American Indians of the Pacific Northwest

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest

This digital collection integrates over 2,300 photographs and 7,700 pages of text relating to the American Indians in two cultural areas of the Pacific Northwest, the Northwest Coast and Plateau. These resources illustrate many aspects of life and work, including housing, clothing, crafts, transportation, education, and employment. The materials are drawn from the extensive collections of the University of Washington Libraries, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (formerly the Cheney Cowles Museum/Eastern Washington State Historical Society), and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle.

Chilkat dancers pose in ceremonial dress with wood carvings, Alaska, 1895. (Click on Image to enlarge.)

Lincoln

TUESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY, 2008

The Writer's Almanac

It's the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, born in Hardin County, Kentucky (now part of LaRue County) in 1809. Here are some things that you may not have known about Lincoln: He was the first president to have a beard while in office. And he was the tallest president at six feet, four inches.


























He was the first president to be photographed at his inauguration. And in the picture of his second inauguration you can see John Wilkes Booth standing near him.

Lincoln liked animals and he owned a cat, "Bob," a turkey, "Jack," and a dog, "Jib." On the night of his assassination, they found in Lincoln's pockets two pairs of glasses, an ivory and silver pocketknife, a linen handkerchief, a Confederate five-dollar bill, a gold watch fob, and a new leather wallet with a pencil inside of it.

Lincoln was the only president ever to receive a patent. It was for a device that lifted ships over shoals in the water.

He was known for keeping an untidy office and also for his loud and resonant laugh. He admired the works of Edgar Allan Poe, but when Lincoln saw that a campaign document had claimed that he spent his free time reading Plutarch, he began reading Lives.

Many thought that Lincoln was overindulgent as a father and he would let his youngest two boys run and play freely in the Presidential Office.

Guppy to Guillotin: The Namesakes of Words

Guppy to Guillotin: The Namesakes of Words

All Things Considered, February 9, 2008 · For author Philip Dodd, a simple trivia question sent him on a quest that crossed oceans and spanned continents.

The question: What fish was named for a West Indian clergyman?

The answer is in the title of Dodd's new book, The Reverend Guppy's Aquarium: From Joseph P. Frisbie to Roy Jacuzzi, How Everyday Items Were Named for Extraordinary People. From Guppy himself, who was quite a character, to the Earl of Sandwich and instrument-maker Adolphe Sax, Dodd delves into the lives of those who left their names deeply embedded in the English language.

Tracing the paths of these often unwitting heroes, Dodd's travels took him from Texas — where he met the notorious cattle rancher Samuel Maverick — to Trinidad, where he found the spot where naturalist Robert Lechmere Guppy found his now-famous freshwater fish. Though many of his subjects are long dead, Dodd also found people still alive, well and brimming with ideas, including inventor Roy Jacuzzi, who lives in California.

Some of the stories Dodd discovered were tragic. He tells the sad family story behind the Mercedes, which was named for the young daughter of Emil Jellinek, an entrepreneur who commissioned the first Mercedes cars. Jellinek lost his fortune in the war and died a broken man in 1918.

Andrea Seabrook spoke with Dodd about the stories behind some of the characters who give the English language its color.

To listen to the interview CLick Here.

Are you the result of your family dinners?

The Family Dinner Deconstructed

by Alix Spiegel

To Listen Now [6 min 56 sec] Click Here.

Morning Edition, February 7, 2008 · The ritual of a family dinner has been praised as an antidote to bad grades and bad habits in kids. But as researchers look closer at the family dinner, they raise the question: Is it the mere act of eating together that counts, or is it that strong families are already more likely to have a family dinner?

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Budapest Festival Orchestra: Model Orchestra and Orchestra Models

By Daniel J. Wakin

Take 50 to 100 highly trained musicians, put instruments in their hands, place ’em on stage and charge admission. It’s called an orchestra. But how do you organize them? Pay them? Make use of their time? Keep them happy? Keep audiences happy?

All sorts of models exist. I had a chat with Ivan Fischer, who leads the Budapest Festival Orchestra, at a Lincoln Center bakery/eatery on Friday, and he told the story of his group. It sounded pretty special. Now since I have not looked closely at exactly how the orchestra works, it is hard to gauge the reality. But at the least, Mr. Fischer’s description sounded like a fine ideal. The Budapest Festival Orchestra has been around since 1983, when Mr. Fischer, a budding freelance conductor at the time, decided to settle down and helped establish it. But it has not achieved the notice in this country of other top European bands. It has concert dates Friday night and Sunday afternoon as part of Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series.

Mr. Fischer’s orchestra, he said, has three cardinal virtues, established at its creation: an emphasis on the players’ individual creativity; few rules, for maximum flexibility; and unusual programming.

Thus, on Point 1, the orchestra has internal concerto competitions, so not just principals get to play solos. Players are encouraged to come up with their own chamber music programs. Seating rotates. “More active musicians make a better team,” said Mr. Fischer, who speaks slowly with a Hungarian accent. The no-rules rule means no long-term contracts, no overtime and auditions that end up with five or six finalists who play with the orchestra.

Innovative programs mean daylong festivals devoted to a composer; surprise concerts, in which the program is unknown until the players come on stage; and sight-reading concerts, in which a slip of paper is drawn out of a tuba bell with a seat number. The person in that seat then picks the piece. A truck with the orchestra library is waiting outside, so the parts can be delivered. Next season, the orchestra comes to Carnegie Hall with Gypsy musicians.

Often readers of material like the above will write in and say, “Gee, that’s all very well, but my orchestra has been doing those things for ages; you failed to mention X, Y and Z.” So consider this an open invitation to comment on ArtsBeat about orchestra models, model orchestras and interesting features of both.

Painting

“If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.”
Edward Hopper



















Click on image to enlarge.

El Palacio
1946 (120 Kb); Watercolor on paper, 20 3/4 x 28 5/8 inches; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Her wish came true