Indiana’s Lincoln Bicentennial Birthday Bash
On Feb. 12, 2009, Indiana will join the nation in acknowledging the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth – but, as the state of which Lincoln once said, “There I grew up,” Indiana is planning a lot more than cake and a chorus of “Happy Birthday.”

Starting at 10 a.m., the Indiana State House Rotunda and North and South Atriums will be fully dedicated to the celebration of America’s 16th president, as organizations from across the state offer Lincoln-related exhibits and displays.

During a noon program, Hoosier school children will be honored for their Lincoln-related creations, the Commander of the USS Abraham Lincoln will receive a special gift for his ship and crew, and Honest Abe – in the form of Lincoln presenter Dean Dorrel – will speak.

In addition, visitors will be able to learn about the many other Lincoln-related events, activities and sites in Indiana they can visit in the coming year as a part of the ongoing bicentennial celebration.

During the celebration, Gov. Mitch Daniels will speak and also will present awards to 18 Indiana students who won contests by writing essays, developing PowerPoint presentations or designing stamps honoring Lincoln. Calendars featuring the students’ art and highlighting significant dates from Lincoln’s life will be available for purchase, and special music performances will be presented.

Captain Patrick D. Hall, Commanding Officer of the USS Abraham Lincoln will be on hand to accept the gift of a special quilt created for the Indiana bicentennial celebration. The quilt, which Hall says will be hung in the aircraft carrier’s wardroom, includes a depiction of Lincoln as well as reproductions of manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation and images of three ships that served the Union during the Civil War. Created by a group of Hoosier quilters known as “The Scrappers Bee,” the hanging will join other Lincoln-related items on the ship that already has a replica of a rifle owned by Lincoln’s family, a Civil War-era cannonball and an 1851 Colt Navy revolver.

For more information, please visit http://www.indianaslincoln.org/.

Abraham Lincoln Events and Exhibit at the Danville Public Library
The following will be held at the Danville Public Library located at 101 S. Indiana St. in Danville.

• Celebrate Lincoln’s Birthday
  Join Henry Tuttle for a program on Lincoln's Life in Indiana on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 would have been President Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday. The program will focus on Lincoln’s formative years in Indiana. A short video presentation will be shown along with a slide show. Also, Lincoln memorabilia will be displayed along with historical artifacts of this period. Registration is requested.
  
  
• Abraham Lincoln: Were His Ancestors Undistinguished?
  This presentation will be held on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. in the library’s program room. “I was born February 12, 1809 in Hardin County, Kentucky.  My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families – second families, perhaps I should say” (Abraham Lincoln in a letter to JW Fell, 1859). Genealogists have put together some of the family history that Lincoln could not piece together. Indiana Room Clerk Rose Ann Sigborn will discuss Abraham Lincoln: Were His Ancestors Undistinguished? Registration is requested.
  
  
• Abraham Lincoln February Display
  The Indiana Room display cases at Danville Public Library will feature materials about Abraham Lincoln. For his contemporaries, Lincoln was a highly controversial figure.  Today we celebrate the birthday of Lincoln as a national figure for his accomplishments as President of the United States.

To register for a program, call the Danville Public Library at (317) 745-2604 or visit the events calendar at http://www.dpl.lib.in.us/.

Abraham Lincoln Presentation in Sheridan
This event is part of the Boxley Lecture Series and will be held on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. at the Sheridan Middle School Auditorium in Sheridan.

Fritz Klein, a noted Lincoln re-enactor, Springfield, Ill., will be introduced by Dan Smith, a history teacher from Hamilton Heights school and escorted into the auditorium by six Union soldier re-enactors coming from other communities in Central Indiana. 

Fritz Klein, now serving as the official Lincoln interpreter for the National Parks Service, is considered one of the nation’s foremost Lincoln actors.  According to Brenda Bush, “Klein will make Lincoln and his period of history come alive, which is exactly what we want to do in this new public lecture event.  We want to animate our history and simulate the experience of actually being there.”  Klein, who was graduated from Concordia College in Ft. Wayne, Ind., in 1970, began acting as a hobby in 1975.  He portrayed Abraham Lincoln in the mid-70s during city celebrations and began full-time acting in 1980. He has performed in 35 states for film and television as well as on stage as a motivational speaker.  Klein resides in Springfield, Ill., performing for more than 500,000 annual visitors.

The lecture is free to the public.

For more information, call (317) 758-5845.

Program Celebrating the New Floyd County Architectural Guide in New Albany
This presentation will be held on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. in the Strassweg Auditorium at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library located at 180 W. Spring St. in New Albany.

Amanda Jones Taylor, Survey Coordinator at Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, and Greg Sekula, Director of the Foundation's Southern Regional Office in Jeffersonville, will offer a presentation on the historic architecture of Floyd County and the debut of the illustrated report on the findings of the Floyd County Sites and Structures Inventory.

Architectural surveyors from Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana spent over a year driving across Floyd County to document landmarks. The Floyd County Sites and Structures Inventory records well-known historic places and less recognized structures such as New Albany School No. 2, an iron bridge on John Pectol Road in Greenville, and the Wolfe Hotel in Georgetown, built in 1835.

The event is free to the public and light refreshments will be served.

The Floyd County Sites and Structures Inventory Interim Report, illustrated with historic and contemporary photos and maps, costs $15. The report includes information on historic buildings in Floyd County outside of New Albany's city limits (the City of New Albany published its own inventory report in 1994).

For questions about the presentation, please contact Historic Landmarks' Southern Regional Office at (812) 284-4534. Questions about the Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory program should be directed to the state's Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology at (317) 232-1646.

An Evening with Photo Detective Maureen Taylor
Maureen Taylor, known as The Photo Detective, will be lecturing at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center on Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m.

