INSPIRING GENERATIONS THROUGH KNOWLEDGE AND DISCOVERY

Highlights from the Collections

The Smithsonian’s collections reflect the depth and diversity found in the Institution’s 

mission, vision, and values.  These collections also support the Smithsonian’s ability to 

meet the four grand challenges of its strategic plan: understanding and sustaining a 

biodiverse planet, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, valuing world cultures, and 

understanding the American experience.  The following stories offer but a glimpse into the 

Smithsonian’s vast network of world‐class collections. 

UNDERSTANDING AND SUSTAINING A BIODIVERSE PLANET

Four chameleon forest dragons hatch at the National Zoological Park

The Reptile Discovery Center at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park welcomed four 

chameleon forest dragons (Gonyocephalus chamaeleontinus), also known as chameleon 

anglehead lizards, into its collection on November 11, 2009.  They are the first of their kind 

to hatch at the Zoo.  The parents arrived at the National Zoo in June 2009 and, while in 

quarantine, the female laid the four eggs.  Because so little is known about this species, 

keepers closely monitored the hatchlings’ food intake and behavior in an off‐exhibit 

enclosure.  

Their name is deceptive, however: chameleon forest 

dragons are neither chameleons nor dragons; rather, 

this species is a type of lizard called an agamid 

(pronounced “AG‐uh‐mid”). Some scientists speculate 

that, like a true chameleon, the forest dragon’s subtle 

color shifts help it blend into its surroundings, send 

social signals, and even reflect mood changes. Its 

short, triangular head resembles that of a mythical 

dragon, and spiky, leaf‐shaped ridge plates adorn the 

crown of its head and extend the length of its back. 

Fully grown, this lizard can reach up to 12 inches in 

length, from nose to tip of the tail. 

A chameleon forest dragon’s scaly skin is a brilliant 

lime green when it hatches.  As it matures, it will 

either stay green or change to a brown‐tan tone 

with dark brown markings.  The camouflage‐like 

colors mimic tree leaves and bark and help the 

reptile hide from predators.
2

From the Bay of Bengal: a dinoflagellate makes its way to the Smithsonian

Environmental Research Center

It’s a rare event when Smithsonian phytoplankton taxonomist Sharyn Hedrick sees 

something new.  Hedrick, who works at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 

on the Chesapeake Bay, has observed, photographed, and identified hundreds of species of 

dinoflagellates, diatoms, algae, and the like from around the world.  Phytoplankton are the 

microscopic organisms that float in the ocean’s photic zone where they can 

photosynthesize and become a source of food for other creatures in the food web.    

It’s not an exaggeration to say Hedrick was 

ecstatic when she peered into her microscope 

and found Amphisolenia quadrispina.  “For 20 

years I’ve been hoping to see something like 

this,” she says.  A. quadrispina has a unique long, 

thin shape.  It resembles a stick more than it 

does other dinoflagellates. It’s huge too—

between 600 to 700 microns, which is still 

smaller than the tip of a needle, but large by 

phytoplankton standards. 

“This is a most unusual species of 

dinoflagellate,” Hedrik says.  “Its body is very 

elongated.  The base of the cell has four spinules.  They look like little feet or stalks.  The 

neck expands to two collars with the end of the cell protruding through the collars.  This is 

a tropical and subtropical species in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the 

Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean.”  The dinoflagellate came in a shipment of samples 

collected off India’s South Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.  Hedrick is adding a photo 

of A. quadrispina to her online Phytoplankton Guide, a source for students and fellow 

researchers working with phytoplankton. 

UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

The National Air and Space Museum and the Smithsonian

Astrophysical Observatory give the public a rare peek into

space

As a focal point for the International Year of Astronomy, the 

National Air and Space Museum (NASM) has opened a new Public 

Observatory that allows visitors to observe the sun, the moon, and 

the brighter stars and planets, such as Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, 

even during daylight hours.  The centerpiece of the Public 

Observatory Project is a 16‐inch Boller & Chivens telescope.  The 

telescope was originally part of Harvard‐Smithsonian’s Oak Ridge 

Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  It was used for 

The dinoflagellate

Amphisolenia

quadrispina from the 

Bay of Bengal.  It’s 

unique long, thin 

shape resembles a 

stick more than it 

does other 

dinoflagellates. 
3

astronomical research until recently, and is now on loan to the National Air and Space 

Museum for the Public Observatory Project. 

