Reference Request
Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives
Accession 19-203
National Museum of the American Indian. Museum Learning and Programs
Departmental Records, 1984-2018
Collection Overview
| General Information About This Collection | |
|---|---|
| Repository: | Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu. |
| Creator: | National Museum of the American Indian. Museum Learning and Programs |
| Title: | Departmental Records |
| Dates: | 1984-2018 |
| Quantity: | 4 cu. ft. (4 record storage boxes) |
| Collection: | Accession 19-203 |
| Language of Materials: | English |
| Summary: | This accession consists of the records of Carolyn Rapkievian, Assistant Director for Interpretation, and document her work coordinating educational programs and outreach at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). Rapkievian first began her tenure at NMAI shortly after the Museum of the American Indian in New York City was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. She helped organize a preview of the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center in New York City in 1992 as well as helped organize exhibitions, public programs, and the opening of the museum in 1994. Starting in 1995, Rapkievian was on the team responsible for the planning of the NMAI museum in Washington, D.C. and its opening celebration in 2004. Since then she has been responsible for the running of educational programs and outreach at the museum until she retired in 2019. Among the various titles Rapkievian held include Assistant Director for Education and Museum Programs. Some records date to when the office was known as the Office of Public Programs and the Office of Education and Museum Programs. Also some materials date to when the museum was known as the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation and was not part of the Smithsonian Institution. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, trip reports, visitor surveys, reports, lectures, publications, conference records, blog post text, guidelines, workshop records, study guides, brochures, images, audio cassettes, forms, clippings, and other related materials. Some materials are in electronic format. |
Descriptive Entry
This accession consists of the records of Carolyn Rapkievian, Assistant Director for Interpretation, and document her work coordinating educational programs and outreach at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). Rapkievian first began her tenure at NMAI shortly after the Museum of the American Indian in New York City was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. She helped organize a preview of the National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center in New York City in 1992 as well as helped organize exhibitions, public programs, and the opening of the museum in 1994. Starting in 1995, Rapkievian was on the team responsible for the planning of the NMAI museum in Washington, D.C. and its opening celebration in 2004. Since then she has been responsible for the running of educational programs and outreach at the museum until she retired in 2019. Among the various titles Rapkievian held include Assistant Director for Education and Museum Programs. Some records date to when the office was known as the Office of Public Programs and the Office of Education and Museum Programs. Also some materials date to when the museum was known as the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation and was not part of the Smithsonian Institution.
Materials include correspondence, memoranda, trip reports, visitor surveys, reports, lectures, publications, conference records, blog post text, guidelines, workshop records, study guides, brochures, images, forms, clippings, and other related materials. Some materials are in electronic format.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.
Name
- Rapkievian, Carolyn
- National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.). Office of Public Programs
- National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.). Office of Education and Museum Programs
- Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation
- National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.). George Gustav Heye Center
Subject
- Museums -- Public relations
- Museums -- Educational aspects
- Indians of North America -- Museums