Taylor, an internationally recognized expert on the intersection of history, genealogy and photography, has been featured in top media outlets including “Today,” “The View,” The Wall Street Journal, Martha Stewart Living and Better Homes & Garden. She is the author of numerous books and magazine articles as well as a contributing editor at Family Tree Magazine.

For the past 10 years, Taylor has employed a variety of diagnostic techniques, combining genealogy, art history, costume history and cultural anthropology in her work dating and identifying the subjects in photos. The Wall Street Journal called her “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective.”

Tickets are $10 or $8 for IHS members. Call (317) 234-1830 to purchase.

Have a mystery photo and need some expert advice?

Sign up for a 15-minute private consultation with Maureen Taylor. Once you’ve registered for a consultation, here’s how the process works:

• Think about which photos you’d like her to look at.
• If you have additional information about the pictures, please bring that with you.
• It’s helpful to bring a family history chart with you as well.
• For note taking purposes, Maureen suggests you make a photocopy of each image and bring it with you.

Consultations will be scheduled during the day on Tuesday, March 10. They are $25. Call (317) 234-1830 for your appointment.

For more information about Maureen Taylor, visit her Web site at http://www.photodetective.com/.

Technology Manager at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in Manhattan, N.Y.
The Intrepid Museum is looking for a Technology Manager to manage a team of support personnel who troubleshoot IT/AV issues, provide support to operational technology infrastructure and install, modify, and make repairs to computer hardware and software systems, and provides technical assistance and training to end system users.

For full job details visit http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/Are-You-In/Careers.aspx.

For consideration, e-mail a resume with salary requirements to resume@intrepidmuseum.org. Be sure to include the title of the position you are interested in and your salary requirements. No phone calls. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Museum Director at Coral Gables Museum in Coral Gables, Fl.
This is a highly responsible executive level position, directing all activities of the Coral Gables Museum.

Coral Gables, a community designed in the City Beautiful tradition and incorporated in 1925, is situated in Miami-Dade County and is known for its historically significant Mediterranean-inspired architecture and its multi-national corporate and residential populations. Scheduled to open in late 2010, the Museum will be housed both in a new  structure and in the City's original 1939 Police and Fire Station, a National Register property located in the City's central business district, currently undergoing a complete LEED certified restoration. The 10,000-square-foot Museum will focus on the Civic Arts of architecture, urban design and planning, sustainable development and historical and environmental preservation. The Executive Director is responsible for the operation, management and maintenance of the Coral Gables Museum and works under the supervision of the Board of Trustees.

For full job description, please visit http://www.coralgablesmuseum.org/employment.php.

To apply, please forward your resume to chris@coralgablesmuseum.org.

Internships with the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute
Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute is offering short-term opportunities to work on research projects with staff members. Preference will be given to applicants currently enrolled in conservation training programs or graduate students in related subjects.

Stipends will be offered for a period of up to 10 weeks.

The internships are intended mainly for the summer of 2009, but consideration will be given to projects at other times during the year. Projects will be supervised by the MCI staff members, whom applicants are strongly urged to contact in advance of application.

Applications must include the following:

• A cover letter explaining the candidate's interests and intent in applying for the project
• Curriculum vitae, with basic biographical information and current and permanent addresses and telephone numbers
• Names and contact information for two references

All applications should be sent to the staff member with whom the candidate wishes to work, either electronically or at the following address:

Museum Conservation Institute
Museum Support Center
Smithsonian Institution
4210 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, MD 20746-2863

The application must be postmarked no later than March 15, 2009. Selected candidates will be interviewed by telephone, although MCI visits are welcome. Notifications will be sent by April 15, 2009.

For more information, please see the announcement at http://www.si.edu/mci/english/professional_development/2009SummerInternships.html.

Summer Student Internships at The Heritage Center and Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, S.D.
Under the supervision of the Director and the Project Manager of The Heritage Center, the interns will become familiar with the day-to-day work of managing the collections. 

Through work with current collections and new accessions cataloging, the interns will learn the basic techniques and materials used to move, handle, number and shelve the Fine Arts and Tribal Arts collections. He/she also will complete condition reports and document collections through digital, slide and 35mm photography. Finally, the intern will add records to the collections database, iO.

Up to three positions are available. Positions are full time, eight to 10 weeks, with flexible starting and ending dates. A stipend is available to help offset expenses. Room and partial board provided. Preferred applicants are current Juniors/Seniors in college or graduate students.

Send cover letter, resume and contact information for two references to pstrong@redcloudschool.org or to The Heritage Center, 100 Mission Drive, Pine Ridge, SD 57770. Resume packet needs to be postmarked on or before March 15, 2009.

Visit http://www.redcloudschool.org/ for more information.

State Advocacy Tools Available Online
One result of the recent economic downturn has been state budgets being squeezed.

To help the museum community weigh in on the state level, AAM's Advocacy Web site now includes state legislator information, including every state legislator, his or her photo, a basic bio, committee assignments, and office locations and contact information

For more information visit http://www.speakupformuseums.org/.

Museums and Society 2034: Trends and Potential Futures Discussion Paper
The Center for the Future of Museums commissioned this discussion paper on social and cultural trends and their potential effect on museums. The report was prepared by James Chung, Susie Wilkening and the staff of Reach Advisors – a marketing strategy and research firm with extensive experience in the museum field – in consultation with CFM staff and outside experts.

This paper is designed to be a catalyst – a fact-based platform for further exploration and refinement rather than the final word on museum trends. In that spirit, CFM will host discussions on the paper online and at the 2009 AAM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia and a scenario-planning session led by a prominent futurist.

For more information or to download the discussion paper, visit http://www.futureofmuseums.org/reading/publications/#MS2034.