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Gautama Buddha (14th century). Learn more about Buddhist art and symbolism this weekend at the Sackler Gallery. Image courtesy of the Sackler Gallery.

Friday, April 31: Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers

Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers examines the culture clash between the Native American and African American communities during post-Civil War westward expansion as a young man tries to find a sense of community amid his mixed ancestry. Due to some of the plays themes, this play is best suited to middle school-aged person and older. Free. American Indian Museum, 7:30 PM.

Saturday, May 1: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Family Day: Art of Gaman

Celebrate Asian Pacific Heritage Month at the Renwick Gallery with an afternoon full of fun activities! Enjoy traditional folktales as told by Anne Shimojima, musical and dancing performances by Nen Daiko and the Kikuyuki Dancers of America, games, a scavenger hunt and more! While you’re here, be sure to check out the companion exhibition, The Art of Gaman. Free. Renwick Gallery, 11 AM-2:00 PM

Sunday, May 2: In the Realm of Tibetan Buddhism: A Place for Transcendence

The Sackler is the temporary home for a beautifully-apportioned Buddhist shrine—but what is the meaning behind all the objects displayed therein? Gain a deeper understanding of Tibetan Buddhism courtesy of spiritual director Drupon Ningpo from the Tibetan Meditation Center in Frederick Maryland. Free. Sackler Gallery, 2:00 PM

For updates on all exhibitions and events, visit our companion site goSmithonian.com

A cardboard display touting the sleek style of the Lutron Capri dimmer switch. Image courtesy of the American History Museum.

Earlier yesterday morning, an assortment of dimmer switches was donated to the Smithsonian. Yes, the dimmer switch now has a spot in the collections of the National Museum of  American History.

Now, now, before you totally write it off, ask yourself one thing: how good is the lighting design in your own home? A dramatically and well-lit home is a happy home, and let’s face it, having the lights on full-blast isn’t always appropriate for every occasion. Certainly you want a well-lit space for parties, but those kinds of things aren’t always going on in your home. Unless, perhaps, if you live in a frat house. Want a romantic evening? Lower the lights a bit to cast a relaxed air over the room. Throwing a fabulous dinner party for your friends? Begin with lights at full intensity and unobtrusively reduce them throughout the meal so that by evening’s end, you’re chatting away in a smoldering glow akin to candlelight. Suffice it to say, the dimmer switch was no small accomplishment in advancing gracious and elegant living in the late 20th century American home.

And that’s the truth. “Dimmers are an important part of lighting technology,” says Hal Wallace of the museum’s electronics division. “They enable people to have more control over the environment in which they live and work.” Indeed, electric lighting in general has become so commonplace it’s something we tend not to think about unless it stops working. But dimmers are certainly worthy of attention for their energy-saving capabilities, especially since energy efficiency is at the forefront of everyone’s minds these days. Indeed, Pennsylvania congressman Charlie Dent, who was in attendance yesterday, offered the statistic that if every home in America installed two dimmer switches, it would annually save 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity and approximately 1 billion dollars. That’s certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Inventor and founder of Pennsylvania-based Lutron Electronics Joel Spira is to thank, at least in part, for the prevalence of dimmer switches. Although you could find dimming devices in automobiles, theaters and commercial buildings in the early part of the 20th century, it took awhile before dimmer switches made it into the American home. And even when they did, the contraptions were ridiculously clumsy. Because they relied on using transformers and resistors and required special outlet boxes and gave off a fair bit of heat—and they were also initially quite expensive. But by the early 1960s, the dimmer switch became more compact, economical and easy enough for the average homeowner to install. Such is the case with Spira’s invention, the first solid-state electronic dimming device to grace the market.

“In 83 years, I didn’t think I’d be donating items to the Smithsonian Institution,” said Spira after he signed the donation papers. The donated items span a 50-year history of Lutron-produced lighting control products, Spira’s notebooks, photographs and brochures. Certainly, one of the standout pieces donated was a cardboard standee promoting the 1964 dimmer switch, featuring a woman in a purple evening gown asking you to “Light up… or down with the Lutron Capri,” emphasizing the cosmetic nature of modern home electronics.

