smithsonian associates hosted this event.historian and automotive journalist dan albert. dan has spent a career writing and teaching about the history of culture and technology. his articles can be found in magazines, popular science, and the journal for the history of behavioral sciences. he holds a phd in history, from the university of michigan, where he also taught in the college of engineering. dan also served as the curator of vehicle collections at the national museum of science and industry in london. he is the author of "are we there yet?: the american automobile past, present, and driverless." it is available for sale and signing at the conclusion of the program. so please, without further ado, join me in welcoming him this evening. [applause]

this event was hosted by the smithsonian associates. pleasedht, we are very to welcome back to this smithsonian mark wilkins. he is the current curator of maritime history at the calvert marine museum. he is also director and -- he has also been richer and curator of the maritime museum and the atlas house museum. mr. wilkins is a published author of books and articles. he

the smithsonian associates hosted this event. >>> william dinges is a professor of religious studiesn the religion and culture program in the school of theology and religious studies

smithsonian associates hosted this event. bytonight, we are joined historian and automotive journalist dan albert. dan has spent a career writing and teaching about the history of culture and technology. his articles can be found in magazines, popular science, and the journal for the history of behavioral sciences. he holds a phd in history, from the university of michigan, where he also taught in the college of engineering. dan also served as the curator of vehicle collections at the national museum of science and industry in london. he is the author of "are we there yet?: the american automobile past, present, and driverless." it is available for sale and signing at the conclusion of the program. so please, without further ado, join me in welcoming him this evening. [applause] dan: thank you so much. thank you, amanda. really generous and sweet introduction. i thank everybody for being here, otherwise, i would be up here by myself. especially, amanda told me the smithsonian associate people have reminded me how engaged thes

the smithsonian associate people have reminded me how engaged these audiences are. i really give you my a game to take that seriously. intellectual, be a little heavy. there's a lot of material in the book. myrything from teaching daughter to drive to a freudian analysis. and a little bit of this theory of how one understands that. at the end of the day i want to talk about cars. i am both a lover and hater of cars for a variety of reasons. let's get started. keep your hands up. how many of you went to the gift shop afterwards and bought the vinyl record and brought it home and played it? these two, i know them. i realized halfway through it, how many of you own a car? how many of you own a toyota? how many of you own a mercedes? how many of you own an american car? how many of you don't own a car or rarely drive? we are going to talk about cars. the museum of american history , just an back in 1974 thrall. maybe the capital building and see the airplanes, but mostly go to history and technology. i was much fatter back then. this is a stock photo from the smithsonia

the smithsonian associates hosted this event.s is a professor of religious studies in the religion and culture program at the catholic university of america. he received his phd in american studies in 1983 from the university of kansas and has an on the faculty of catholic university for the past 35 years. and interest include a variety of teaching and culture topics. fundamentalism, religion in american culture, religion in globalization, andel

the smithsonian associates hosted this event. dinges is a professor of religious studies in the religion and culture program at the catholic university of america. he received his phd in american studies in 1983 from the university of kansas and has an on the faculty of catholic university for the past 35 years. and interest include a variety of teaching and culture topics. fundamentalism, religion in american culture, religion in globalization, and religion and ecology. welcoming billin dinges. [applause] doctor dinges: ok, thank you. good evening, everyone. , anddelighted to be here i'm delighted you are here on muggy, welcome, to washington, d.c. in august evening. i am going to start this with this image. up anoriginally conjured image of rough water everson. -- ralph waldo emerson. i doctored it with long hair and beads and a headband. i looked at it a while and came to the conclusion this would probably verge on sacrilege. thisad, i am starting with particular image in the title. woodstock, pond to the transcendental and ro

this event was hosted by the smithsonian associates. pleasedht, we are very to welcome back to this smithsonian mark wilkins. he is the current curator of maritime history at the calvert marine museum. he is also director and -- he has also been richer and curator of the maritime museum and the atlas house museum. mr. wilkins is a published author of books and articles. degree fromters harvard university and is currently working on several books related to world war i aviation. he is adjunct faculty at the college of st. mary's in maryland. also the producer of a documentary film. "aeroneurosis " will be published. we will not have signing tonight . signed ande already the speaker has graciously agreed to personalize them. please join me in welcoming mark wilkins. [applause] you for that very nice introduction, crystal. i'm very happy to be here tonight. thank you for coming. i hope you find this topic as fascinating as i do. background, you part of the aspiration for this book was an article that i wrote magazine,r and space "the dark s

