February 19, 1999

Experience the dazzling beauty of the Hope Diamond, the musical legacy of Duke Ellington, and the adventure of scaling Mount Everest at the Smithsonian museums.

Gem lovers can gaze at the world's largest diamond, donated by Harry Winston in 1958 to the National Museum of Natural History. Also on display in the recently opened Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems, and Minerals is a 263-carat diamond necklace given by Napoleon I to Empress Marie-Louise. Additional galleries feature mines, plate tectonics, rocks, and the moon, meteorites, and solar system.

Next door is the National Museum of American History, which will honor the late jazz musician Duke Ellington in May with a collection of student paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other works from the Duke Ellington Youth Project Festival. The temporary exhibit on the third floor Photo Gallery will be complemented by special performances.

A new permanent exhibit opens this month, "Communities in a Changing Nation: The Promise of 19th Century America," on the museum's second floor, west wing. Visitors can experience life in the last century through the eyes of industrial workers in Bridgeport, Conn., Jewish immigrants in Cincinnati, Ohio, and free blacks in Charleston, S.C.

Another new exhibit is "Americanos: Latino Life in the United States," a 120-photograph exhibit portraying Latino families, communities, education, and sports on the museum's first floor, Taylor Gallery.

Aviation buffs will appreciate the history-making aircraft displayed at the National Air and Space Museum (Gallery 100) including John Glenn's Mercury spacecraft, the Spirit of St. Louis, and the Apollo 11 command module.

A new exhibit, "Business Wings," features a Cessna Citation 500 and Beechcraft King Air 90 in Gallery 104. The worldwide impact of aerospace technology is illustrated in models, satellite devices, and photos in the exhibit "Global Positional Satellite (GPS): A New Constellation" in the second floor hallway.

A museum highlight is Langley Theatre, which features several IMAX films daily on a five-story screen. In "Wildfire," visitors can experience the terror and thrills as they accompany firefighters, smokejumpers, and helicopters battling against one of the most powerful forces in nature. "Mount Everest" follows the film team's trek up the tallest Himalayan peak in hazardous conditions and rescue of fellow mountaineers. Each film is about 45 minutes and tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for youth/seniors.

The Smithsonian is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free except for the IMAX and planetarium shows. More information is available at the Smithsonian's Web site at www.si.edu, which has detailed museum maps, descriptions of permanent and temporary exhibits, directions, and calendars of events. E-mail inquiries can be sent to info@info.si.edu. -C.L.