Smithsonian Affiliations

What’s wintertime like in your neck of the woods? Winters in the boreal forest are not for the faint of heart! Wintry conditions last up to eight months a year. Snow and ice blanket the landscape and temperatures stay well below freezing the WHOLE TIME. Nights stretch 16 hours or longer, and at the northern edge of the boreal, the sun doesn’t rise at all for a month or more!

To survive, some animals hole up in dens. Others, such as wolves and lynx, remain active with thick fur to protect them. And many birds simply leave, flying south to warmer places.

Explore more of the in our “Knowing Nature: Stories of the Boreal Forest” traveling exhibition. You can follow the tour schedule here: https://s.si.edu/48BNKfS

Images Courtesy: ©Tom Walker All Rights Reserved

Join us as we welcome the Year of the Dragon with cultural performances, crafts, and activities for families and kids of all ages!

🐉Traditional mochitsuki (Japanese rice pounding ritual) performance by Kodama Taiko
🐉Candy sculpture demonstrations by Shinobu “Shan the Candyman” Ichiyanagi
🐉Interactive storytimes
🐉Souvenir photos by cre8tive outlets
🐉Fun crafts and origami inspired by Oshogatsu and Year of the Dragon
🐉Scavenger hunt for prizes
🐉Free admission all day to see our current exhibitions
..and much, much more! See the full schedule of activities and RSVP at the link in bio

FREE ALL DAY! Prior registration is highly recommended
https://9644p.blackbaudhosting.com/9644p/tickets?tab=2&txobjid=e0a950a4-22af-43cf-b26e-dd5eca8939b9

The staff at Affiliations wishes you a very Happy New Year! Thank you to all of our Facebook friends, Affiliates and partners for supporting our work in 2023! We can promise even more engaging stories, content and programs that reflect the extraordinary work of our Affiliates in partnership with the Smithsonian in the new year!

Wishing everyone a warm and happy holiday season!

What does women’s history mean to you? Share a story of an American woman from the past who has inspired you. https://s.si.edu/3QY6cZ4

Have you added "White Christmas - The Exhibition" to your holiday wish list? Celebrate the music, costumes and pageantry in an exhibition that is sure to be the highlight of the Christmas season!

Learn more, including what's coming up at the museum in our latest newsletter. - https://mailchi.mp/durhammuseum/durham-newsletter-487148

On view now at Cincinnati Museum Center!

This dress belonged to Minnijean Brown, a girl who made history by simply trying to go to school and claiming her right to belong.

Minnijean was excited to go to Central High in Little Rock Arkansas because it looked “like a castle.” She was convinced she would receive a superior education there. But on the first day of school, the Arkansas National Guard blocked her entrance. She faced an army to get an equal education.

In 1957, she and eight classmates integrated the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the civil rights movement. Inside Central High, white students terrorized Minnijean. They punched her, kicked her, and lit paper to throw fire at her. When she stood up for herself the first time, Principal Jess Matthews suspended her. The second time, he expelled her. She had to leave her family and move to New York to complete her education.

Learn more about Minijean’s story in our “Girlhood (It’s complicated)” traveling exhibition on view now at our Affiliate the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Image: Courtesy National Museum of American History

Detailed NASA moon photos line walls in Mayborn exhibit A touring exhibition from the Smithsonian is now at the Mayborn Museum, with highly detailed NASA photos revealing various aspects of lunar geology and history in “A New Moon Rises.”

Thanks to two Smithsonian Affiliations and Emerson Collective interns SciEd hosted this summer, we have two new Teacher's Guides for our in-person field trips. Max and Logan developed age-appropriate activities, lessons, and videos that enhance the "What's Up with Climate Change?" Learning Lab experience outside of the field trip time. You can find the guides and more information about our in-person field trips on our website https://scied.ucar.edu/visit/ncar-field-trips/prepare

November is Native American Heritage Month, and each week this month we are highlighting Native American artwork from our collection.

Week 5 ➡ NDN (for life) by Jaune Quick-To-See-Smith

"NDN (For Life) is a towering canvas consisting of a neutral palette of primarily beige and blue-gray colors. The composition is anchored by a life-size dress that evokes a traditional Northern Plains Native American-style garment with wide sleeves and an asymmetrical hem. The dress is presented as it would be on display in a museum, with the arms outstretched. Emblazoned on the chest of the dress are the letters “N-D-N” in foot-tall Times New Roman font. Below, smaller, are the words “for life.” The dress appears blue-gray but is partially obscured by an added layer of off-white paint falling in vertical drips. Along with the dress, the drips cover up a collage of scientific illustrations of insects, fish, plants, and wolves, along with writing samples and scientific imagery.

As an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, Quick-to-See Smith has been creating complex paintings and prints since the 1970s. Her artwork is characterized by strong socio-political commentary that calls attention to the experience of Native Americans in the United States."

- Anjanette Lecher, narrator on The Rockwell Museum Artists as Activists Audio Tour and member of the Choctaw Nation

Learn more about NDN (for life) by listening to the Artists as Activists Audio Tour. CLick here to listen ➡ https://mapmyvisit.com/listen/RockwellMuseum
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Jaune Quick-To-See-Smith, NDN (for life), 2000. Mixed media on canvas, 72 × 48 in. Gift of Joanna Wurtele. 2000.13.

Smithsonian Affiliations

November is Native American Heritage Month, and each week this month we are highlighting Native American artwork from our collection!

Week 4 ➡ Dinosaur Olla by William Andrew Pacheco

William Andrew Pacheco is a contemporary ceramicist. This hand-built ceramic work features a group of smiling dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are featured in most of Pacheco's work. Pacheco combines traditional pottery techniques with these whimsical hand-painted creatures. "Dinosaur Olla" is currently on view in the Museum’s Southwest Lodge!