especially, amanda told me the smithsonian associate people have reminded me how engaged these audiences are. i really give you my a game to take that seriously. be a little intellectual, be a little heavy. there's a lot of material in the book. look at that. it is right there. everything from teaching my daughter to drive to a freudian analysis of henry ford. i wanted to talk about the automobile and a little bit of this theory of how one understands that. to reason i am doing that is put us in the present moment, whereas some of you may have heard, driverless cars are on the horizon, but at the end of the day, i really want to talk about cars. i am both a lover and hater of cars for a variety of reasons. i am looking to hearing from you about your experiences with the automobile. so, without further ado, let's get started with close. -- with cars. [applause] yeah, i mean, well, i had to show you this. how many people know this machine and have gone to see it? yeah? you want to see it? keep your hands up. listen to the entire soundtrack. how many of you went to the gift shop afterwards

until recently i was a research associate at the smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture pioneers to the into bellum midwest. when i first started doing that research on the assumption was that there were four maybe fiveemp settlements that were homes to african-american pioneers in the antebellum midwestern a frontier before the civil war. were talking to how our vision can shift when we find more than that. a member of the national society sons of the american revolution. they helped build fort allison. coal is a living history presenter. and lectures on american history. these are some of the oldest names in the nation. they currently live in rural bridgeport illinois where there had been no since the late 1790s. they have deep ancestor routes in lawrence county illinois. they have inspired this interest. some who settled here over 200 years ago. mister curry is a board member. a member of the arts council the helping hands a volunteer and lyle station in the indiana volunteer. and can have him talk briefly about his work. they will tell a bit about themsel

helps to ensure the individual responsible for smithsonian's collections, security, financial aspects and reputation have the appropriate character to be associated with the smithsonian. we recently reported individuals received preemployment background investigation but the smithsonian has no assurance that employees receive appropriate level of post employment background investigation. the smithsonian could have saved a third of its program costs in fiscal year 2016 if it had used an automated tool to determine the appropriate level of investigation for its retail employees. we also found computer network access had been granted to individuals who had not received background investigation. finally in today's world the importance of a skilled, well-trained security force is more important than ever. oig found new security guards were allowed to graduate from basic training although they missed one or more days of instruction. guards only had to qualify on their firearms once a year rather than twice a year as recommended by best practices. thank you, chairman lofgren, ranking member davis and members of the committee, this concludes my statement

ensure the individuals responsible for the smithsonian collectio collection, securities and financial aspects have that appropriate character and conduct to be associated with thee smithsonian. individuals that receive preemployment backgroundnd investigationn but it has no assurance that there is the postemployment investigation that the smithsonian has one third of the program cost if it had use the automated tool to determine the appropriate t level of investigation for retail employees. we also found computer network access has been granted to individuals who have not received background investigations. finally, in today's world, the importance of a skilled, well-trained security guard force is more important than ever. in a recent report new security guards were allowed to graduate from basic training although they missed at least one or more days of instruction. andy they only had to qualify on their firearms once a year rather than twice a year as recommended by best practices. thank you to the chairman of the ranking member and members of the committee this concludes my statement and i'm happy to respond to any questions you may have. >> thank

the smithsonian associates hosted this event. >>> william dinges is a professor of religious studies in the religion and culture program in the school of theology and religious studies at the catholic university of america. he received his phd in american studies in 1983 from the university of kansas and is on the faculty of catholic university for the past 35 years. his research and teaching interests include a variety of religion and cultural topics. religious movements, religion and social change, fundamentalism, religion in american culture, religion and globalization and religion and ecology. please without further ado, join me in welcoming building us. >> thank you. so, good evening everyone. i am delighted to be here and i am delighted that you are here on this rather hot, muggy, welcome to washington dc in august evening. i am going to start this with this image. actually i had originally conjured up an image of ralph waldo emerson and then i doctored it with long hair and beads and a headband and i looked at it a while and came to the conclusion that this would probably verg