Sandra Cisneros Talks Dia de Los Muertos

Sandra Cisneros, the author of the classic The House on Mango Street who now lives in Mexico, believes she has an ideal slogan for her new land."Mexico - it's a good place to die," Cisneros says with a laugh.

"There, the dead co-exist with the living every day. The past and the present come together and mix," she explained.

Cisneros signs books for admirers 

Raised in Chicago as a Mexican-American celebrating the language and the ways of her native land to the south, Cisneros says that she has come to believe that death is "letting go".  However, much is left for those who survive, she quickly adds.

"When a parent dies, suddenly you have a spirit ally that is with you always," she said. "I know that sounds new age-y, but it is our miseducation that has caused us to rename it superstition."

Cisneros was present in the room when her mother died. "There was a moving, a shimmering around the room. I had a feeling that was tender and sweet, not like my mother at all," she said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

"I became a writer because my mother was an unhappy mother," Cisneros said. Her mother was "an artistic soul" who was constantly going to cultural centers and events, she explained. "I used to think it was for our sake, but I realize now it was for her," the author, who was one of 7 children, said.

One of those cultural centers was the library. "To me the library was a wonderful house ... a house of ideas ... a house of silence," Cisneros said.

As a writer, Cisneros said she writes "whatever comes. I write this, I write that. The only reason I finish anything is because somebody in New York gives me a deadline. I began writing when I was most lonely in middle school. I wasn't the pretty girl ... I wasn't the smart girl ... I was the new girl with the bad haircut because my mother was always cutting my bangs crooked."

Cisneros indicated that she has no intention to stop writing. "Each book gets me closer to the path I am supposed to be walking," she said.

Sandra Cisneros' Ofrenda for Her Mother
 @The Museum of American History

This Day of the Dead altar departs from the traditional public Mexican altar by featuring my mother’s personal space – her garden and bedroom – and personal objects as part of an homage remembering her as a dynamic creative being in her own right. Gathering the items here, some from my grandmother and great-grandmother, helped me look deeply and see my mother as a woman with her own life apart from her family and children. In the end, it served, as art often does, to transform grief to celebration. Thanks to my mother’s deep hunger to become an artist, she opened the path for me. This altar is my gracias to her. - Sandra Cisneros

For Halloween, Spend a Ghoulish Night (or Day) @The Smithsonian

From stiletto daggers and sexy witches to devilish hydras and sea serpents, there's no end of scary stuff to spook yourself and your date silly here at the Smithsonian. 

Costumes are encouraged and if you don't feel safe going out on Halloween, stay home and make a virtual appearance

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Smithsonian. Com. click here.

Halloween Highlights Arise from the Museum Vaults

From the decorations in our homes to the sweets we make (or buy), Halloween is a holiday filled with tricks and treats, fun and, sometimes, a little fright. We've embraced All Hallow's Eve as a night to dress up and join with fiends... I mean friends, to celebrate things that go bump in the night. 

Here at the museum, we have a wonderful collection of objects used at Halloween. See if you recognize any of these pieces from years past. 

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in the Oh, Say Can You See? blog of the Smithsonian, click here.

From Homemade Halloween Treats 
to Colorfully Packaged Candies

Object Project interns Caitlin Kearney and Kamilah Stinnett explore the origins of packaged candy, a modern convenience that signaled the shift toward Halloween as a widespread commercial holiday. Object Project, opening July 2015, will explore everyday things that transformed daily life.

Did you know that the average jack-o'-lantern bucket holds about 250 pieces of candy? That's 9,000 calories and about three pounds of sugar, according to the California Milk Processor Board. Good grief! No wonder some parents scramble to ration their kids' Halloween haul.

But the treats that fill those grinning plastic pumpkins on Halloween didn't always come in crinkly wrappers with familiar names like Baby Ruth, introduced in 1920, and M&M's, first sold in 1941. During our time at the museum, we've researched packaged, premade food items for Object Project. The exhibition will give visitors a look at—er, taste of—the history behind objects that have changed daily life, including the social demands and technological advances that brought about these changes.

Tp continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in the Oh, Say Can You See? blog of the Smithsonian, click here. 

Phantoms of the Museum

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

As Halloween approaches, I am reminded of a May 13, 1900, article (see the scan at the bottom of this post) on the National Museum in the Washington Post that reported on “Shades of Scientists Who Walk There Nightly,” (shades was an old term for ghosts). 

The U.S. National Museum was then housed in what is now known as the Arts and Industries Building.  The guards and staff who worked late reported that the deceased but devoted scientists of earlier eras continued to walk the halls of the Museum at night, guarding over their collections.  Foremost among these was Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823-1887), the first Smithsonian curator and second Secretary of the Smithsonian.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Typepad, click here.

