#storiesmw

[smithsonianlibrariesarchives]

I think Walter Crane must have eaten something funny when writing Legends for Lionel (Cassell & Company, Ltd. Melbourne, 1887).

Read the tale for today’s Museum Week theme of Stories! Then explore more illustrated children’s books in our Digital Library, which mostly live in our Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library.

[fordlibrarymuseum]

For #StoriesMW, we’re sharing the tale of Betty Ford’s “Bloomer Flag.”

After noticing the national flags flying on diplomats’ cars as they arrived at the White House as well as the American and Presidential flags displayed on the President’s car, Betty Ford had a question: “If the President gets flags, why shouldn’t the First Lady?”

In answer Dick Hartwig, then the head of Mrs. Ford’s Secret Service detail, and Rick Sardo, the White House Marine Corps aide, presented her with this specially designed flag on June 24, 1975. Hartwig’s friend Sarah Brinkerhoff handmade the pennant for the First Lady’s limousine.

Made of blue satin and trimmed in white lace with blue and red stars, the flag features a pair of red and white bloomers in the center as a play on Mrs. Ford’s maiden name, Bloomer. White text above the bloomers reads, “Don’t Tread on Me,” a slogan frequently used  by the American colonists to garner up patriotism and morale during the American Revolution. The letters “E.R.A.” below stand for the Equal Rights Amendment, an indication of Mrs. Ford’s strong support for the proposed amendment. The ERA, an amendment which would give women equality under law through the United States Constitution, was first introduced to Congress in 1923 but was never given enough support to be ratified.

Although it had been designed for her car Mrs. Ford displayed the flag on her desk in the East Wing.

Images:

Betty Ford’s “Bloomer” Flag

First Lady Betty Ford Displaying Her "Bloomer" Flag with Agent Dick Hartwig, White House Marine Corps Aide Rick Sardo, White House Photographer David Hume Kennerly, and East Wing Staff Members Nancy Chirdon and Carolyn Porembka, 6/24/1975

[usnatarchives]

This letter is just one of the many stories in our #AmendingAmerica exhibit. The Fifth Amendment provides protections to accused criminals, including the right against self-incrimination. During the “red scare” of the 1950s, the House UnAmerican Activities Committee subpoenaed film industry members and required that they answer questions about themselves and others who may have been communists.

Although she was a playwright, not a criminal, Lillian Hellman “pled the Fifth,” refusing to "name names," even though so many others did. In this letter to the chairman of HUAC, she says "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions."

Letter to the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) from Lillian Hellman regarding her subpoena, May 19, 1952, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives.

See the Amending America exhibit before it closes in September! http://bit.ly/2bPfari

[naturalsciencesbelgium]

“Returning home on my bike carrying a mammoth femur”

1968, Belgium: 16 year old Hugo De Potter (pictured) finds a bone in a sand extraction site in Dendermonde. His biology teacher suspects it is a mammoth vertebra, so the manager of the quarry gives De Potter permission to dig out the other bones. ‘Every Wednesday afternoon, weekend and holiday, I went there to dig. You can imagine returning home on my bike carrying a mammoth femur was kind of an attraction,’ De Potter remembers. By 1972, he had collected an enormous amount of mammoth bones.

The city of Dendermonde claimed the collection and moved it to our Institute. But when De Potter came to work for our palaeontology department, years later, he was reunited with his own mammoth collection. He helped to assemble the skeleton – completed with some pieces from the Institute’s collection – on a metal frame. In 1975, the 29.000 year old treasure received a spot on the upper floor of the Vleeshuismuseum in Dendermonde.

Hyena bite marks

The mammoth of Dendermonde was not found in one piece (which palaeontologists call ‘articulated’). The 74 parts are possibly from 74 different mammoths. These are mammoths that probably died in the Scheldt basin. The bodies floated to the lowest point.

The specimen is ‘two-fold’. ‘The skull and tusks are male, the pelvis is clearly female’. The skeleton is near-complete, but the foot- and hand bones are missing. ‘The little bones wash away easier through river activity and end up somewhere else. Or they get detached from the skeleton because scavengers, like hyenas, ripped of legs. One of the bones clearly shows bite marks from hyenas, by the way (pictured).’

Infesting Pyrite

But the mammoth of Dendermonde, like many other fossils, is threatened by an assassin: pyrite. The gold-resembling mineral, also known as fool’s gold, grows in the bones like a tumour. It can expand the bones to a point at which they break or even pulverize. In March 2017, specialists from our Institute, together with volunteers of the Belgian Palaeontology Association, gave the skeleton a makeover.

Next to the mammoth of Dendermonde, our Institute holds those of Lier and Hoboken. The mammoth of Lier – which you can see in our Museum – was the first that was shown to the public in Western Europe and the second worldwide, behind the natural history museum in Saint Petersburg.

[computerhistorymuseum]

Learn from two inspiring entrepreneurs as they shared their stories on a wide range of topics, including different ways to think about becoming a founder, aha moments from the earliest days of their startups, highs and lows as an entrepreneur, and best advice. #StoriesMW #WomenMW

[museumwales]

One of Cardiff's most famous residents, Billy The Seal, once lived in Victoria Park. She came to National Museum Cardiff in 1939.

[jcacciolagallery-blog]

What is the story behind your favorite piece of art (one you own or that you've seen/experienced) #storiesMW #museumweek2017

[chickrawker]

Today's #MuseumWeek theme is #StoriesMW. This is Shooting Picture (1961) by #nikidestphalle on view at #tatemodern. She made a series of paintings where she would fill polythene bags with paint and enclose them within layers of plaster on a backing. She would then invite people to shoot at them so the paint would be released. This one was shot by #robertrauschenberg and #jasperjohns. That's a pretty great story. #art #painting #womenartists #womensmw (at Tate Modern)