X-Nico

43 unusual facts about Smithsonian Institution


Allen Organ Company

Over the years, he built many home and church organs, and in 1971 the company introduced the world's first consumer-product digital musical instrument; in 2004, the Smithsonian Institution recognized the significance of this technology by acquiring the first Allen digital organ for its collection.

American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine

1973: A major exhibition tracing the development of physical medicine in the United States in the past 200 years opened at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, under sponsorship of the ACRM.

Archie W. Dunham

He served on the board of the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston, the board of visitors of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, the board of Trustees of the Houston Symphony, the George Bush Presidential Library, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Arvid Nyholm

His works are held by a variety of institutions including the West Point Academy, the National Portrait Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution, the Iowa State Historical Society and the Wright Museum of Art at Beloit College.

Benton Sans

In developing the typeface, Frere-Jones studied drawings of Morris Fuller Benton's 1908 typeface News Gothic at the Smithsonian Institution.

Boyd Estus

In addition to making films for the BBC and other overseas broadcasters, Estus has made many films for American broadcast television including the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Institution, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and PBS television where he was a founding member of the film unit at WGBH Boston.

Cairns Glacier

The feature was named by US-ACAN (2006) after Stephen Douglas Cairns, research zoologist, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 1985-2006; Board of Associated Editors, Antarctic Research Series, American Geophysical Union, 1990-95.

Carmel McCaffrey

She is also a frequent lecturer at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. She founded and edited the literary review Wild About Wilde dedicated to the works of the nineteenth-century Irish writer, Oscar Wilde.

Charles M. Kurtz

His papers are on file at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

Codex Washingtonianus

It is located in the Smithsonian Institution at the Freer Gallery of Art (06. 274) in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and some of it can be viewed on-line.

Cumberland Valley Railroad

In 1999, the Pioneer was moved from its display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. to the as yet unopened National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Dial-A-Joke

The original recordings, which later included such notables as Jay Leno and David Letterman, were donated to the Smithsonian Institution in the late 1980s.

Donald Gunn

He also wrote for the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute of Rupert's Land, and was a member of the Board of Management for Manitoba College (a Presbyterian institution).

Donald S. Lopez, Sr.

(July 15, 1923 – March 3, 2008) was a U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force fighter and test pilot and until his death the deputy director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Dorence Atwater

It never occurred to him that the Smithsonian or Andersonville itself would one day dearly love to display his hard work.

Eastern Iowa brass band

In 1991, the band was featured by the Smithsonian Institution in the Festival of American Folklife in Washington D.C. On six occasions EIBB has been invited to present a feature program at the annual convention of the Iowa Bandmasters Association, and recently performed to a sellout crowd at the American School Band Directors Association convention.

Enter Life

Featuring anthropomorphic amino acids and cells and a light-hearted touch, with music by Elizabeth Swados, the film has shown considerable durability, still being shown on continuous loop at the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution, which sponsored the original production.

Fairplex

In addition, Fairplex is the site of the Millard Sheets Center for the Arts at Fairplex, a year-round education and exhibit space affiliated with The Smithsonian Institution.

Francis Chapin

Chapin's papers are held in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Franklin Silver Cornet Band

The band has made a number of other out-of-town appearances over the years, including performances at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, Hersheypark, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and the Henry Ford Museum.

Galapagos Conservancy

The CDF, Inc. was a project of the CDF, the formation of which was underwritten by a two-year grant from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF International) and an existing support program housed at the Smithsonian Institution.

George Barnston

During his working life with the HBC, Barnston was a student of the natural history of the various areas and his specimens are in the Smithsonian Institution, the British Museum and the Redpath Museum at McGill.

George F. MacDonald

Inspired as much by the ideas of Marshall Mcluhan and Disney's Epcot Center as by other museums like the Smithsonian Institution, MacDonald's version of the museum included interactive displays, replicas, and an IMAX theatre.

Grey Trembler

However, in April 2000 ancient DNA analysis of that skin in the Smithsonian Institution led by Storrs Olson had shown that the Liverpool specimen was nothing more than a misidentified and mislabled albinistic specimen of C.

Hanalei Bay

In 1995–2000, archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History excavated the wreck and recovered more than 1,200 artifacts.

James Winkfield

Winkfield was part of an April 24, 2009 article at the Smithsonian Institution website.

Lecithocera dondavisi

The species is named after Donald R. Davis, curator of lepidoptera at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, United States, an authority on the microlepidoptera of the world.

