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Extent:

36.54 cu. ft. (58 document boxes) (7.54 tall document boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Video recordings

Videotapes

Date:

1982-1989

Descriptive Entry:

Here At The Smithsonian was a series of short features for television created and produced by the staff of the Smithsonian's Office of Telecommunications between the years 1982 and 1989. The series was designed for public dissemination of information about Smithsonian exhibition and research activities. Each year had a volume number [1982 (Volume I) through 1989 (Volume VIII)], within the volume were multiple editions (four to five), and multiple segments within each edition (three to six). Although some segments were repeated, they were often lengthened for a second broadcast. Features totaled 160 (including repeats).

This accession contains some of the original camera footage, all of the cut shows, and preservation masters of all of the cut shows. The initial features were written and shot by in-house staff using rented professional broadcast equipment, recorded on U-matic tape, rough cut on U-matic tape, then edited to 1-inch tape at a commercial post production house (first at FAX Productions in Bethesda, Maryland, then at Techniarts in Silver Spring, Maryland). Features were shot on Betacam beginning in 1987, and mastered to D-2 beginning in 1989. In 1987, post production work moved to Henninger Video in Arlington, Virginia.

Due to the long run of the series, different individuals were associated with the various functions including series producer, segment producer, and narrator. Those playing the largest roles in the development and refinement of Here At The Smithsonian were Ann Carroll (series producer, Volumes I - IV) and John P. Meehan (series producer Volumes V - VIII).

Restrictions:

Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing copies are not currently available. Viewing copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.

Topic:

Television -- Production and direction  Search this

Zoos  Search this

Orchids  Search this

Corals  Search this

Kites  Search this

Meteorites  Search this

Scientific expeditions  Search this

Astronomy  Search this

Audio-visual materials  Search this

Paleontology  Search this

Reptiles  Search this

Insects  Search this

Squid  Search this

Video recordings -- Production and direction  Search this

Documentary videos  Search this

Genre/Form:

Video recordings

Videotapes

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 00-132, Smithsonian Institution. Office of Telecommunications, Productions

Identifier:

Accession 00-132

See more items in:

Productions

Archival Repository:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-sia-fa00-132

Creator::

Smithsonian Institution. Office of Telecommunications  Search this

Extent:

15.5 cu. ft. (15 record storage boxes) (1 document box)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Videotapes

Video recordings

Date:

1981-1991, 1996, 1999

Descriptive Entry:

This accession consists of videotapes and audiotapes created during the production of "Here At The Smithsonian" ("HATS"), an eight volume series of television productions. The series was conceived by Nazaret Cherkezian, Director, Office of Telecommunications (1976-1986) and produced by Ann Carroll (Volumes I-IV) and John P. Meehan (Volumes V-VIII). Due to funding cuts, the series ceased production in 1989.

"HATS" was a series of short features, designed and produced for broadcast via commercial newscasts to disseminate information about Smithsonian Institution exhibitions and research activities. The features were short (no more than 2 minutes) and flexibly produced. Segments utilized split track audio allowing stations to use either the voice of their own newscaster or the voice provided by the Smithsonian; beginnings and ends of the features were left with extra video and audio, permitting fade-in and fade-out; and no one appearing on the features was identified on screen, allowing stations to use the fonts and typefaces normally used for their own newscasts. The brevity of segments and flexible style of production made them easy to insert anywhere in a newscast.

During the second volume (1983), it became apparent that public television stations were much more interested in using the features than commercial news stations. Eventually, the features were lengthened to three to four minutes to suit the public television format and further refined. Changes included the use of fade-in and fade-out to black; fully mixed audio tracks; and identification of all on-screen persons. Also, a standard musical theme, opening and closing sequences, and titling, were added.

Volume I (1982) includes "At Home with the Apes;" "The Rebirth of Dinosaurs;" "Hooray for Amelia!;" "The Woolly Mammoth of Washington;" "How Does Your Sculpture Grow?;" "Diplomats in Buckskins;" "Hooray for the Red, White and Blue;" "A Festival of Animals;" "What Lives in Your Lawn?;" "Celebrations 'Round the World;" "Horse Races on the Mall;" "Living with the Eskimos;" "A Modern Noah's Ark;" and "Raphael Soyer: An Art of Real Life."

Volume II (1983) includes "Inside Meteorites;" "From Fiddles to Banjos;" "Corals in Captivity;" "A Life with Aviation;" "The Universe in a Box;" "The Ultimate Model;" "The Elephant's Tale;" "Japan's Ceramic Treasures;" "A Museum for the Community;" "The World of Mathew Brady;" "American Picture Palaces;" "Time Capsule of the Revolution;" "The Smithsonian's Giant Squid;" "Faulkner: A Living Portrait;" "Design for the People;" "Video Astronomy;" "France Meets New Jersey;" "Ballooning's 200th Birthday;" "The Art of Craft;" and "An Invasion of Painters."

