🚀 go-pugleaf

The following is "Press Release" type material written in September 
1991 before the exhibit first opened.  But, since this new exhibit 
will run for another 14 months and the document went through the OCR 
scanner easily, I'll share it with you.  David Bridge
======================================================================
  
      "SEEDS OF CHANGE" EXHIBITION EXPLORES COLUMBUS' LEGACY 
         AND 500 YEARS OF CULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHANGE
  
    The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is producing 
its largest single special exhibition ever, commemorating the 500 
years of cultural and biological exchanges since Christopher Columbus' 
voyages to the Americas.  "Seeds of Change," the most comprehensive of 
the Smithsonian Institution's Quincentenary programs, will examine 
five "seeds"--sugar, corn, the potato, disease and the horse--and 
their impact on both the Old and New Worlds since 1492.
  
    The exhibition opens at the National Museum of Natural History in
Washington, D.C., on Oct. 26, and continues through April 1, 1993.
  
    Seeds of Change" will demonstrate how the transfer of these five 
elements affected life on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, reflecting 
a meeting between the well-established cultures of Europe and the 
Americas, altering the flora and fauna, changing the ethnic 
composition of countries in every corner of the globe, and 
transforming the diets and health of people everywhere.
  
    "The National Museum of Natural History is taking a fresh look at 
events which have affected literally all Americans," said Herman 
Viola, director of the museum's Quincentenary programs and curator of 
the exhibition.  "The museum's re-examination of 500 years of cultural 
and biological development is just the start of redefining human 
impact on global change."
  
    Visitors will pass through an impressive Spanish-style 
portal--constructed out of 14,000 ears of corn--into an introductory 
theater.  There, they will view a 10-minute, three-screen video that 
will explain the themes of the exhibit and give visitors historical 
background about the populating of the Americas.  Pre-Columbian gold 
and silver objects, Spanish coins, early botanical drawings, Indian 
and slave artifacts from the Caribbean, Crow Indian beadwork, and 
horse tack from Argentina are a few of the 400 objects included in the 
exhibition.  
  
Disease
-------
    An invisible ally of the conquering Europeans was disease.  
Indians of the Americas had no previous exposure to smallpox, measles, 
typhus, influenza and other common diseases of 16th-century Europe and 
Africa.  The native population was dramatically reduced by this 
unexpected enemy.
  
The Horse
---------
    The horse originated in North America 55 million years ago and 
later became extinct in the Americas during the last Ice Age.  
Columbus reintroduced the horse in 1493, during his second voyage to 
the Americas.  Subsequently, the horse played a significant role in 
the conquest and settlement of the Americas and was quickly adopted by 
the Native Americans of the Great Plains.  The Indians soon became 
some of the greatest horsemen in the world, and even today the horse 
continues to play a vital role in some Native American cultures as 
evidenced by the annual Crow Fair celebration in Montana.
  
Corn and Potatoes
-----------------
    Another contribution made by the Native American populations is 
the domestication of corn and the potato, crops that have spread 
throughout the world and now play an important role in global diets.  
"American Indians have given us many foods that have added to the 
variety of world cuisines," Viola says.  "This little-known fact is 
highlighted in the section of the exhibition titled 'Spaghetti Meets 
Tomato.'"
  
Sugar
-----
    The story of the impact of sugar cultivation in the New World is 
told through the examination of the Galways sugar plantation on the 
Caribbean island of Montserrat, 20 miles from Antigua.  The first 
European settlers here were Irish indentured servants who were soon 
replaced by African slaves brought to work on the sugar plantations.  
Native plants on the island were also replaced by plants introduced by 
Europeans.  Some historians have estimated that it took the life of 
one slave to produce 1 ton of sugar, according to Viola.  Today's 
Montserratians refer to their home as the "emerald isle," 
interspersing Calypso songs with Irish jigs.  The exhibit includes a 
video depicting the island's vibrant, multicultural Christmas 
celebrations.
  
Vanishing Resources
-------------------
    The final segment of the "Seeds" exhibition examines continuing 
change, forecasting how new seeds of change are spread in today's 
global community.  More importantly, visitors can examine why humans 
must make decisions about how to use the vanishing resources of the 
world.
  
Sponsors
--------
    The museum received a generous financial gift from Xerox 
Corporation to sponsor "Seeds of Change." Michael Kirby, director of 
Worldwide Strategic Advertising for Xerox, said, "History has planted 
the seeds of change, but we can only grow today through understanding 
how change continues.  Xerox is proud to sponsor an exhibition which 
matches our goal of encouraging education, discovery and cultural 
awareness."
    The exhibition also received support from The Potato Board, The 
National Corn Growers Association and Beneficial Management 
Corporation.  
  
Ancillary Exhibits
------------------
    In addition to the core exhibition, the National Museum of Natural 
History is working with AmeriFlora in Columbus, Ohio, to produce an 
associate exhibition that will be the largest ancillary exhibition 
outside of Washington, D.C.  Opening in May 1992 and continuing 
through October 1992, the "Seeds of Change" exhibition at AmeriFlora 
will include additional material providing a Midwestern point of view.
    The museum also is working with the Smithsonian Institution 
Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) to develop a collaborative 
version of the exhibition, scheduled to be produced at the following 
sites:  American Quarter Horse Heritage Center & Museum, Amarillo, 
Texas; The Brevard Museum, Cocoa, Fla.; Fernbank Museum of Natural 
History, Atlanta; Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa 
Barbara, Calif.; the Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas; co-sponsors, 
the Cultural Heritage Center, University of Missouri, and the St. 
Louis County Parks Department at Faust County Park, Chesterfield, Mo.
    "This is a unique approach for the Smithsonian to share the 
expertise and information of an original exhibition while allowing 
each collaborative site to elaborate on the themes and add their own 
regional points of view," Viola says.
    Simultaneously, a panel version of the exhibition is being 
produced through the joint efforts of the National Museum of Natural 
History, the American Library Association and SITES.  The panel 
version will appear in libraries of major cities throughout the United 
States and will travel from January 1992 through December 1993.  
Substantial funding for the ALA panel version is provided by the 
National Endowment for the Humanities.
    Under the auspices of the United States Information Agency, a 
poster version of "Seeds of Change" will travel starting in 1992.  
This show--to be shown all over the world--will have 250 sets of 
approximately 30 posters in various languages.
    The National Museum of Natural History is located at 10th Street 
and Constitution Avenue N.W.  Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 
daily, except Dec. 25.  Admission is free.