Tips for Experiencing Latino History @The Museum of American History

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

Looking to discover Latino history during your museum visit this Hispanic Heritage Month? Christine Miranda, who interned with our Program in Latino History and Culture, has the inside scoop. 

Our museum endeavors to "understand the past in order to make sense of the present and shape a more humane future," and diverse Latino stories are a critical part of that. Here's how to find them across three floors, plenty of exhibitions, and fascinating collections.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Oh Say Can You See, click here.

Museum of the American Indian Using New Exhibit to Spread Its New Message

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

The confusion begins with the entrance to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, a soaring, curving stone building at the southeastern corner of the Mall.

The entrance faces east — a symbolic nod to the many Native Americans who orient their homes to the east and the rising sun — but that makes it difficult for visitors coming from the Mall or Metro to find their way in, and entering through the back door diminishes the dramatic effect of the Potomac Atrium .

The two major exhibitions on the upper floors are similarly confounding. “Our Lives” celebrates the survival of the dispossessed without chronicling the policies and battles that brought them close to extinction, while “Our Universes” spotlights the creation myths of seven nations without drawing any connections or contrasts between them.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in The Washington Post, click here.

Star Trek Model: Boldly Going Nowhere (For a While)

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

On September 11, 2014, the studio model of the Star Trek starship Enterprise, which has been on public display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum since 1976, was removed for conservation in preparation for its new display location in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, which will open in July 2016. The announcement of the artifact’s inclusion in the transformed Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall was made on April 3, 2014.

The eleven-foot-long studio model was used in filming the original Star Trek television series, (NBC, 1966-1969). Paramount donated it to the National Air and Space Museum in 1974. Initially displayed beginning in September 1974 in the Arts and Industries Building’s Life in the Universe exhibit, this significant cultural icon has been displayed in various locations in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC since that building’s opening in July 1976, although it has also been off display occasionally. Since March of 2000, it had been in a custom-built display case on the lower level of the Museum’s store.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Smithsonian.Com., click here.

What Happens to a Smithsonian Temporary Exhibit After Its Display Time Is Over?

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

Have you ever wondered about the afterlife of a temporary exhibition? What happens when the display case is opened back up and the objects that spent months nestled together start the next phase of their museum life?

The exhibition I'm talking about in particular is a "History Highlights" exhibit which went on display on June 1, 2012, marking the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts of the USA, and was taken down in April 2014.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in the American History Museum's blog Oh Say CanYou See, click here.

Happy 200th to the Star-Spangled Banner

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

On a rainy September 13, 1814, British warships sent a downpour of shells and rockets onto Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor, relentlessly pounding the American fort for 25 hours. The bombardment, known as the Battle of Baltimore, came only weeks after the British had attacked Washington, D.C., burning the Capitol, the Treasury and the President's house. It was another chapter in the ongoing War of 1812.

A week earlier, Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old American lawyer, had boarded the flagship of the British fleet on the Chesapeake Bay in hopes of persuading the British to release a friend who had recently been arrested. Key's tactics were successful, but because he and his companions had gained knowledge of the impending attack on Baltimore, the British did not let them go. They allowed the Americans to return to their own vessel but continued guarding them. Under their scrutiny, Key watched on September 13 as the barrage of Fort McHenry began eight miles away.

"It seemed as though mother earth had opened and was vomiting shot and shell in a sheet of fire and brimstone," Key wrote later. But when darkness arrived, Key saw only red erupting in the night sky. Given the scale of the attack, he was certain the British would win. The hours passed slowly, but in the clearing smoke of "the dawn's early light" on September 14, he saw the American flag—not the British Union Jack—flying over the fort, announcing an American victory.

Key put his thoughts on paper while still on board the ship, setting his words to the tune of a popular English song. His brother-in-law, commander of a militia at Fort McHenry, read Key's work and had it distributed under the name "Defence of Fort M'Henry." The Baltimore Patriot newspaper soon printed it, and within weeks, Key's poem, now called "The Star-Spangled Banner," appeared in print across the country, immortalizing his words—and forever naming the flag it celebrated.

To continue reading this story, which 1st appeared in Smithsonian.Com, click here.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It

More on the Star Spangled Banner

Fragments of the Star-Spangled Banner may still be floating around. (from USA Today)

Is it time to ditch the Star-Spangled Banner? (from Politico)

Gloves of Cassius Clay Displays Ali's Greatness

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

Cassius Clay was a towering young braggart, but as much as he used his mouth, the real music was in his hands. In January of 1964 he hadn’t done much worth talking about yet in professional boxing; he was just a 22-year-old working out in a seedy sweatbox of a gym in Miami Beach, where you could watch him in action for 25 cents. He trained on a heavy punching bag, the hands turning his silly doggerel—“Don’t make me wait, I’ll whup him in eight!”—into epic poetry as he rapped out verses with his gloves: whap-whap-whump-whap-whap-whump-bam.

