HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COLLECTIONS: RECENT ACQUISITIONS

Unique or representative items representing the nation’s past, past‐times, biodiversity, and

artistic tastes are added to the National Collections through several mechanisms, mainly by

donations from private individuals.  The following highlights are a sampling of recent additions

to the Smithsonian’s collection of 137 million objects and specimens, 100,000 cubic feet of

archival material, and 1.9 million library volumes.

National Portrait Gallery Acquires El Orgullo y Determinación

(Pride and Determination)

Adding the first image of a Major League Baseball pitcher to its

collection, the National Portrait Gallery recently acquired El

Orgullo y Determinación (Pride and Determination), a portrait of

Pedro Martinez by Susan Miller‐Havens.  The portrait was

donated by Gloria Trowbridge Gammons and Peter Warren

Gammons, a baseball commentator, in honor of Martinez, whose

baseball career is paralleled by his lifelong work promoting

educational opportunities for less‐fortunate children in America

and his native country, the Dominican Republic.

Born in the Dominican Republic and an American citizen since

2006, Martinez was impressive in his debut for the Los Angeles

Dodgers in September 1992.  He had been told that he was too

small to be a major league power pitcher, yet from his first

appearance he consistently overpowered the best hitters in the

world.

Martinez won three Cy Young Awards (1997, 1999, 2000) in a

span of four seasons and to date has a record of 219 wins and

only 100 losses.  In 2000, the very heart of the home‐run/steroid

era, he had an earned‐run average of 1.74—more than three runs

a game less than the American League average; he allowed only

17 home runs in 217 innings pitched.  He is an eight‐time All Star

who has pitched for five teams in his career, most recently with

the Philadelphia Phillies.  In addition, Martinez was a member of

the World Series–winning Boston Red Sox in 2004, the first Red  

Sox team to win a championship in 86 years.

   

Pedro Martinez, 2000, oil and

beeswax on birch panel,

Susan Miller‐Havens; gift of

Gloria Trowbridge Gammons

and Peter Warren Gammons
National Zoological Park Welcomes Anteater Pup

Fans of the National Zoological Park are helping name the

newest addition to the Zoo’s anteater family, a male pup born

to Maripi on December 7, 2010.  The public will select the top

three names from five offered by Zoo staff to symbolize the

pup’s confidence and strong personality.  On April 6, 2011,

each of the three names will be coupled with a different

enrichment object and placed in the anteater yard.  Mother

Maripi will be released into the yard and whichever

object/name she goes to first will become the pup’s name.  

The giant anteater can be found in the wild in Central and

South America, from Honduras to northern Argentina.

National Museum of American History Receives Gene Tunney Boxing Gloves

Boxing gloves worn by world heavyweight champion James Joseph “Gene” Tunney during the

1927 “Long Count” match with Jack Dempsey have been donated to the National Museum of

American History by Tunney’s family.  “The Long Count” was a historic rematch between

heavyweight champion Tunney and former heavyweight

champion Dempsey in which a new rule regarding knockouts

was applied.  According to the terms of the rule, a fallen

fighter had just 10 seconds to rise to his feet after his

opponent had moved to a neutral corner.  In the seventh

round of the historic match, Dempsey knocked out Tunney,

but did not move to a neutral corner, giving Tunney extra

time to recover.  Tunney went on to win the match, and the

fairness of the count went on to be debated by sports fans

across the United States.

Tunney, the “Fighting Marine,” fought more than 70

professional fights, losing only one match to Harry Greb on

May 23, 1922, while fighting as a light heavyweight.  After his

last match, defending his title against Tom Heeney in July

1928, Tunney married socialite Mary “Polly” Lauder and the couple had four children. Tunney

was named Ring Magazine’s first “Fighter of the Year” in 1928 and went on to be elected to the

World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1980, the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, and the U.S.

Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.  Following his ring career, Tunney wrote two books,

numerous magazine articles, and became a successful businessman, ultimately serving on the

board of more than a dozen companies.

Anteater pup sleeping on his

mother’s back

Boxing gloves worn by Gene

Tunney in his “Long Count” match

with Jack Dempsey
National Museum of American History Acquires Eddie Van Halen “Frank 2” Guitar

The National Museum of American History acquired the Eddie Van Halen “Frank 2” guitar

played and made famous by Van Halen through a partnership donation with Fender Musical

Instruments.  It was made in 2006 as part of a joint venture between the artist and Fender to

produce a limited edition number of guitars for the EVH Brand.  Known as the “Frankenstein

Replica,” or “Frank 2,” it will be part of the museum’s

Division of Culture and the Arts, which preserves a large

and diverse collection of instruments.