Volume III (1984) includes "Keeping Perfect Time;" "Nature Through a Viewfinder;" "The Precious Legacy;" "Surgery is Painless;" "Islam in Africa;" "Big Ideas in Small Packages;" "The 20,000 Year-Old-Man;" "A Place for Touching;" "Microscopes Make it Big;" "The Plastic Historian;" "Panda Playground;" "More Than 'Whistler's Mother';" "Collecting the 'Stuff' of Politics;" "The Golden Age of Aviation;" "The Birdman of America;" "Celebrating American Folklife;" "Eyes on the Universe;" "Strike up the Band;" "An Ancient Game Reborn;" "Past Visions of the Future;" "That's Entertainment;" "Our Violent Universe;" "TR in Africa;" "Outer Space Artist;" and "Happy Birthday, Hirshhorn Museum."

Volume IV (1985) includes "Say It Ain't So, Wesley;" "Black Artists in the 19th Century;" "Mechanical Musical Marvels;" "America's Castle;" "The Vanishing Frontier;" "Deep Sea Mysteries;" "The Smithsonian's Model Shop;" "Keeping Orchids Alive;" "Something to Hang the Paint On;" "The World's Biggest Camera;" "The Tale of the Kite;" "Treasures of African Art;" "A Modern Noah's Ark" (repeat); "Restoring it to 'Wright';" "Diplomats in Buckskins" (repeat);" "Folklife '85;" "Advertising Yesterday and Today;" "Video Astronomy" (repeat);" "A Woman Ahead of Her Time;" and "The Old Country Post Office."

Volume V (1986) includes "Magnificent Voyagers;" "The Tale of the Kite" (extended); "A Gallery for Today;" "Balloon Astronomy;" "Hollywood: Legend and Reality;" "Black Wings;" "Art in New Mexico;" "At Home on the Road;" "Folklife '86;" "The California Artist;" "Brand New at the Zoo;" "Discover Graphics;" "Air and Space Anniversary;" "Reaching Rural Africa;" "At Mr. Hirshhorn 's Bequest;" "Corals in Captivity" (repeat); "A Smithsonian Holiday;" "Russia: The Land and the People;" "The Harlem Renaissance;" and "A Painter at Large."

Volume VI (1987) includes "From Field to Factory;" "Second Nature;" "Engines of Change;" "Meet the Beetles;" "Capturing the Spirit;" "A Grasp of Reality;" "Zoo Vets;" "Spanning the Distance;" "American Art Deco;" "The Making of a Dinosaur;" "TR in Africa" (repeat); "Contemporary Expressions;" "Remembering John La Farge;" "Folklife Festival '87;" "Building a Biosphere;" "Portrait of a Life;" "Treasures Down Under;" "African Splendors;" "Dr. Sackler's Gift;" and "A Garden for All Seasons."

Volume VII (1988) includes "Climbing Jacob's Ladder;" "Old and New Traditions;" "From Reliable Sources;" "A More Perfect Union;" "Magellans of the Air;" "From Field to Factory" (repeat);" "Spineless Wonders;" "King Herod's Dream;" "Splendidly Stradivarius;" "Different Drummers;" "The Unseen Smithsonian;" "New Deal Murals;" "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts;" "Folklife Exchange;" "New Political Conventions;" "Antietam Revisited;" "Warming up to Reptiles;" "Kalabari Kinetics;" "Crossroads of Two Continents;" and "On the Air."

Volume VIII includes "Cultural Crossroads;" "The Jeweler's Eye;" "Black Wings" (repeat); "The Perpetual Man Ray;" "The Portraits of Isamu Noguchi;" "African Sounding Forms;" "Rocks in a Hard Place;" "Zoo Vets" (repeat); "The Way to Independence;" "Aloha, Hawai'i!;" "A Continuity of Culture;" "The Brush of Innocence;" "Engines of Change;" "Tending a Sculpture Garden;" "A Holiday Celebration;" "A Smithsonian Holiday;" "A Touch of Glass;" "Duke Ellington, American Musician;" "Happy Birthday, National Zoo;" and "The Decorative Designs of Frank Lloyd Wright."

Materials in this accession include original footage, segment masters, dub masters, dubs, interviews, and related materials on a variety of videotape formats and two reels of 1/4" audiotape.

Note: The original materials were created by the Office of Telecommunications. Some dubs that are part of this accession were made by its successor units, Smithsonian Press/Smithsonian Productions and Smithsonian Productions.

Note: Preservation copies of all episodes are located in Resv19, Boxes 5-8.

Restrictions:

Restrictions pertaining to the use of these materials may apply (based on contracts/copyright). Access restrictions may also apply if viewing copies are not currently available. Viewing copies can be made for a fee. Contact reference staff for details.

Topic:

Museum exhibits  Search this

Research  Search this

Television -- Production and direction  Search this

Documentary television programs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Videotapes

Video recordings

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 08-084, Smithsonian Institution. Office of Telecommunications, Productions

Identifier:

Accession 08-084

See more items in:

Productions

Archival Repository:

Smithsonian Institution Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-sia-fa08-084