- Museum outreach programs
- Workshops
Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 19-203, National Museum of the American Indian. Museum Learning and Programs, Departmental Records
Container List
Box 1
External Lectures and Publications
Spain report, 1998
Spain lecture, 1998
Association of Youth Museums (AYM), 2000
Kyrgyz Lecture, 2006
Russia International Conference of Museums (ICOM) Program, 2014
Russia ICOM - Paper, 2014
Blogs, 2018
EQUITAS Paper
Ukraine - General, 2007
Peace Museums Conference
New York City Museum Educators Report (NYCMER)
United States Institute for Theatre Technology Presentation
"Guidelines for Program Research and Development for the Office of Public Programs" - Working draft, April 23, 2001
Articles, reviews, and speeches, 2005
Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) Presentation, 2005
American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), 2010
Visitor Reports
Results from the 1999 Membership Survey
Senior Management Group (SMG) Retreat recording, June 11, 2002 (audiocassette)
Director W. Richard West at the National Press Club recording, September 27, 1999 (audiocassette)
Visitor experience - SMG Retreat, June 6, 2002
Visitor services - Day 2 - Presentation, February 2, 2004
Visitor Services - Mall Museum Master Plan, 2003-2004
NMAI Protocols for Serving Visitors in the Mall Museum, 2003-2005
Visitor comments, 2004
Visitor comments, 2005
Member survey, 2005
Poolaw Visitor Study, 2015
Visitor survey, visitor studies, miscellaneous, 2005
Exit Survey, 2005
Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories exhibition - Visitor Insight to Messages and Metaphors, 2005
Visitor comments, 2006
Visitor complaints, 2007
Visitor survey - Summary of past studies, 2007
Visitor survey - Visitor studies, 2007-2008
Visitor studies - Latin America, 2010
Visitor studies - Latino Audiences, 2009
Visitor Surveys - Identity By Design exhibition, 2007
Visitor study - Brian Jungen: Strange Comfort exhibition, 2010
Visitor emails, 2004
Visitor studies - Megan Birney and Jennifer Shannon, 2004-2005
Visitor study - The Great Inca Road: Engineering an Empire exhibition, 2013-2015
Visitor comments - Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations exhibition, 2016-2017
Visitor study - Glittering World: Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family exhibition, circa 2016
Visitor Experience in the Mall Museum, 1994-2002
Visitor study report - Patriot Nations: Native American in Our Nation's Armed Forces, 2017
Visitor Study - Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World, 2017
Visitor Study - Lewali Theater, 2017
Visitor Survey - Pathways of Tradition: Indian Insights into Indian Worlds - Data and form, 1993
Responding to Visitor's Concerns, 2005
Visitor studies summary presentation, 2005-2006
imagiNATIONS - Visitor study, 2014
Visitor Study - Our Lives: Contemporary Life and Identities, 2015
Meta-analysis of visitor studies conducted for NMAI from 1996-2017, 2017
Member survey, 1995-1998
Visitor satisfaction presentation - Andrew Pekarik and Barbara Mogel, 2009
Visitor Studies, 2015
Visitor comments - Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations, June 2017
Visitor Studies - Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses, 2007 (includes electronic records)
Community Consultations
Community consultations - Duane H. King - List of consultants, 1990-1994
Northern Plains consultations: Billings, Montana, 1992
Community consultations - Consultation lists, 1991-1993
Community consultations - Community service, 2005
Hawaii Consultation, 1993-2003
Internal Affairs and Correspondence
NMAI - George Gustav Heye Center (GGHC) - News releases, 1992
Collecting Plan - Education collection, 1992
Operating issues, 1994-1995
Museum Operating Policies and Issues, 1994-1998
Correspondence from W. Richard West, 1999-2004
Finding GGHC Staff - September 11, 2001
4th Museum Vision Statement and Affirmation of Goals, 1992, 1996
Correspondence - Elaine Heumann Gurian and Ken Gorbey, February-November 2003
Elaine and Ken correspondence, March and November 2003
Accessibility team
Accessibility training, 2010
Deaf Way II - International arts festival, symposium, and conference, 2001
Day 1 Project List, 2003
Lelawi Theater - Announcement
Lelawi Theater - Script
Communications Plan, 2002-2004
General presentations, 2004-2006
