COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS
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“LATINOS AND BASEBALL” COLLECTING INITIATIVE

Latino baseball players have been interwoven in the fabric of Major League Baseball for years. They've 

been some of the greatest, well-known names in baseball history. To reflect and celebrate that rich 

history, the National Museum of American History (“NMAH”) in collaboration with the Smithsonian 

Latino Center, launched Latinos and Baseball: In the Barrios and the Big Leagues. The multi-year 

community collecting initiative focuses on the historic role that baseball has played as a social 

and cultural force within Latino communities across the nation.

The project launched a series of collecting events in late February in San Bernardino, California. A 

second event will be held in Los Angeles on July 17, 2016, and a third will be held in Syracuse, New 

York, on September 15, 2016. The events are designed to generate interest in the initiative, build on 

community relationships, record oral histories, and identify objects for possible acquisition by local 

historical associations as well as for the Smithsonian collections.

The collaborative initiative seeks to document stories from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico and plans to 

collect a number of objects that could include baseball equipment; stadium signs; game memorabilia, 

such as handmade or mass-produced jerseys and tickets; food vendor signs; home movies; and period 

photographs. Curators will select objects based on the stories they represent and the insight they 

provide into the personal, community, and national narratives of the national pastime. “Baseball has 

played a major role in everyday American life since the 1800s, providing a means of celebrating both 

national and ethnic identities and building communities,” said John Gray, director of NMAH. “Through 

the lens of baseball, the Smithsonian seeks to illuminate the rich history and culture of Latinos and 

their impact on American culture and society.”

NMAH and the Smithsonian Latino Center are working with the National Museum of African American 

History and Culture and 10 external partner organizations to carry out the initiative. As an outcome, a 

traveling exhibition centered on Latinos and baseball is planned to launch by 2020.

http://americanhistory.si.edu/latinos-and-baseball
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SMITHSONIAN HONORS MUSIC ICON PRINCE

When musical icon Prince died on April 21, 2016, at age 57, the world mourned. The “Purple Rain” 

singer was well-known for his four-decade long music career. NMAH will recognize the life and legacy 

of Prince Rogers Nelson (1958 – 2016) by displaying his “Yellow Cloud” electric guitar. The guitar was 

crafted in 1989 and used during Prince’s Diamonds and Pearls era. It will remain on view through 

Labor Day, September 5, 2016. “Prince was a multi-talented artist who achieved popular success while 

pursuing eclectic and innovative musical visions,” said Eric Jentsch, deputy chair in the division of 

culture and the arts. “One of the best-selling musicians of all time, he is also remembered for his 

energetic performances, film work and songwriting.” Custom-made by the Minneapolis, Minnesota, 

firm Knut-Koupee Enterprises, and designed by Prince; the guitar reflects the musical icon’s distinctive 

personal symbol, which adorns both the top and the side of the fingerboard.

http://newsdesk.si.edu/photos/princes-yellow-cloud-guitar
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SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS ACQUIRES ARHOOLIE RECORDS

Arhoolie Records is known for “down home” blues, folk, jazz, country, gospel, Cajun, zydeco, Mexican

American, and world music. Since 1960, Arhoolie has played Cajun and Mexican folk music that has 

caught the ear of musicians like Bob Dylan and Ry Cooder since 1960. Founder Chris Strachwitz, now 84, 

has found a new home for the label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, which has acquired the Arhoolie 

catalog and will be adding more than 350 Arhoolie albums to its collection, the labels announced on May 

10, 2016. In keeping with the longstanding policy at Smithsonian Folkways, the non-profit label 

associated with the Smithsonian Institution, the catalog will be kept accessible in a variety of formats.