Clay was in training for his bout with Sonny Liston, the reigning world champion, who had underworld ties and a heavy, flooring punch. Veteran sportswriters said the pretty kid wouldn’t last more than a round, and the touts made him a seven-to-one underdog. Only later would he become Muhammad Ali, the rich rhyming savant, public militant and charismatic superstar.

To continue reading this story, which 1st appeared in The Smithsonian, click here

The Museum of the American Indian By the Numbers

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

Anniversaries collide this fall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, marking the first decade of its distinctive building on the Mall at Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW.

Celebrations have been occurring nearly every weekend all year, with a big streak coming Sept. 18-21 that includes a new exhibit, a symposium and a gala ball.

Even while the celebrating is happening, keeping all the anniversary numbers straight may take some concentration.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in The Washington Post, click here.

Back to the 60s: Science and Technology

1964. The Beatles had kicked off the musical British Invasion. LBJ was president. The Cold War was heating up in places like Vietnam. A World's Fair in New York City was promising a new tomorrow of technology and wonder.  And on January 23 of that year the Smithsonian opened the Museum of American History.

Today, all of the above are gone with the exception of the History Museum. To celebrate its founding year, the facility is showcasing 3 exhibits dealing with the time of its early 1960s establishment.

Here is a post of 1 of those exhibits including pictures of some of what you will see if you visit.

When the museum first opened it doors, it was called the Museum of History and Technology.

In 1980, the museum was renamed The National Museum of American History to represent its mission of the collection, care, study, and interpretation of objects that reflect the experience of the American people.

However, despite the name change, the museum continues to showcase science, technological, and health advances as they relate to the American experience.

In the early 1960s, we searched the skies as students hid under desks as part of nuclear drills.

In the early 1960s, scientists began making models of DNA and other genetics.

A look at early calculating and computing

Back to the 60s: History and Culture

1964. The Beatles had kicked off the musical British Invasion. LBJ was president. The Cold War was heating up in places like Vietnam. A World's Fair in New York City was promising a new tomorrow of technology and wonder.  And on January 23 of that year the Smithsonian opened the Museum of American History.

Today, all of the above are gone with the exception of the History Museum. To celebrate its founding year, the facility is showcasing 3 exhibits dealing with the time of its early 1960s establishment.

Here is a post of 1 of those exhibits including pictures of some of what you will see if you visit.

Of course, as a history museum, the Smithsonian Museum of American History deals with ... are you ready for this ... history.

But history is more than just dry facts and forgettable dates that you may have suffered in a boring history class. It is people, and activism, and service, and culture, and the arts and entertainment. It's lunch boxes and LPs. It's signs and sounds. It's from the past and gone, but it still has a life and lives. Sort of like these things:

Back to the 60s - Mustang Sally Special

1964. The Beatles had kicked off the musical British Invasion. LBJ was president. The Cold War was heating up in places like Vietnam. A World's Fair in New York City was promising a new tomorrow of technology and wonder.  And on January 23 of that year the Smithsonian opened the Museum of American History.

Today, all of the above are gone with the exception of the History Museum. To celebrate its founding year, the facility is showcasing 3 exhibits dealing with the time of its early 1960s establishment.

Here is a post of 1 of those exhibits including pictures of some of what you will see if you visit.

In April of 1964, the Ford Motor Company debuted its Ford Mustang at its pavilion at the New York World's Fair, 6 months before it normally would. The company promised that this was a new type of car for a new generation.

It had a sporty look, a compact size, and, for the time, a low price. It evoked the spirit and the excitement of the open road. Unlike Ford's actual sports car. the T-Bird, it could seat 4 people.

Immediately the 1964 car seen in the picture above did live up to its trendsetting pledge. By 1966, more than 1 million Mustangs had been sold. It had even become the subject of a top-selling record by Wilson Pickett.

The Mustang was shepherded through production by a young man who himself would become quiet a name in the auto industry. That man was Lee Iacocca.

Clearing Up Smithsonian Myths

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

The Smithsonian Institution has been a part of the American landscape since 1846.

Yet perhaps because of the breadth and eclecticism of its collections, people still aren’t sure exactly what the Institution does or know much about the objects it contains. Ever since its inception, the Smithsonian has been the subject of wild rumors about the Hope Diamond, Noah’s Ark and more

With that in mind, we would like to take this opportunity to clear up a few lingering misconceptions.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Smithsonian.Org, click here.

