O Say Can You See?

Scenes from the front line

Wearing my red director’s badge, I have plunged back into the throngs of visitors in the first month since we reopened to gauge how they are responding to the transformed museum. I have personally met hundreds of people from around the world and they all have strong reactions to what they are seeing. One woman from Hong Kong cried when she saw the Star-Spangled Banner, “even though I am not an American.” On the other hand, some visitors who loved our previous displays are dismayed when they fail to find one of their old favorites. We can’t always address their concerns, but I do pay attention and I will make changes whenever possible.

The biggest surprise for me has been the terrific reception for living history programs that take place throughout the museum. The holiday music program was a spectacular success and I loved it when visitors sang along with the performers. The sit-in experience at the Greensboro Lunch Counter has been especially engaging for visitors of all ages. I am amazed and pleased at how many children are staying after the performance and asking questions of our very patient actor. He is so effective in his role as an organizer of non-violent protest that the museum’s security detail tried to escort him from the building on his first day (we had failed to inform them that we would have this piece of theatre on a regular basis).

For me, the display of the Gettysburg Address remains a highlight of the first six weeks since our reopening. I cannot think of a single speech that better expresses what it means to be an American or represents the hopes and aspirations of the American Dream. The fact that thousands of visitors can see this document for themselves has given me great personal and professional satisfaction.

Brent D. Glass is Director of the National Museum of American History.

Getting ready

Our director, Dr. Brent D. Glass, went on air yesterday to talk with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris of “Daily Debrief” about what we’ve been up to for the past two years and what to expect when we reopen next week. Why did the museum need to renovate its building? What does it take in terms of people-power and funding to pull off a project like this? And what is the director’s favorite artifact that will be on view when the museum reopens on November 21? Hear the answers to these questions and more on Federal News Radio. 

Dana Allen-Greil is the new media project manager at the National Museum of American History.

Raising the flag

If you have been following the renovation at the National Museum of American History, you know that one of the visual centerpieces of our new central atrium will be the large abstract flag that marks the entrance to the Star-Spangled Banner gallery. I’m pleased to announce that we have achieved another milestone towards our reopening by raising the flag’s frame onto the gallery wall.

Previous posts on this blog have featured the undulating frame that will support hundreds of reflective tiles—the architects call them “pixels”—to create the effect of waving stripes, and a large star—a giant prong—that attaches the entire frame to the wall. After assembling all the pieces on the floor, skilled riggers carefully lifted the frame into place and attached it to the marble wall. I watched the “flag raising” on a long Saturday afternoon and it was a privilege to see the care and skill of the team.

Even in its partly-finished state, one gets the sense of how striking this feature will be. The photos below show the frame as it’s being lifted, as well as a rendering showing the final effect.

  

Other parts of the museum are a beehive of activity as well, as construction areas are finished and cleaned, protected artifacts are uncovered, and exhibitions are installed. Behind the scenes, others are busy putting the final touches on a host of new public programs and visitor services. Like any major project, there are bumps in the road. But we are fortunate to have an amazing staff with boundless creativity and abundant energy. Thanks to their efforts, our visitors will explore and experience history in a truly memorable new setting.

Brent D. Glass is Director of the National Museum of American History

Behind the Scenes with Director Brent Glass

Museums change lives.

When I was ten, my parents brought me to the Smithsonian for the first time.  They were children and grandchildren of immigrants, and it was their first visit also.  Decades later, that mesmerizing encounter with the power and wonder of a great national museum continues to resonate in my life in ways I could not have imagined as a boy racing across the National Mall.

That first visit to the Smithsonian sparked a life-long love of history and in public memory. It inspired my academic work and my resolve to pursue the path of a public historian—from collecting oral histories in North Carolina; preserving the industrial heritage of Pennsylvania; and working with families memorializing their loved ones as a member of the United Flight 93 Memorial Commission. That visit led to the daily rewards and challenges of engaging in interpreting the meaning, value and values of the American experience as director of the largest, most-visited museum in the world devoted to American history. 

Today, it is my privilege to invite you to join us as we plan to reopen the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.  After two years, $85 million, and a huge team effort, we are proud to have created a dynamic and welcoming new public square in the nation’s capital. We have transformed the building to shed new light on American history—literally, with a dramatic sky-lit five-story atrium, and conceptually, with a mix of new and renewed exhibitions of treasures from the 3 million in our collection.

In this blog, we will keep you posted on the countdown to the museum’s public re-opening festivities we are planning for the weekend of November 21-23, 2008.  We will preview highlights of the transformation, and share a bit of what it’s like behind the scenes as we get ready to open our new doors to millions of visitors from around the country and around the world. We are confident that a visit will educate, engage, and inspire you . . . and might even change your life!