NMAI Staff Orientation Guidebook, August 2004
Opening Documents
Soft Opening - Awards, 2004
Soft Opening - General, 2004 (2 folders)
Soft Openings - New exhibit masterplan, 2003
Official opening - General, 2004
Official opening - Invitations, 2004
Official opening - Opening week, hours and passes, 2003-2005
Official opening - Transition team retreat, 2002
Opening communications - Possible issues, 1994, 2004
Opening communications - Talking points and FAQs, 2004
Official opening - Calendars and staffing, 2004
Transition team, 1993, 2003
Mall museum building tours, 2004
Mall museum documents, 1999-2004
Box 2
Mall museum opening documents
Identity Documents
Indian identity, 2016
Identity/Stereotypes - Indian identity policy, 1992-1996
Identity/Stereotypes - Identity, 1996
Identity/Stereotypes - Cultural Awareness Working Group, 1995
Identity/Stereotypes - Tribal documentation, 1992, 1999
Identity/Stereotypes - Stereotypes, general, 1994, 2005
Evaluations
Evaluation most important - Internal, 2004-2006
Evaluation: Charlotte Heth's file, 1994-1995
Evaluation, 1995
Evaluation Project, 1995-1996
Evaluation next steps, 1994-1995
Scholastic evaluation, 2006
Excellent Judges evaluation, 2003-2006
NMAI evaluation forms, 2003
Commissioned Scholars - Critiques, 2005
Cultural Arts evaluation form
Education department evaluations, 2004-2006
Program evaluation form, 2007
Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories - Evaluations, 2003
NMAI Soft Opening Evaluations, 2004
Resource Center on 155th St. - Statistics, 1984-1986
Cinema Showcase Evaluation, 2005
Clinton's Critique - Exhibitions at GGHC
NMAI exhibits - Evaluations, 1995
Selected experts, 2004-2005
Exhibit Studies and Reports
Images of Native Americans, 1998, 2002, 2005
Katy Beckham's report, 2006
Exhibition Revisions - Board, January 2007
Potomac Comparison Study, 2008-2009
Office of Policy and Analysis (OP&A) Potomac Research, 2008 (includes electronic records)
OP&A Project, 2005
Black Indians research, 2007-2008
Born of Clay: Ceramics from the National Museum of the American Indian - Visitor study, 2006-2007
The Power of Chocolate festival - Visitor study, 2012
Connecting with Native Voices - Visitor impressions of the GGHC, 1996
Listening to Our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast - Visitor responses, 2006
A Song for the Horse Nation - Study, 2007, 2010
imagiNATIONS Activity Center (IAC) - Latino, 2012
IAC Report, 2012
Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian - Survey of Visitors, May 2012
NMAI Latino, 2012
Megan Birney's report, 2004-2005
Megan Birney's studies, 2004
Off the Map: Landscape in the Native American Imagination - Visitor study, 2007
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) Survey Form
Potomac test
Rama Lakshmi report, 2006-2007
Fritz Scholder: Indian/Not Indian - Study, 2009
Mapping Treaties: Concept Mapping as a Guide for Developing a New Exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian, 2007
Initial visitor interviews - Treaties - Conducted by Katy Beckham, 2006
Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection - Visitor study, 2011
Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture - New York - Visitor study, 2013
Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture - DC - Visitor study
Wayfinding - Kiosk signs, 2009
Where's the History?, 2004-2005
Windows on Collections - Remedial evaluation, 2006
Native New York Study, 2015
Americans - Study proposal, 2015
Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations - Oberg Research Study, 2015
Kay WalkingStick: An American Artist and Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains - Visitor survey form, 2016
Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations - Comments, 2015
Armenian Minister Visit, 1998
Museum Programs
GGHC Programming, 1995-2003 (2 folders)
NMAI Programs, 1994-2004 (2 folders)
Museum programs, 2004-2013 (folder 1 of 5)
Box 3
Museum programs, 2004-2013 (folders 2-5 of 5)
Internal Meetings and Reports
Board report, 2004
Mission statement, 2005
Board meeting, October 2006
Board book, June 2006
Board meeting, June 2006
Board meeting, 2007
Board meeting, 2008
Board meetings - Miscellaneous
Leadership Coaching Workshop, 2009
Leadership team, 2009
Retreat - Museum Programs groups, 2007
Museum Associates Council (MAC) Retreat, 2007
Museum Associates Council meeting, 2007