The Public Observatory’s position on the National 

Mall, outside of the NASM facility, reflects one of the 

main goals of the project: to encourage broad interest 

in space studies by engaging as many people as 

possible.  By placing the telescope on the Mall, NASM 

staff anticipate that the telescope will be used by 

both NASM visitors, who likely have a predisposed 

interest in space, and newcomers who will enjoy this 

unique opportunity to learn more about the wonders 

of the universe. 

Meteorite identified by National Museum of Natural History scientists

A meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Lorton, 

Virginia, doctors’ office in January 2010 was recently 

identified by scientists in the Division of Mineral Sciences 

at the Museum of Natural History.  Local newspapers 

reported that thousands of people from southern New 

Jersey to southwestern Virginia witnessed the meteorite 

streak through the sky in a colorful fireball and break 

apart as it passed through the atmosphere.  

A local television news crew brought the meteorite to the 

Smithsonian for verification and Meteorite Collections 

Manager Linda Welzenbach identified it as a stony 

chrondite meteorite weighing about two‐thirds of a 

pound.  “It’s ordinary because 85 to 90 percent of 

everything that falls is this type of meteorite,” said 

Welzenbach.  “It has a light gray interior with little, tiny 

iron, nickel metal particles.”  

The meteorite is covered with a 

black fusion crust that was 

created as its exterior melted 

from the heat generated by friction with the Earth’s atmosphere.  

The Museum is hopeful that the meteorite will become part of its 

Meteorite Collection.

Guided by NASM’s staff of

astronomy educators, visitors can 

discover craters on the moon, spots 

on the sun (using safe solar filters), 

the phases of Venus, and other 

wonders of the universe.

Linda Welzenbach, manager of

the Natural History Museum’s 

meteorite collection, weighs 

the meteorite.
VALUING WORLD CULTURES

Freer Gallery of Art acquires tea jar with remarkable provenance

A humble jar widely revered as an icon of Japanese tea culture has been acquired by the 

Freer Gallery of Art.  The jar, made in China during the late Southern Song or Yuan dynasty 

(13th or 14th century) and shipped to Japan as a container for a commercial product, 

developed a distinguished pedigree in the hands of influential tea connoisseurs, collectors, 

and rulers who used it for storing precious tea and displayed it in their tearooms between 

the 15th and 20th centuries. 

Standing 41.8 centimeters tall with a mottled amber glaze, four lugs, a cylindrical neck, and 

a rolled lip, the jar carries the name “Chigusa,” which translates to—depending on which 

Japanese characters are used—“abundance of varieties” or “abundance of plants.”  The 

poetic name is an indication of the jar’s high status in 16th‐century Japanese tea culture, in 

which valued Chinese objects were often imbued with elaborate significance through 

practices such as naming and adorning them with special accoutrements.  The name has 

been useful to scholars in tracking the jar through the diaries and records of tea 

connoisseurs and collectors who observed it in use at various tea functions.  One 

“This handsome jar has been 

admired and sought after by 

Japanese Tea masters for half 

a millennium,” said James 

Ulak, deputy director of the 

Freer and Sackler galleries.  

“As the documentation 

shows, its surface has been 

admired and caressed by a 

who’s who of Japan’s cultural 

giants from the 15th century 

forward.  It is extremely rare 

to find such a storied work 

on the market.” 
5

eyewitness, who saw the jar named Chigusa at a gathering in 1586, admired its large size 

and the reddish color of the clay and noted that it was a “meibutsu,” meaning “celebrated 

tea object.” 

A great deal of the jar’s value derives from the remarkable accruement of documentation 

and artifacts that accompany it, including inscriptions, letters, ceremonial accessories, and 

storage boxes that narrate a fascinating history of ownership and association with power 

over the centuries.  Only a few hundred such jars with comparable documentation survive 

in Japan, and very few exist elsewhere.   

