photograph album with green, leather cover with gold writing that reads "Family Album 1949-1956" on the front cover and spine; black, paper pages; mostly black and white photographs, some in color; Belonged to Patricia Anne Cohen, formerly actor Patricia English
This 8th grade journal was an assignment for Englekirk's drama class. According to the collecting curator, "The journal was assigned to help encourage the students to become more self-aware actors. He was pretty honest in the journal and says it’s surprising looking back on it that no one ever reached out to him after reading it. But he always thought his teachers were supportive and available."
Jordan Max-Ryan Englekirk was born intersex in 1972 and because he looked like a girl, grew up as Jennifer. Englekirk has personally identified as male for most of his life and growing up struggled with this dichotomy. Often bullied in school and berated by teachers and adults in his life, Englekirk finally made the transition to male in 2012, at 40 years old. He now lives as a man but during high school, while still living as Jennifer, Englekirk became a member of the girls’ softball team and soon was a leader on the diamond. Sports was an important outlet for creating his identity. Englekirk kept sports in his life as an adult and eventually became the first woman to ump at Cooperstown Little Majors Stadium for Little League tournament games.
This piano was made by Blüthner in Leipzig, Germany, in 1900. It is a grand piano, Model 6, Serial #55501. Accessioned with bench (not-original).
Founded by Julius Blüthner in 1853 in Leipzig, Germany, Blüthner is one of the most respected German piano builders. Blüthner pianos rapidly acquired a sterling reputation, winning numerous prizes at international exhibits, including the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia.
>p>This Model 6 has a version of the ornate “Jubilee” cast-iron plates Blüthner produced from 1898 to 1907. It also has Blüthner’s Aliquot System. This patented system employs an additional fourth string for each of the keys in the instrument’s upper octaves. This string is not struck by the hammers, but vibrates through sympathetic resonance when the other three strings are struck, resulting in an enriched spectrum contributing to the distinctive “Blüthner sound.”
Otto Becker, whose name is inlaid in the piano’s lid flap, was a musical instrument dealer and music publisher in Santiago, Chile. The #55501 remained in Chile until 1986 when it was purchased by Fred Chaffee, a distinguished astronomer and amateur pianist whose career began in 1968 at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was donated to the Smithsonian in 2014 by Fred and Diana Chaffee “in loving memory of Roger G. Kennedy,” who served as Director of the National Museum of American History from 1979 to 1992.