The acquisition includes more than 350 albums released since 1960 in various formats by Arhoolie and

recordings from three South Texas regional labels, specializing in Mexican music (Ideal, Falcon, and Rio), 

Andean Huayno music from the Peruvian label Discos Smith, and archival materials including master

tapes. The acquisition was possible thanks to the generosity of Laura and Ed Littlefield of the Sage

Foundation, and the encouragement of the Savoy Family (the "First Family of Cajun Music"), the revered

Arhoolie Records has been acquired from founder Chris Strachwitz and his business partner Tom

Diamant by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. “The Arhoolie Records collection is a national treasure of 

recorded music,” said Daniel Sheehy, curator and director of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. The

collection features seminal recordings by artists such as Bukka White, Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin’ 

Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Joe Williams, Flaco Jiménez, and Clifton

Chenier. More recent releases include those by the Savoy Family Band, the Magnolia Sisters, and the

Pine Leaf Boys. Hear Me Howling, a collection of recordings made in the Bay-area in the 1960s, won a

GRAMMY award in 2011. In the same year, the label issued a Grammy-nominated retrospective boxset, celebrating Arhoolie’s 50th anniversary.

Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records (right) with Mississippi Fred McDowell circa 1970 in Como, Mississippi. Image courtesy Chris

Strachwitz, all rights reserved. (http://www.folkways.si.edu/news-and-press/smithsonian-folkways-acquires-arhoolie-records)
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ASTRONAUT GRAFFITI FOUND IN APOLLO 11 COMMAND MODULE

The National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian’s 3D Digitization Program have uncovered 

writing on the interior walls of the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia while 3-D scanning the 

artifact. Unseen for almost 50 years, the markings include notes, figures, and a calendar presumably 

written by the Apollo 11 astronauts during their historic flight to the moon. The project to digitize 

Columbia will make these details and many others, previously unseen by museum visitors, available 

online for the first time.

These markings give a glimpse into the first mission to land on the moon, crewed by Neil Armstrong, 

Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Some of the markings include numbers and calculations relayed from 

mission control, which are written on the wall near the navigational tools. There also appears to be a 

calendar written by one of the astronauts with each day crossed out except for landing day. Observing 

such details and studying the text have enabled curators to enhance their understanding, and compile 

a more complete account of how the missions were piloted. Research is being conducted to determine 

what the markings were for, which astronauts made them, and what insights they provide about the 

historic trip that occurred from July 16 through 24, 1969.

The museum has been working with the Smithsonian’s 3D Digitization Program to scan the Command 

Module in 3-D to create a high-resolution interactive model of the entire spacecraft. This highly 

detailed model will allow researchers and the public to explore the entire craft; a feat not possible 

when viewing the artifact in the museum. The model will be available in June on 3d.si.edu, and used to 

produce an interactive display in the museum’s exhibition “Destination Moon”, which is scheduled to 

open in 2020.

http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/smithsonian-3-d-project-sheds-new-light-astronaut-graffiti-found-museum-s-apollo-11-command
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U.S. NATIONAL PARASITE COLLECTION FINDS HOME AT THE 

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 

The U.S. National Parasite Collection (“USNPC”) is a national and international resource for systematic, 

taxonomic, diagnostic ecological, and epidemiological research in parasitology. Since its founding in 

1892, the USNPC has been maintained by scientists and curators of the Agricultural Research Service of 

the USDA in Beltsville, Maryland. In 2013, the USDA/ARS and the Smithsonian pronounced an 

agreement to transfer the USNPC to the National Museum of Natural History (“NMNH”). As an 

expansion of the partnership between the Smithsonian and USDA, current collections staff including 

the USDA senior curator and two support scientists/managers have been transferred with adjunct 

appointments at NMNH, in order to provide continuity and assistance for curation and accessibility of 

the collection during and after the relocation.

The scope and depth of the collection are unparalleled in North America and make it one of the top 

three most significant parasite collections in the world. Current holdings are substantial (in excess of 

100,000 specimen lots, and over 20 million individual specimens; 3,000 holotypes, 7,000 type series) 

and it accumulates about 1,000-1,500 new lots of specimens annually. The USNPC serves a diverse and 

global constituency, providing access to specimens and databases for research programs within the 

Smithsonian, USDA, and other organizations that drive parasitological research in systematics, 

biodiversity and climate change science; as well as veterinary, medical, and wildlife parasitology.