“Stripped of its documentation, it would be a very modest jar, but the total package makes 

it an amazing aesthetic statement,” said Louise Cort, curator of ceramics.  “This jar 

profoundly enhances the Freer’s collection of objects related to ‘chanoyu’ (the tea 

ceremony).  It constitutes a pivotal point around which many threads of narrative might be 

constructed, enabling scholars to explore how an object’s meaning can change as it crosses 

cultural boundaries.” 

The jar bears four ciphers written in lacquer on its base.  The oldest is attributed to Noami 

(1397–1471), a painter and professional connoisseur for the Ashikaga shogun.  This 

suggests the possibility, otherwise unrecorded, that the jar circulated among owners close 

to the Ashikaga government.  The next oldest cipher is that of Torii Insetsu (1448–1517), 

an important tea connoisseur and collector in the international trading city of Sakai, known 

for innovative tea activity.  The next owner to inscribe his cipher was another Sakai tea 

enthusiast, Ju Soho, who hosted a tea in the new year of 1573 for guests, including the 

esteemed tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522–1591).  Another guest in attendance, Imai Sokyu 

(1520–1593), described seeing the “large jar...Chigusa” for the first time and noted that it 

had been Insetsu’s jar.  Several years later Sokyu recorded that he had seen the jar again, 

displayed by a new owner, merchant and city official Kondaya Tokurin, who by then had 

added his cipher.  The base of the jar contains one additional mark, the character “sho,” 

meaning auspicious.  The association of this mark has not yet been determined. 

Other records place the jar at the center of Japanese political power at various points in its 

history.  In addition to its earlier affiliation with the Ashikaga shogunate (1336–1573), the 

jar was employed in a series of gift exchanges aimed at establishing and maintaining 

alliances between the Tokugawa shoguns (1603–1867) and their political rivals.  In 1706, 

the daimyo of the Kurume domain presented the jar to the fifth shogun, Tsunayoshi (1646–

1709), together with a named sword, both from the possessions of his deceased father, as a 

pledge of his family’s continued loyalty.  Thereafter it belonged to the Tokugawa 

government until its dissolution in 1868, when the jar entered the new art market in Japan. 

From the mid‐1800s through the early 20th century, it exemplified the modern tea‐related 

collecting of prominent industrial families.  The jar remained in private hands in Japan 

throughout the 20th century and was exhibited in major Japanese exhibitions related to tea 

culture in 1990 and 1995, leaving its adopted homeland only to come to the recent auction 

in New York. 
6

“The donation of an inaugural gown 

is a long‐held tradition and the most 

visible of the objects our historians 

collect to document and explore the 

contributions of first ladies to the 

presidency and American society,” 

said Museum Director Brent Glass. 

UNDERSTANDING THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

National Museum of American History acquires First Lady Michelle Obama’s

inaugural gown

First Lady Michelle Obama formally presented the gown 

she wore to the 2009 inaugural balls to the Smithsonian’s 

First Ladies Collection during a ceremony at the National 

Museum of American History on March 9, 2010.  The one‐

shouldered, white‐silk chiffon gown, created by designer 

Jason Wu, is embellished with organza flowers with 

Swarovski crystal centers.  The gown is displayed in the 

center of “A First Lady’s Debut,” a new gallery addition to 

the Museum’s popular exhibition The First Ladies at the

Smithsonian.   

For decades, the First Ladies Collection has been one of 

the most popular attractions at the Smithsonian 

Institution.  The original first ladies exhibition of 1914 was 

the first display at the Smithsonian to prominently feature 

women.  The exhibition itself has changed in size, location, 

style, and story several times over the years.  

The First Ladies at the Smithsonian is divided into four main sections: the evolution of the 

First Ladies Collection, the tradition of the inaugural gown, a first lady’s contribution to the 

presidency and American society, and the new gallery devoted to the public debut of 

America’s more recent first ladies.  Beginning with 

Mamie Eisenhower, the new gallery focuses on each 

first lady’s public introduction during the 

inauguration or beginning of her husband’s 

presidency and includes contemporary accounts of 

initial impressions about each woman and the role 

she might play in the White House.  Supported by a 

gift from the Elizabeth Carolyn Lux Foundation, “A 

First Lady’s Debut” features life‐size photos of the 

11 women who have filled the position over the past 

50 years, each one wearing her displayed gown.  