Click this link to explore our collection of Native American artwork through our eMuseum digital collection ➡ https://rockwell.emuseum.com/collections
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Smithsonian Affiliations

William Andrew Pacheco, Dinosaur Olla, 1998, Ceramic, 11 ½ x 11 ½ in. Clara S. Peck Fund. 2000.47.5.

From our table to yours, Happy Thanksgiving! We are forever thankful of your support of The Durham Museum!

We're closed today, but save room for dessert. Friday is the start of Christmas at Union Station presented by FNBO.

📸 The Durham Museum Photo Archive, Bostwick-Frohardt Collection/KM3TV, BF5128-001, 1934

As many gather for Thanksgiving today looking forward to seasonal pies and turkey, let's keep in mind those serving far from home and their holiday traditions that demonstrate resilience amidst conflict. From makeshift meals in challenging situations to bringing a taste of home to distant deployments, thanksgiving meals serve as a moment of normalcy in difficult times. Today, we also acknowledge the National Day of Mourning, remembering the history of violence against Indigenous Peoples in the United States and its lasting effects.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you eat a lot of Turkey, speaking of which, this image was included in our Consolidated/Convair images which we are digitizing, thanks to a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities. Convair took photographs of any and everything related to the company, and we believe that this image was taken to show off the company’s new pressure-cooking oven. These images can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72157684548755371

Cranberry Day: Traditional Harvest Festivals Harvest ceremonies and festivals have been an integral part of Wampanoag lifeways for thousands of years. Learn the significance of Cranberry Day for Wampano...

Smithsonian Affiliates Teaching Ideas Please provide your account's email address and we will e-mail you instructions to reset your password. For assistance changing the password for a child account, please contact us

Black Women Artists of the American South Welcome to the Black Women Artists of the American South Learning Lab collection, which features four different artists who had a significant influence i...

Looking for ways to explore the history of oceanic observations—and their impact on our current understandings of climate change and conservation? Check out this teaching collection from the Mystic Seaport Museum, a member of Smithsonian Affiliations: https://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/NRc0xkDKVpj6hMPQ

Cultivating Environmental Leaders | Cultivating Learning Join Jennifer Brundage, National Outreach Manager in Smithsonian Affiliations, to explore strategies for supporting high-school students’ environmental actio...

Mendez v. Westminster: A Chicano Civil Rights Landmark Case This Learning Lab collection was created by Alicia Gonzalez, Gabby Saxon and Shai Smith in the summer 2021 Smithsonian Affiliate Digital Learning and Eng...

The Artist in the American Landscape Built or natural, densely populated or sparsely inhabited, the landscape around us always affects us. Artists across the world and throughout all periods...

November is Native American Heritage Month, and each week this month we are highlighting Native American artwork from our collection!

Week 3 ➡ Blanket Stories: Western Door, Salt Sacks, and Three Sisters by Marie Watt

Marie Watt's Blanket Column Series draws upon biography, history, Iroquois teachings, and Seneca photo-feminism as it explores the universal human connection to textiles. This sculpture is the result of a collaboration between the artist, The Rockwell Museum, and the greater Corning, New York, community. Through a regional call for blankets, textiles were generously contributed by families throughout Western New York State. These blankets serve as markers of collective memory, and each one represents an individual story. Watt believes that stories help tether people to place and community, and they communicate the shared experiences of our human conditions.

Opening soon! "The Bias Inside Us" is an exhibition and community engagement project from the Smithsonian that explores the social science, psychology, and consequences of implicit bias. Bias is an innate human trait; we all have it. Being aware of our bias can help us recognize its influence and impact on our behaviors and worldview. "The Bias Inside Us" offers an opportunity to learn how to challenge bias in the world through awareness of one’s own bias.

Opens this Saturday, November 18, 2023

"The Bias Inside Us" is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Major support is provided by The Otto Bremer Trust.

📷: Spanish photographer Angélica Dass’ Humanae project, which reflects on the color of skin that challenges the concept of race. Photo by Science Museum of Minnesota

November is Native American Heritage Month, and each week this month, we are highlighting Native American artwork from our collection!

Week 2 ➡ Spirit Assemblage by Dan Namingha

This painting is an abstract image of four, multi-colored Hopi katsina figures. Namingha used both palette knives and brushes to create texture within the paint to make these abstract figures. Look closely at this painting and examine the detail of the paint strokes and all of the swirls of color! Dan Namingha's "Spirit Assemblage", is featured in our current spotlight exhibition, The Living Legacy of Clara S. Peck, on view now through January 28, 2024.

Click this link to explore our collection of Native American artwork through our eMuseum digital collection ➡ https://rockwell.emuseum.com/collections

Check back next week to see a new work of art featured on our page!
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Smithsonian Affiliations

Dan Namingha, Spirit Assemblage, 1988, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 in.
Clara S. Peck Fund. 2013.9.

November is Native American Heritage Month, and we are honored to celebrate and amplify Native Americans in our community of the past, present, and future.

As a Smithsonian Affiliate, we join in celebrating Native American Heritage Month throughout November by exploring the life, culture and experiences of Native Americans. Discover articles, videos and digital resources that illuminate educational stories about the history and voices of Native American individuals. Find out how Native Americans historically made an impact in every branch of the armed forces. Through the blog, November, Veterans Day, and Native American Heritage Month, we would like to recognize all Indigenous veterans this November, those who have served and those currently serving: https://www.connerprairie.org/november-veterans-day-and-native-american-heritage-month

Discover more: https://www.connerprairie.org/native-american-voices

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