Kenneth Behring, a California businessman, and his family made the contribution. Work in the Rotunda will begin this year and is scheduled for completion in spring 1999. The life of Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave who purchased her freedom in 1855 and moved to the District of Columbia to became a dressmaker, is the focus of a research project under way at the National Museum of American History. Keckley went on to become first lady Mary Todd Lincoln's favorite dressmaker, as well as a close associate and confidant during Lincoln's White House years. Curator Barbara Clark Smith's research on Keckley is part of a larger project to look at artifacts, such as Mrs. Lincoln's gown, from a fresh and different perspective in order to create a richer historical context.
Education center opens.
The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Md., ushered in a new era of learning for school groups with the opening of its new Philip D. Reed Education Center. In order to provide school groups and the public with the latest information about SERC research, the building eventually will be connected to SERC labs via video and audio networks. Prior to the opening of the center, the only building available to school groups was a trailer used primarily for equipment storage. Kori bustard hatched. The National Zoological Park's first Kori bustard chick hatched on Oct. 3.