Together, the two galleries that make up The First

Ladies at the Smithsonian showcase 24 dresses and 

more than 100 other objects from the Smithsonian’s 

unique collection of first ladies’ materials.  Among 

the dresses displayed in the exhibition’s first gallery 

are Martha Washington’s silk taffeta gown, Grace 

Coolidge’s flapper‐style evening dress, and Helen 

Taft’s 1909 inaugural ball gown—the first to be 

presented to the Smithsonian by a first lady.
7

National Museum of African American History and Culture acquires Harriet Tubman

collection

Tubman, born into slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, gained international acclaim as an 

Underground Railroad operator, Civil War spy, and suffragist.  Items from the Tubman 

collection were unveiled at a March 10, 2010, ceremony on Capitol Hill to coincide with the 

anniversary of Tubman’s death in 1913. 

The collection includes such objects as photographs, correspondence, speech manuscripts, 

souvenir programs, household items, and clothing accessories.  Among the items shedding 

light on Tubman’s private life are family photographs, an 1876 hymn book signed by 

Tubman, and a lace shawl (ca. 1897) given to her by England’s Queen Victoria.  

Photographs of Tubman’s 1913 funeral include one showing her lying in state at the A.M.E. 

Zion Church in Auburn, N.Y., surrounded by members of the Harriet Tubman Home board 

of directors. 

The Harriet Tubman collection is a gift to NMAAHC from Charles L. Blockson, writer, 

historian, and former board member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.  He also is 

founder and curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro‐American Collection of rare texts, slave 

narratives, art, and other historically significant artifacts.  The items came to him after the 

death of a Tubman relative.  “I inherited her belongings . . . but they belong in this 

museum,” said Blockson.  Blockson’s family story is intertwined with Tubman’s: his 

research shows he is the descendant of former slave Jacob Blockson, who escaped with 

Tubman and settled in Canada. 

“There is something both humbling and sacred found in the personal items of such an 

iconic person,” said Lonnie Bunch, director of NMAAHC.  “It is an honor to be able to show 

the private side of a very public person, a woman whose very work for many years put her 

in service to countless others.  This donation by Charles Blockson is a selfless gesture that 

ensures that her story will be enshrined forever within the Smithsonian Institution.” 

The National Museum of African 

American History and Culture 

recently acquired a collection of 

artifacts documenting the life and 

work of abolitionist Harriet 

Tubman.  Said donor Charles 

Blockson, ““Harriet Tubman is 

one of the most important 

women in the history of America, 

and her story needs to be heard 

by generations to come.” 
8

Iconic logo reinvisioned in Cooper­Hewitt, National Design Museum gift  

The poster, I (Heart) New York More Than Ever, by 

influential and prolific graphic designer Milton 

Glaser was acquired by Cooper‐Hewitt, National 

Design Museum as a gift from the artist in December 

2009.  In this work Glaser revisits his ubiquitous 

logo originally created in 1975 to promote tourism 

in New York State at a time when New York City was 

economically depressed and bordering on unlivable 

due to crime.  The image compares this bleak period 

in New York City’s history to the aftermath of the 

terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, when fear 

and sadness decimated the morale of the nation’s 

citizens.  The blackened scar on the heart reflects 

the geography of the World Trade Center Towers in 

Lower Manhattan and metaphorically illustrates the 

resilience of New Yorkers as the heart of the United 

States.  Glaser was a recipient of the National Design 

Awards prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in 

2004, and his work is currently on display at 

Cooper‐Hewitt in the exhibition Design USA:

Contemporary Innovation.

Cooper­Hewitt acquires important example of

American Aesthetic Movement furniture

New York City–based Herter Brothers was established by 

German‐born brothers Christian and Gustave Herter, 

highly skilled craftsmen with a decidedly cosmopolitan 

design sense.  Their production of high‐quality 

Renaissance Revival and Aesthetic Movement furniture 

developed an international reputation, turning the tables 

on American furniture from a domestic market to that of 

export as well.  This chair, an early example of Japonism in 

American furniture, is a superb expression of high‐quality 

craftsmanship and design that shows the growing cross‐

cultural influences on American design and its influence 

elsewhere.  The Museum’s research, as well as the firm’s 

number stamped into the chair, established that the chair 

is both the first example of American Aesthetic Movement 

furniture in the Smithsonian’s collections, as well as a key 

piece of American and international design history. 