Edward “Eddie” Van Halen (b. Jan. 26, 1955) is a Dutch‐

American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, producer,

and self‐taught inventor of guitar technology and

technique.  He is best known as the lead guitarist and co‐

founder of the hard‐rock band Van Halen and is

recognized for his innovative performing and recording

styles in blues‐based rock, tapping, intense solos, and

high‐frequency feedback.  He is also famous for energetic

and acrobatic stage performances.  The band’s self‐titled

debut album was released on February 10, 1978.

In 1975 Eddie Van Halen realized that no existing guitar

had the features that he needed to create his signature

sound.  A constant tinkerer, he set out to construct a

guitar to fit his standards, needs, and playing style,

combining different elements of long‐established guitar

designs into one instrument.  Fans nicknamed the custom creation “Frankenstein.”  By 2006,

the original “Frankenstein” guitar had been in service for more than 30 years and was retired

from performances.  Chip Ellis, a master guitar builder at Fender, replicated every detail of the

original guitar, which, when presented to Eddie Van Halen, appeared to be indistinguishable

from the original.  During the Van Halen 2007–08 North American tour with original lead singer

David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen used the replica guitar, “Frank 2,” for the majority of the

performances.

Archives of American Art Receives Holly Solomon Gallery Records  

The records of the influential Holly Solomon Gallery were donated to the Archives of American

Art by Holly Solomon’s sons, Thomas and John Solomon.  The records include biographical

material, correspondence, photographs, business records, daybooks, audio‐visual material, and

printed material documenting the history and business of the Holly Solomon Gallery from its

SoHo opening in 1975 until Solomon’s death in 2002.  Also present are significant records of 98

Greene Street Loft, an alternative performance and exhibition space run by Solomon and her

“Frank 2” guitar, replication of Eddie

Van Halen's original, customized

“Frankenstein”
husband from 1969 to 1972.  The collection is rich in

correspondence with Nam June Paik, William Wegman,

Valerie Jaudon, and Gordon Matta‐Clark.  

Born Hollis Dworkin in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1934,

Holly Solomon attended Vassar College and Sarah

Lawrence.  Her early ambitions included a career in

acting, but after marrying Horace Solomon, the son of a

wealthy industrialist, her interest in collecting art took

center stage.  After amassing an impressive collection

of Pop art, the Solomons established themselves as

dealers.  Holly Solomon was a glamorous fixture of the

New York art scene during a crucial transition period in

the art market.  Her funky, maximalist taste

encouraged a stable of artists who transcended the

Pop/Minimalist dichotomy of the time.  The scope and

depth of these gallery records will provide historians and scholars unparalleled insight into an

era critical to the development of American art history and visual culture.

E.S. Curtis Original Negatives Donated to the National Museum of Natural History

The National Anthropological Archives of the National Museum of Natural History has

received a remarkable donation of original negatives produced by Edward Sheriff Curtis, the

photographer of iconic Native American images.  

Photographer, filmmaker, and author Edward Sheriff

Curtis (1868–1952) grew up in the Midwest but moved

with his family to the Washington Territory in 1887, two

years before Washington became a state.  By the late

1890s he had established himself as a successful

portrait and landscape photographer in Seattle, and in

the early 1900s began an ambitious project to

photograph all the tribes of North America.  It is these

photographs, many of which were published in his epic

20‐volume set The North American Indian, for

which Curtis is most famous.  

Curtis’s work was highly influential in shaping a

sympathetic although highly romanticized vision of

cultures believed to be “vanishing.”  His images of

Native Americans, master works of photographic

artistry, have lent themselves also to ethnographic  

   

Makah girl, c. 1905.  Original E.S. Curtis

negative on a viewing light box.

Holly Solomon in her New York City home.
study, and both scholars and the public have come to consider Curtis as one of the foremost

photographers of Native Americans.

Though Edward Curtis’s prints and photogravures can be found in archives, museums, and for

sale by dealers, his original negatives are extremely rare.  It is believed that his entire inventory

of studio negatives was destroyed, and indeed few have ever surfaced.  Donated to the

National Anthropological Archives by Curtis’s grandson James Graybill, the recent gift of over

500 original negatives, many of which were published in The North American Indian, is

therefore an extraordinary addition to the Smithsonian’s important collections relating to

Native Americans.  The original negatives will provide an exciting opportunity for researchers to

gain new insights into Curtis’s working methods.