JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH
Jazz Appreciation Month 20th Anniversary
This year, JAM celebrates the dynamic impact of the often-overlooked contributions that women have made to jazz, both on and off the stage. As performers and conductors, educators, and producers and directors of jazz festivals, women have made their mark but have continued to struggle for recognition on par with their male counterparts.
JAM in 2021 will comprise events and performances, including a film and panel (see below). Check the website for information on a lecture on Shirley Horn, women drummers and a lecture "Jazz Forum" from Shenandoah University: s.si.edu/JazzAppreciationMonth.
2021 JAM Poster Featuring Nina Simone
This year, Jazz Appreciation Month will both recognize and explore the historical legacy of pianist, singer, songwriter, storyteller, and civil rights activist Nina Simone. There will be historic content added to the museum's website and online programming, marked visually by an illustration of Nina Simone on this year’s poster by Duke Ellington School of the Arts sophomore visual arts student Naa Anyele Sowah-de Jesus.
For more information and to request a poster go to: s.si.edu/JazzAppreciationMonth.
HISTORY FILM FORUM
History Film Forum: "How It Feels To Be Free"
April 1; 7 p.m.
Free reservations required; visit https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/
Celebrate the end of Women’s History Month and the beginning of Jazz Appreciation Month with an insider’s look at the film "How It Feels To Be Free."
Fath Davis Ruffins, Curator of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, film Director Yoruba Richen and Executive Directors Lacey Schwartz Delgado and Mehret Mandefro will discuss how the film was made and the story it tells accompanied by a Q&A.
This American Masters/PBS film tells the story of six iconic African American women entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – who challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes. Featuring clips and interviews (along with commentary by contemporary luminaries including Halle Berry, Shonda Rhimes, and Samuel Jackson), viewers discover how these performers took control of their own images as African Americans and as women – transforming both themselves and their audiences in the process.
Note: A screening of the film is not part of the virtual event.
Monthly online History Film Forum screenings are presented in partnership with the Smithsonian Associates and through the support of Dan Manatt and Democracy Films.
LEMELSON CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF INVENTION AND INNOVATION
Innovative Lives: Marilyn Hamilton
April 14; 4 p.m.
Free registration: invention.si.edu/events
Marilyn Hamilton, co-inventor of the Quickie Wheelchair, will speak with NMAH curator Katherine Ott about her life as an athlete and inventor. Following a hang-gliding accident in 1978, she worked with two friends to adapt hang-glider materials to invent a lightweight, easy-to-maneuver wheelchair, which she then used to play championship wheelchair tennis. Hamilton co-founded Motion Designs to manufacture the wheelchairs, sold today under the brand name Quickie. For more information, please visit: https://invention.si.edu/.
MORE APRIL VIRTUAL PROGRAMS
National Museum of American History Colloquium
Shana Klein, "The Fruits of Empire: A New Approach to Art and Food"
April 6; 4 pm.
Join curators and historians for a presentation and discussion on historical topics. Audience questions are encouraged and will be addressed in the moderated dialogue.
National Museum of American History Colloquium
Jim Deutsch, "Expressions of Pandemic Folklore: Case Studies from 1918 and 2020"
April 13; 4 pm.
Join curators and historians for a presentation and discussion on historical topics. Audience questions are encouraged and will be addressed in the moderated dialogue.
National Museum of American History Colloquium
Margaret Salazar-Porzio, Manuel Rodriguez, Katherine Ott, Veronica Mendez, Rosa Ficek, Maria Sotomayor: Collecting regarding community-led responses to disasters, including the Pandemic, in Puerto Rico
April 27; 4 pm.
Join curators and historians for a presentation and discussion on historical topics. Audience questions are encouraged and will be addressed in the moderated dialogue.