The inlaid rosewood chair, ca. 

1878–80, is the first example 

of American Aesthetic 

Movement furniture in the 

Smithsonian’s collections. 
9

Remains of William Taylor White (1837–1852) donated to the National Museum of

Natural History  

The National Museum of Natural History recently acquired the remains, clothing, and coffin 

of William Taylor White, a 15‐year‐old boy who was buried in Washington, D.C., in 1852.  

His coffin was unearthed in Washington’s Columbia Heights neighborhood in April 2005 

during a construction project at an apartment building. 

White, who was a student at Columbian College from Accomack County, Virginia, died of 

pneumonia and complications from a mitral heart defect.  When his coffin was unearthed, 

his identity was a deep mystery.  Only through the diligent work of a multidisciplinary team 

of Smithsonian staff, interns, and external specialists was White’s identity established.  

After a number of blind leads the team was able to track down White’s living relatives 

through historical records.  They then used DNA analysis to confirm that the presumed 

relatives were indeed related to White. 

White’s relatives erected a headstone for him at a family cemetery on Virginia’s Eastern 

Shore and donated his remains, clothing, and coffin to the Natural History Museum’s 

Department of Anthropology.  Future studies of White’s coffin, clothing, and well‐preserved 

remains will further support DNA research by museum staff, as well as research on cast 

iron coffins and Civil War–era clothing. 

Archives of American Art’s Oral History Collection awarded “Save America’s

Treasures” grant

As part of the “Save America’s Treasures” initiative to preserve significant historic 

properties and collections, the Archives of American Art has been awarded a matching 

grant of $250,000 for the preservation and digitization of the Archives’ Oral History 

Collection, one of the oldest, most‐consulted, and historically significant oral history 

“The results of the 

multidisciplinary and 

collaborative research that 

led to the identification of 

William T. White is a 

testament in the interaction 

of the Smithsonian 

departments and the abilities 

of the experts involved,” says 

David Hunt, collections 

manager of the Physical 

Anthropology Division at the 

Natural History Museum. 
10

collections in the country.  The Archives is the nation’s preeminent repository for primary 

sources documenting the history of the visual arts. 

Interviews of artists and other art world figures conducted for the Archives ’ Oral History 

Program are at risk due to deteriorating and increasingly obsolete audio formats.  The 

matching grant from the highly competitive grant program will provide for the 

preservation of over 4,000 reels, cassettes, and mini‐disks, which will be digitally 

reformatted to preservation quality to ensure their accessibility for future generations. 

Begun in 1958, the ever‐expanding Oral History Collection now contains nearly 2,000 

interviews with artists, collectors, critics, dealers, and others, and is central to a fuller 

understanding of American art, creativity and culture.  Common themes, such as working 

methods, sources of inspiration, regional affinities, and issues of race, gender, and politics 

emerge across artistic mediums and generations.  Areas of concentration that have yielded 

fundamental information focus on the New Deal art programs, Latino art, African American 

art, pop art, feminism, photorealism, public art commissions, new media, and the art 

market.  Recently, the Archives produced 175 interviews with nationally prominent artists 

who have shaped the field of contemporary craft.  

National Museum of American History loans 13 cast­iron toys to the White House

The National Museum of American History has 

loaned 13 cast‐iron toys to the White House for 

exhibit in the formal Yellow Oval Room, which is 

located in the second‐floor residence. 

The toys are from the Museum’s outstanding 

collection of cast‐iron and tinplate toys, dating 

from the 1870s to the 1950s, donated by Sears, 

Roebuck and Company.  Gathered between 1915 

and 1960, the collection has more than 1,400 cast‐

iron and tinplate examples of both American and 

European origin.  Cast‐iron toys depict many 

commonplace but often forgotten aspects of 

everyday life, such as the circus; horse‐drawn 

vehicles; public transportation, such as buses and 

trolleys; mail delivery; home equipment, such as 

stoves and irons; recreation; construction 

equipment; and farm, fire fighting, and police 

vehicles. 