MacFarlane's bear

MacFarlane shipped the skin and skull to the Smithsonian Institution where they were placed in storage and soon forgotten.

Marie-Hélène Sachet

In 1966, she commenced work at the Smithsonian Institution, rising to the position of curator of botany at the National Museum of Natural History.

Marion A. Trozzolo

An original Happy Pan is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Milwaukee Does

Joanne Smith scored the league's first basket on a perimeter jump shot and an assist from Brenda Dennis, with the game ball presumably earning a place of honor in the Smithsonian Institution, as surmised by the Chicago Tribune.

Peter John Stephens

He was the brother of Richard Waring, the US-based actor, and son of Thomas E. Stephens, whose portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower hangs in the Smithsonian Gallery of Presidents and Evelyn Mary Waring.

Photography in Denmark

Many of her Native American images are preserved at the Smithsonian Institution and National Archives.

Pousadas de Portugal

In 1995 the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) and the Smithsonian Foundation, awarded the Pousadas de Portugal the annual prize for the institutions around the world with an active part in the protection of cultural and environmental heritage for touristic purposes.

Pyote Air Force Base

Arriving at Pyote on 12 January 1952, the ownership of the aircraft was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution.

Robert Owen

In 1836–1839 and 1851–1852 he served as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives and in 1844–1847 was a Representative in Congress, where he drafted the bill for the founding of the Smithsonian Institution.

Smithsonian Institution

Other members of the Board of Regents are three members of the U.S. House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House; three members of the Senate, appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate; and nine citizen members, nominated by the Board and approved by the Congress in a joint resolution signed by the President of the United States.

Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian Cristián Samper was interviewed by the Post, and claimed the exhibit was edited because it contained conclusions that went beyond what could be proven by contemporary climatology.

Tim Battersby

In 1977 he composed the music for a Smithsonian Institution film entitled The Last Chance, which debuted at The National Zoo in Washington D.C. in May 1978.

Viento de agua

It has two published albums, one of them, Materia Prima (Raw Material) was produced by the Smithsonian Institution's music label Folkways.

Wetmore Glacier

It was discovered by the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE), 1947–48, under Ronne, who named this feature for Alexander Wetmore, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who assisted Ronne in laying out the scientific research program of the expedition.

William N. Fenton

In his work as an ethnologist with the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of American Ethnology, Fenton drew attention to existing historic and ethnographic sources.

Wise Observatory

Founded in October 1971 as a collaboration between Tel-Aviv University and the Smithsonian Institution, and named after the late Dr. George S. Wise, the first President of the Tel-Aviv University.


Alexander Street Press

This led to a new range of music publications, including a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution to provide Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries and African American Song.

Almanzo W. Litchard

He also visited Mount Vernon, the U.S. Treasury, and the Smithsonian Institution during his excursions into town.

B-25 Mitchell aircraft in Catch-22

Fifteen of the 18 bombers used in the film still remain intact, including one on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

Bennett Bean

Bean's work appears in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusetts, the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Newark Museum in Newark, New Jersey, the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, New Jersey, the JB Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Chalk Emerald

The ring was donated by Mr. and Mrs. O. Roy Chalk to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in 1972 and is part of the Smithsonian's National Gem and Mineral Collection.

Charles Lang Freer House

The house was originally built for the industrialist and art collector Charles Lang Freer, whose gift of the Freer Gallery of Art began the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Ernest Robinson Ackerman

A part of his valuable United States collection was bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. Ackerman was named to the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame in 2000.

Gene Zesch

His work has also been displayed in special exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery (United States) (1993), the Museum of Western Art (2004), and HemisFair '68 (1968).

Green Fields of America

Playing such venues as Carnegie Hall, Wolf Trap, The Smithsonian Institution, The Festival of American Folklife (now the Smithsonian Folklife Festival), the Milwaukee Irish Fest, and The National Folk Festival, the Five members of the band – Liz Carroll, Jack Coen, Michael Flatley, Donny Golden and Mick Moloney – have received National Heritage Awards.

Hawk Littlejohn

His expertise in Native American medicine afforded him a position as adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's medical school, and as a cultural consultant for the Smithsonian Institution and the North Carolina Museum of History.

Jackson County, Alabama

Russell Cave is an important archaeological site that was excavated in 1956 by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Geographic Society.

Jarosewichite

Jarosewichite was named in honor of Eugene Jarosewich (1926–2007), a chemist in the Department of Mineral Sciences of Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA.

