IES Webinar - Making Connections: Lights Out at the Smithsonian
May 11, 2023 | 12:00pm EDT
The Smithsonian is far from a monolithic entity. Cross-unit collaborations can be difficult to set up and coordinate for many reasons. Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky, a new exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History, shows how we worked together (with help from friends like the IES) to raise awareness of light pollution and skyglow. And it's an example of the type of projects we're exploring as we work to educate people about climate change.
PRESENTER
Hal Wallace is curator of the Electricity Collections at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Responsible for over 25,000 objects documenting the history of electrical science and technologies, he has specialized in the history of electric light and power since joining NMAH in 1995. Hal holds a Ph.D. in public policy & policy history, and a M.A. in the history of technology, both from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. His dissertation examined Electric Lighting Policy in the Federal Government: 1880-2016, and he has written articles and blog posts including several on lighting history. His current exhibition The Electric Dr. Franklin is the latest of many physical and online exhibitions covering various electrical topics. He has served on the IEEE History Committee, and currently serves on the Collections Committee of the Baltimore Museum of Industry, and as Smithsonian representative on the board of the Thomas A. Edison Papers Project. Hal is a member the American Historical Association, the American Political Science Association, the Illuminating Engineering Society, the International Committee on the History of Technology, and the Society for the History of Technology.
Hal is part of the extended team for the exhibition Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky, now open at the National Museum of Natural History, and will be discussing that project today.