The cast‐iron toys are from a 

collection of cast‐iron and tinplate 

toys donated to the Museum from 

Sears, Roebuck and Company.
11

The National Museum of American History receives an omnimetre invented in 1891  

A circular slide rule called an omnimetre was recently donated to the National Museum of 

American History by George Dankers, a naval architect who used it for 30 years in the 

design of ships and boats.  Attached to a paper base, the humble disc inscribed with dozens 

of numbers rests in quiet obscurity in the Museum’s Mathematics Collections.   

The omnimetre is the 1891 invention of Philadelphia engineer Albert Sexton, who created 

its prototype using a piece of tracing paper and a suspender button.  As its name suggests, 

the omnimetre was designed to carry out numerous operations of arithmetic and 

trigonometry, says Peggy Kidwell, curator of mathematics at the Smithsonian.  “It has scales 

for multiplication, division, and common logarithms, as well as squares, cubes, and fifth 

powers of numbers.”  In his own words, Sexton called his circular invention a “quite useful 

and inexpensive slide rule.”

In the late 1800s, the growth of American professional engineering, new manufacturing 

techniques, European precedents, and the innovations of people like Sexton combined to 

encourage much wider use of aids to computation.  Arithmetic, once considered a purely 

intellectual activity, increasingly became a mechanical task.  Mathematical analysis also 

played a larger role in business, engineering, and the social sciences.  Ownership of 

computing devices, especially slide rules, came to be seen as a symbol of technical 

competence. 

The National Museum of American History is home to a collection of several thousand 

mathematical instruments that includes not only a few hundred slide rules but numerous 

calculating machines, drawing instruments, geometric models, and teaching devices.  

Sexton’s slide rule is an invention that tells an important story about the rise of 

mathematics and engineering in America. 

The omnimetre sold successfully in 

America for some 60 years, yet was 

never widely popular.  Still, this 

device and other 19th‐century aids 

to arithmetic helped shape and 

reshape engineering and the 

activity of mathematicians at a 

critical time in American history. 
12

Smithsonian American Art Museum acquires Nam June Paik Archive  

The Nam June Paik Archive, which came to the 

Smithsonian American Art Museum in seven trucks 

from warehouses on both coasts, is the largest 

acquisition the Museum has ever received.  

Collections management staff have completed a 

four‐month preliminary inventory of the archive 

and recorded brief descriptions of thousands of 

objects.  The cataloging and care of the archive will 

support efforts to make it available to the public. 

Karen LaMonte’s Reclining Dress Impression with Drapery acquired by Smithsonian

American Art Museum

A 1999 Fulbright scholarship allowed 

contemporary glass artist Karen 

LaMonte (b. 1967) to pursue her 

interest in large‐scale glass casting 

with Zdeněk Lhotský at the renowned 

Studio Pelechov, north of Prague.  

During the past decade, LaMonte has 

used this experience to develop a 

remarkable series of life‐size, cast‐

glass dresses—works so technically 

complex that they can only be crafted 

at Lhotský’s studio, one of the world’s 

largest and most advanced centers for 

glass casting.  

Reclining Dress Impression with

Drapery demonstrates LaMonte’s 

grasp of classical style and 

composition.  Although the focus on gender in this work is almost playful, it also has roots 

in the feminist art of the 1960s and 1970s and its critique of fashion.  The frilly straps and a 

firm hip exaggerate the femininity of a woman conspicuously absent.  It is easy to imagine 

that LaMonte has created a response to the industrial forms crafted by this country’s other 

great cast glass artist, Howard Ben Tré.   

The Nam June Paik Archive is the largest‐ever 

acquisition of the American Art Museum.

