Smithsonian S National Museum

The acting director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is returning to the University of Oklahoma. Paul Risser announced his departure in an e-mail to museum staff and will leave effective Friday. Risser became acting director in April on a temporary basis, filling in for Cristian Samper, who became acting secretary of the Smithsonian during the search for a permanent person for that post. A replacement for Risser was not immediately announced.

The ruby slippers are taking off, and not by a click of the heel either. A pair of the iconic shoes worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" will leave the Smithsonian for the first time to be displayed in London in an exhibition titled "Hollywood Costume. " The shoes usually live at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., but will be on loan for four weeks to the Victoria & Albert Museum . There they will be on display alongside Scarlett O'Hara's green "curtain" dress from "Gone With the Wind" (1939)

A 1991 Corvette, neither the oldest car nor the fastest but one of the flashiest, was enshrined Monday in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as its first American racing sports car. "By most people, it is considered the Grand Sports Corvette of this generation," said Tommy C. Morrison, president of Morrison Motorsports Inc., who donated his car, No. 92, to the Smithsonian. No.

QUICK TAKES Dummies crash museum The crash-test dummies who promoted auto safety for 25 years in public service TV ads are headed to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration donated auto safety objects to the museum Wednesday, including a three-point safety belt from a 1961 Volvo and an energy-absorbing steering column from a 1967 Chevrolet. The collection includes several costumes and "severed limbs" from Vince and Larry, the famous crash-test dummies.

Re your July 23 editorial, "The (Name Here) Museum," concerning the naming of an exhibit hall at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History: You urged that "exhibitions, not sponsors, should come first." We agree. The curatorial team of "America on the Move," the exhibition that General Motors is partially funding, can assure the public that this is exactly the case. The exhibit was developed before any private funds were raised. We're certain that when the public sees the exhibition--which includes, by the way, a section on Los Angeles--it will be clear to all that "America on the Move" is solely a Smithsonian show.

Clarence "Curly Bear" Wagner, 64, a Native American historian who pressed for repatriation of ancestral remains to tribes, died of cancer July 16 at a hospital in Browning, Mont., on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, said his cousin Walter Lamar. As a young man, Wagner was on the board of the American Indian Movement, his cousin said. Later, Wagner worked for the return of human remains that were released in 1988 by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and in the 1990s by Chicago's Field Museum, officials at the museums confirmed.

A gold-and-silver Tiffany pitcher that dates to Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration in 1861 is to be auctioned next month and could fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars. The pitcher, presumably a gift to Lincoln, is the feature item to be auctioned June 6 in Cincinnati. The pitcher is expected to go for $300,000 to $400,000. The pitcher has been owned by a Cincinnati family. The item has been on loan to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington for four decades.

QUICK TAKES Dummies crash museum The crash-test dummies who promoted auto safety for 25 years in public service TV ads are headed to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration donated auto safety objects to the museum Wednesday, including a three-point safety belt from a 1961 Volvo and an energy-absorbing steering column from a 1967 Chevrolet. The collection includes several costumes and "severed limbs" from Vince and Larry, the famous crash-test dummies.

It's sweet justice when attempts at censorship backfire and call attention to the very thing the censor hoped to hide. Such is the case with the dazzling photographs of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that go on display today at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History amid controversy that is already bringing photographer Subhankar Banerjee's work the attention it deserves. "Seasons of Life and Land" was scheduled for a prime spot next to the museum's rotunda. Then Sen.

The ruby slippers are taking off, and not by a click of the heel either. A pair of the iconic shoes worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" will leave the Smithsonian for the first time to be displayed in London in an exhibition titled "Hollywood Costume. " The shoes usually live at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., but will be on loan for four weeks to the Victoria & Albert Museum . There they will be on display alongside Scarlett O'Hara's green "curtain" dress from "Gone With the Wind" (1939)

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is giving $10 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture planned for the National Mall in Washington. The grant announced Thursday will support the capital campaign for design and construction of the new museum. Allan Golston, president of the foundation's U.S. programs, said the museum will make the stories and history of African Americans available to everyone. Groundbreaking is expected in 2012, and the opening is slated for 2015.

Clarence "Curly Bear" Wagner, 64, a Native American historian who pressed for repatriation of ancestral remains to tribes, died of cancer July 16 at a hospital in Browning, Mont., on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, said his cousin Walter Lamar. As a young man, Wagner was on the board of the American Indian Movement, his cousin said. Later, Wagner worked for the return of human remains that were released in 1988 by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and in the 1990s by Chicago's Field Museum, officials at the museums confirmed.

The acting director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History is returning to the University of Oklahoma. Paul Risser announced his departure in an e-mail to museum staff and will leave effective Friday. Risser became acting director in April on a temporary basis, filling in for Cristian Samper, who became acting secretary of the Smithsonian during the search for a permanent person for that post. A replacement for Risser was not immediately announced.

It's sweet justice when attempts at censorship backfire and call attention to the very thing the censor hoped to hide. Such is the case with the dazzling photographs of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that go on display today at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History amid controversy that is already bringing photographer Subhankar Banerjee's work the attention it deserves. "Seasons of Life and Land" was scheduled for a prime spot next to the museum's rotunda. Then Sen.

Re your July 23 editorial, "The (Name Here) Museum," concerning the naming of an exhibit hall at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History: You urged that "exhibitions, not sponsors, should come first." We agree. The curatorial team of "America on the Move," the exhibition that General Motors is partially funding, can assure the public that this is exactly the case. The exhibit was developed before any private funds were raised. We're certain that when the public sees the exhibition--which includes, by the way, a section on Los Angeles--it will be clear to all that "America on the Move" is solely a Smithsonian show.

A 1991 Corvette, neither the oldest car nor the fastest but one of the flashiest, was enshrined Monday in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as its first American racing sports car. "By most people, it is considered the Grand Sports Corvette of this generation," said Tommy C. Morrison, president of Morrison Motorsports Inc., who donated his car, No. 92, to the Smithsonian. No.