Hope Diamond Was Once a Symbol for French Sun King

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

Every day, thousands of visitors to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum crowd around a glass case on the second floor to gaze at the Hope Diamond, one of the world's most famous jewels.

It's been the subject of dozens of books, games, documentaries and scientific inquiries, partly due to persisting legends that it's cursed. Despite all this attention, though, it seems that the inch-wide, 45.52-carat diamond still conceals secrets waiting to be uncovered.

One of these secrets was recently discovered by François Farges, a professor of mineralogy at the National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, and Jeffrey Post, the Smithsonian museum's curator of minerals.

Using computer modeling, a recently-rediscovered 17th century lead replica and scientific analysis, they've determined that back when the Hope was known as the "French Blue" and part of the personal collection of King Louis XIV of France, during the late 17th century, it was likely placed on a gold background and specially cut to produce an effect reminiscent of a sun at its center. Only after it was stolen in 1792, during the French Revolution—and before it resurfaced in Britain in 1812—was it recut to the familiar, smaller shape we know today.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Smithsonian. Com, click here.

150 Years Later, the Civil War Is Still in Focus at the Smithsonian

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

It’s only one weapon among the 5,700 in the firearms collection of the American History 
Museum, but it speaks to the Civil War in a very personal way. 

Under the watchful eye of curator David Miller, I hoist the 1863 Springfield rifle musket to my shoulder and feel its weight, with deepening respect for those who used these muskets with deadly results. This particular weapon was owned by Pvt. Elisha Stockwell Jr., who lied about his age to sign up, at age 15, with the Union Army. He took canister shot in his arm (and a bullet in his shoulder) at Shiloh, marched with General Sherman toward Atlanta, and, at 81 and nearly blind, finally put pen to paper to write about his experience.

“I thought my arm was gone,” he wrote of the moment the grapeshot struck him, “but I rolled on my right side and...couldn’t see anything wrong with it.” Spotting ripped flesh, a lieutenant had Stockwell sit out a charge against the “Rebs,” possibly saving his life.

The musket young Elisha used also speaks volumes about the technology of the day. In a Smithsonian symposium last fall, Merritt Roe Smith of MIT argued that the creation of the technical know-how that could produce precisely tooled, interchangeable parts for hundreds of thousands of rifles, a feat the South couldn’t match, set the stage for explosive industrial growth after the war.

The Smithsonian’s observation of the Civil War’s sesquicentennial encompasses exhibitions at many of our 19 museums. For an overview of exhibitions and events and a curated collection of articles and multimedia presentations, check out Smithsonian.com/civilwar

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Smithsonian.com, click here.

Marty Stuart: Channeling Crazy Horse, Custer, and Johnny Cash

Stuart shows off his mandolin mastery

As a native of Philadelphia, Mississippi county star Marty Stuart grew up well versed in Choctaw Indian culture and lore. In fact, the 5-time Grammy award winner is part Choctaw himself.

During his 6 years as a member of Johnny Cash's touring band in the 1980s, Stuart was introduced by Cash to the Lakota Sioux people of South Dakota and their plight. The Lakota are among some of the poorest Native Americans in the country.

Indeed, Stuart was so taken by that area of the west that in 2005 he recorded his album Badlands, a concept album about the horrifying treatment of Native Americans, especially the Lakota Sioux.

All of this combined to make Stuart a perfect choice for an intimate concert at the National Museum of the American Indian this weekend.

The multi-instrumentalist Stuart, who received his start in country music as a teenager playing with bluegrass legend Lester Flatt, was joined by the 3 members of his band The Fabulous Superlatives - guitarist "Cousin" Kenny Vaughan, drummer "Handsome" Harry Stinson, and bassist "Apostle" Paul Martin.

The 90-minute, 22-song set featured selections across the gamut of American roots music: honky-tonking country, flashy bluegrass, and harmonious gospel. Obviously, Stuart's hits such as "The Whiskey Ain't Working" and "Tempted" were crowd pleasers. In a tribute to Cash, Stuart dedicated his version of "Ring of Fire" to his deceased friend and mentor.

Connie Smith

Stuart was joined on stage for a few numbers by his wife, country Hall of Fame member Connie Smith. Among Smith's tunes were a well-received rendition of her classic "Once a Day" and the gospel staple "Amazing Grace." Prior to calling Smith to the stage, Stuart, who said he actually told his mother when he was 12 that he would end up marrying the country legend, played "Choctaw Fair," which recounts his first meeting and subsequent marriage and life with Smith.

Stuart closed his show with a call for the audience to get close to the stage for an ethereal medley of 2 spiritually powerful tracks from the Badlands CD - "Hotchkiss" and "Ancient Wild"

Extra! Extra! Read All About It

Here is Marty Stuart's Setlist signed by both Stuart and his wife