John C. Ewers

At the time of his death he was Ethnologist Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution and was the first recipient of the Smithsonian's Exceptional Service Award as well as the Western History Association's Oscar O. Winther Award and the American Alliance of Museums's Distinguished Service Award.

Kevin Red Star

Red Star’s works are the focal point of several important museum collections, including the Smithsonian Institution: National Museum of the American Indian; C.M. Russell Museum; Heard Museum; Denver Art Museum; Eiteljorg Museum; Southwest Museum; Whitney Museum of Western Art; Institute of American Indian Arts Museum; United States Department of State; and scores of others.

Lee Raymond

Lee Raymond received the Woodrow Wilson Award from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution for Corporate Citizenship during a dinner held in his honor in Dallas, Texas in early 2003.

Lyndon Stromberg

Works include "Our Universe" at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian, "Rome" at Caesars Palace, "The World" at Winstar Casino and the "Virgin of Guadalupe" at the Dallas Cathedral Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe.

Michael Beschloss

He has served as a historian at the Smithsonian Institution, a Senior Associate Member at St. Antony's College (University of Oxford), a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard University Russian Research Center, a Senior Fellow of the Annenberg Foundation and a Montgomery Fellow and Dorsett Fellow at Dartmouth College.

Naming rights

For example, in honor of the more than $60 million donated over the years by one donor to the National Air and Space Museum properties, the directors of the Smithsonian Institution chose to name its satellite facility in Loudoun County, Virginia after the donor, calling it the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

Nene Humphrey

Humphrey is the recipient of the Montalvo Artist Fellowship (2012), the Agnes Gund Production Grant for Video (2010), the Smithsonian Institution Artist Research Fellowship (2007), the Anonymous Was a Woman Award (1999), the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (1986), and the National Endowment for the Arts Artist Grant (1983).

Old Patent Office Building

Once home to many early government departments, today the structure houses two museums of the Smithsonian Institution, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

Peggy Hopkins Joyce

She owned the Portuguese Diamond, one of the most expensive in the world, that she sold to Harry Winston and which is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Richard C. Banks

(born April 19, 1931) is an American author, ornithologist and Emeritus Research Zoologist on staff with the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center run by the U.S. Geological Survey and stationed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Seeds of Change: Five Plants That Transformed Mankind

Seeds of Change: Five plants that transformed mankind is a 1985 book by Henry Hobhouse, formerly a journalist for The Economist, News Chronicle, Daily Express, and the Wall Street Journal, consultant to the Quincentenary of Columbus Exhibition, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, and Chairman of the Rerstmoceux Science Centre.

Southern Railway Ps-4 class

The engines are notable for their green with gold trim liveries, and have been regarded by Smithsonian curator John H. White, Jr. as being "among the most celebrated passenger locomotives operated in the United States...."

Susan Hutchison

Hutchison serves as an officer of the following boards: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Washington, DC), Finance Chair (present) of Young Life International, Vice Chair (present) All-Star Orchestra, Vice President (present) and Chair (2006-2009) Seattle Symphony, and on the following boards: Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Children's Hospital Foundation, Discovery Institute, and Salvation Army.

Susan Powers

Her paintings are in many permanent collections, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the American Museum in Bath, England.

Suspicious Cheese Lords

From 1998 to 2005, the Cheese Lords served as artists in residence at Mount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery, the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, D.C. The Cheese Lords assisted in developing "An Evening at the Tabard Inn", an event for the Smithsonian Institution's Resident Associates program, for which the group provided music contemporary to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and related to the theme of pilgrimage.

Syd Lieberman

He has created performances commissioned by the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institution (for the National Air and Space Museum), Van Andel Museum Center, NASA, and Historic Philadelphia.

The Verdin Company

Other notable installations include the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Smithsonian Institution, the Canadian Parliament Buildings and Walt Disney World Resort, and the 88 bronze bells cast for the Ohio Bicentennial.

Theodric Romeyn Beck

He served as the Principal of The Albany Academy from 1817 to 1848, where he encouraged the future curator of the Smithsonian Institution, Joseph Henry, to enroll as a student and later serve as a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in 1826.

Wajahat Khan

He has performed extensively around the world including performances at prestigious venues such as the Kremlin, the Acropolis of Athens, the Royal Albert Hall for the Proms, the Smithsonian Institution, Suntory Hall and the Glastonbury Festival.