; and the Reptile Discovery Center, featuring the world's largest lizards, Komodo dragons. The Zoo's exhibits are supported by scientific investigations conducted at the Zoo's Department of Zoological Research. Work focusing on genetics, animal behavior, and reproductive studies has given the National Zoo a leadership role among the Nation's conservation institutions. In addition to its Washington facilities, the Zoo's Conservation and Research Center, located on 3,150 acres near Front Royal, VA, houses an additional 4,500 animals. Research at the Center explores animal behavior, ecology, nutrition, reproductive physiology, pathology, and clinical medicine. The CRC also conducts research into the long-term maintenance of wild animal populations and captive-breeding of endangered animals. The Center operates a training program for wildlife professionals from other countries including those with endangered and rare wildlife. For further information, contact the National Zoo, Office of Fellowships and Grants This by universities and support participants' research in art, history, and science. Predoctoral, postdoctoral, and graduate student fellowship programs provide scholars and students the opportunity to conduct research on independently conceived projects at Smithsonian facilities in conjunction with the Institution's research staff. The Office of Fellowships and Grants offers internships aimed at increasing minority participation in ongoing Smithsonian research activities and fields of interest. In addition, it administers all internships funded by stipends. In addition to these programs, the Office administers other research opportunity programs for many of the Smithsonian bureaus. For further information, contact the Office of Center for Folklife Programs and For further information, contact the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies, Suite 2600, 955 L'Enfant Plaza, Washington, DC 20560. Phone, 202-287-3424. International Center The International Center supports Smithsonian activities abroad and coordinates the Smithsonian's international interests, particularly those that do not fall within the scope of a single Smithsonian bureau or museum. The International Center provides a meeting place and an organizational channel to bring together the world's scholars, museum professionals, decisionmakers, and the general public, to attend and participate in conferences, public forums, lectures, performances, exhibitions, films, and workshops. Through the International Center, the Smithsonian seeks to |