Museum Associates Council meeting, 2010
NMAI Financial Report, 2008
Internal Presentations: Oneida Sculpture, 2008
Internal Presentations: MAC Meeting, 2008
Internal Presentations: MAC Family programs, 2009
Internal Presentations: Museum Programs Presentations, 2008 (2 folders)
Boat Documents
Earl Nyholm's Boat, 2007
Boats - Panels
Canoe, 2008
Boat program - Photos
Boat launches, 2005
Boat photos
Boat demos, 2004
Bishop Museum Canoe, 2003
Boat Building Project, 2002
Boat research and emails, 2003
Boats, 2004
Boat updates, 2005
Penobscot, Maine, 2003-2005
Initial Boat Research
Kayak research
Aymara Reed Boat, 2002
Exhibit - Edward Tappan Adney Boat Collection, 1994
Kayak photos
IAC Documents
IAC - Hands-on activities
IAC - Concentration games
IAC - Stilt house
IAC - Tipi
IAC - Kayak
IAC, 2010
IAC, 2009
IAC - Presentation
IAC - Script
IAC - Resource center
Film Documents
1000 Roads, 2005
The Film, Los Angeles, 2003
NMAI Mall Museum Film Project, 1999-2000
Film consultation, 1999
Film Workshop, 2002
General
Birchbark - Miscellaneous, 2001, 2008
Aouran York Abenaki, 2003-2004
Mall Resource Center (RC) Planning, 1995-1997
CoNexus Development, 1996
Resource Center documents, 1993-1999
Information center stats, 1984-1986
GGHC RC Activities, 1996
History of the RC, 1989, 1996, 2002
Marty Kreipe talk
Museum of the American Indian, 1987
Geography - National Geographic, 2006
Film presentation ideas - Cliff Trafzer, 1999
Thanksgiving, 1987, 2006-2008
Response letter - Stephanie Betancourt, 1995
Letters to teachers, 2012
Spain documents
Brochure - Voyage of Rediscovery: Hokule'a 1985-1987
Hawaii research and contacts, 2005-2016
Brochure - Friends of Hokule'a and Hawai'i Loa
Notes from Elaine Gurian's presentation at AAM, 2000
Elaine Gurian's Idea form, 1990
Elaine Gurian documents, 1991
Inauguration, 2009
Partnership, Czech, Dvorak, 2011
Mother Earth, 2007
Box 4
Kawesquar of Tierra Del Fuego research proposal, 2000
Educational Objectives, 1999 (2 folders)
Dance Theater of Harlem, Consultation with NMAI, 1999
Curriculum development meeting, 2000
Study Guide - Awareness: A Guide for Educators - Teaching with respect and sensitivity for Native people, 1999
Wood that Sings Symposium, 1997
Children's Festival Report, 1998
Review meetings and criteria
Program ideas from Gabrielle Tayac, 1999
Possible Public School Lesson
Naiche, 2003
Honoraria Amounts at Smithsonian Institution, 1999
Programs, C. S. Fieldwork, 1995
Alaska fieldwork, 1994
Tennessee fieldwork, 1991-1994
Education Unit, Curriculum Material Development, 2000
Education and Museum Programs
Interpretive Services Unit, Cultural Interpreters History, 2001
Interpretation GGHC Opening Exhibitions, 1992
Thanksgiving - Revisited, 2008
Museum Programs - General, 1994-2007
Cultural Documents
Cultural Registry - Sample Monthly programs, 2004
Cultural Arts - Ted Nolan, 2007
Cultural Arts - Story telling, 2008
Cultural Arts - Program assessment group, 2010-2011
Cultural Arts - Hawaiian program, 2004-2006
Cultural Agenda, 1993
Expressive Culture - Review Meetings and Criteria, 1995-1997
Expressive Culture - Criteria
Expressive Culture - Public Review, August 1998
Expressive Culture - Program Participants Form
Expressive Culture - Opening Ceremony, 1994
Living Culture Program Planning, 2004
Public Programs
Public Programs Strategic Plan, 2005
Public Program Proposals to National Curatorial Office (NCO)
Public Program and Background, 2004
Advisory Council
Advisory Council notes, 2000
Advisory Council chats, 2000
Advisory Council, 2000
Coming Together - Opening Programs, 2004
Coming Together to Visit, 1996-1997
Mall Program Master Plan, 2000
Mall opening program, 1998-2000
Mall programs, 2001-2007
Theater documents
Native Playwrights, Actors, Directors, 2001
Theater Workshop Flyers, Mailings, 1997
Boston Children's Museum, 2012
Museum Theater - NMAI theater conference, 2008
International Museum Theater Alliance (IMTAL) Union, 2002
NMAI Theater Workshop, 1996-2007 (3 folders)
Harvest Ceremony Script, 1997
Museum Theater - Professional Interest Council, 2000
Harvest Ceremony, 1999
NMAI Theater
American Association of Museums (AAM)
AAM - Presentation - Are All Roads Good?: Opening the National Museum of the American Indian - Chair: Carolyn Rapkievian, 2005 (includes electronic records)
AAM, 2006
AAM, 2007
AAM, 2009
- Finding Aid encoded on: 9-29-2020
- Contact us at osiaref@si.edu