Karen LaMonte’s Reclining Dress Impression with

Drapery, 2009, is considered the strongest piece 

from the artist’s series of life‐size, cast‐glass 

dresses. 
13

New exhibit of the Philadelphia at the National Museum of American History

The National Museum of American History’s exhibition of the gunboat Philadelphia, the 

oldest surviving American fighting vessel, has been reinterpreted and updated to include 

its recovery in 1935 and a history of its display at Lake Champlain, as well as its early 

preservation and acquisition by the Museum.  The exhibition includes historical video 

footage of the raising of the Philadelphia from Lake 

Champlain, an interpretive cart that provides 

hands‐on exposure to preservation activities, 

painted scrims that provide the visitor with a 

simulated visual sense of the “underwater” space 

of the Philadelphia, and new displays of artifacts 

that were recovered with the gunboat, as well as 

the crew payroll. 

Built in 1776, the Philadelphia was sunk in Lake 

Champlain during a naval battle with the British in 

the same year.  The Continental Congress 

authorized the building of this 54‐foot, 29‐ton 

gunboat and eight similar vessels for the defense 

of the Champlain Valley—the northern frontier of 

the colonies that was considered the key to the 

success or failure of the American Revolution.  In 

the summer of 1776, under the leadership of 

Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, Philadelphia

and her sister‐ships were organized into what 

historians consider “the first American Navy.”  

Throughout the summer and into the fall, the small fleet imposed a strategic delay on 

British invasion plans to divide the colonies.  On October 11, 1776, the Americans met the 

enemy in a hard‐fought battle, but the superior firepower of the British squadron proved 

decisive.  An hour after the initial battle ended, the Philadelphia sank, and within three days 

the British had gained control of Lake Champlain and most of the American fleet had been 

destroyed.  Although a defeat for the Americans, the Lake Champlain naval contest is 

nevertheless considered the foundation for the defeat of 

the British army at Saratoga the following year, as it 

delayed the British campaign and gave the Americans 

time to build the strength necessary for their victory at 

Saratoga.   

The Philadelphia rested on the bottom of Lake 

Champlain until it was discovered and recovered with 

much of its equipment intact in 1935 by Lorenzo F. 

Haggulund, a civil engineer who for many years 

exhibited it as a tourist attraction.  It came to the 

Museum in 1964, complete with the 24‐pound ball that 

sent the gunboat to the bottom of the lake. 

The National Museum of American 

History's exhibition of the 

Philadelphia, the oldest surviving 

American fighting vessel, now includes 

the history of its recovery and 

preservation. 
14

Archives of American Art accelerates its digitization and Web

initiatives through the Terra Foundation for American Art

Digitization Project

The Archives continues to provide unprecedented levels of Web 

access to some of its most significant collections through its Terra 

Foundation for American Art Digitization Project.  During the first 

quarter of fiscal year 2010, the Archives compiled close to 204,000 

digital files and over 114 linear feet of correspondence, 

photographs, business records, and other papers of illustrator 

Rockwell Kent; artist and art educator Prentiss Taylor; and 

lithographer Louis Lozowick.  In addition, several collections were 

digitized in preparation for their release on the Web, including the 

collections of John White Alexander, Thomas Benedict Clarke, Barry 

Faulkner, Leon Kroll, and Rose Lamb.    

Smithsonian American Art Museum acquires two works by African American artist

Hughie Lee­Smith

The Museum recently acquired two paintings by 

African American artist Hughie Lee‐Smith: The

Beach and Confrontation.  Over a 60‐year career, 

Lee‐Smith explored psychological corners of the 

human experience grounded in separation and 

displacement.  His art conveys the alienation and 

isolation experienced by many African Americans 

during the middle decades of the 20th century, yet 

speaks in larger terms about mankind’s inability to 

reach out and connect with others.  In 

Confrontation (oil on canvas, ca. 1970), the girls 

radiate alienation from each other and from the 

crumbling infrastructure of their surreal, 

beachfront surroundings.   

Although Lee‐Smith was a direct contemporary of 

Jacob Lawrence, his art followed a different 

trajectory, adopting an approach to realism 

inflected by the sense of isolation and alienation in 

Edward Hopper’s work, as well as the surrealistic tendencies of Giorgio diChirico.  That 

surrealistic edge to his work intensifies the emotional distance conveyed by the people in 

his paintings.   

As Hughie Lee‐Smith remarked about 

his work, “I think my paintings have 

to do with an invisible life—a reality 

on a different level.”  

Illustrator 

Rockwell Kent  

(ca. 1930).