No word yet on if and when the switch will be on public display. Nevertheless, even though we may take his work for granted, Spira’s inventions are a part of the story of creativity and innovation that drives America. And who knows, perhaps the occasion of this donation will cause you to pause and consider—and maybe reconsider—the effectiveness of the lighting elements currently in your own home. A dimmer switch may be all you need.

Duke Ellington, born on April 29, 1899. Image courtesy of Smithsonian Institution

Duke Ellington wasn’t always The Duke.

The famous musician was born Edward Kennedy Ellington on April 29, 1899, in Washington, D.C. He would have been 111 today.

Growing up, his parents set high standards for manners and how the young Ellington should carry himself. His friends picked up on his well-groomed persona, and his casual air of elegance, that made him seem more like a nobleman than a child; more like a “Duke.”

It was a name that would foreshadow the elegance and ease with which Ellington commanded the musical world, writing or co-writing thousands of songs during his 50-year career as a bandleader.  Many say the pianist, bandleader and composer elevated jazz to the same level of respect and prestige as classical music, giving the genre, which Ellington called “American music,” a permanent place in the country’s history and culture. (Jazz Appreciation Month is celebrated the same month as Ellington’s birthday.)

Today, more than 100,000 pages of unpublished music, along with thousands of other documents and artifacts, are preserved in the National Museum of American History’s Duke Ellington Collection, where musicians and composers from the world over come to try to see a glimpse of Duke’s genius.

Ellington began piano lessons at age 7, but never stuck with formal training. It wasn’t until he was 14, when he began to watch ragtime pianists perform, that he became serious about music. While working at the soda fountain of a local café, he wrote his first song. ‘Soda Fountain Rag.” He played it by ear every time he performed, since he hadn’t learned to read music.

Before he wrote hits like “Take the ‘A’ Train” or “Mood Indigo,” Ellington formed a band called “The Duke’s Serenaders,” who eventually played  for embassies and high society balls around Washington. When his drummer left the band, he decided to try to make it big in New York City, the center of the jazz world.

It was here, during the Harlem Renaissance, he began to develop a style that is counted among one of his biggest contributions to jazz: The “Big Band” style. Traditionally, band leaders wrote pieces so their group would produce one, uniform sound—as if only one person was playing. But Ellington was one of the first bandleaders to celebrate individual players in his group, writing songs specifically to highlight the talent of soloists.

Under this leadership, the band Ellington began in 1923, The Washingtonians, thrived. They played at the Exclusive Club in Harlem and the Hollywood Club on 49^th and Broadway before becoming the house band at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club in 1932, a gig that lasted a decade. Later that year, they premiered the hit “It Don’t Mean A Thing If You Ain’t Got That Swing,” and when the swing obsession swept the nation three years later, some even called Ellington prophetic.

“Our major effort has been to make the symphony orchestra swing, which everybody says can’t be done, but I think we managed to do it very well,” Ellington said in his autobiography, Music is My Mistress.

Ellington did it quite well for more than 50 years, helping dozens of jazz musicians launch their career in his band. He composed more than 3,000 songs from his helm at the piano, both for his own band and for others.  Ellington and his band also performed  across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.

When Ellington died of lung cancer in 1974, his son, Mercer Ellington, took over The Washingtonians, who continued to play until Mercer’s death in 1996. Ellington’s grandchildren now run the band under the name the Duke Ellington Legacy Big Band.

Celebrate Ellington’s legacy by doing a little swing of your own—or learn some lessons from The Duke himself with Smithsonian Jazz’s online Ellington Class.

Jimi Hendrex' coat is among a number of personal items loaned to o the National Museum of the American Indian. Image courtesy of the museum

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Jimi Hendrix is most known as one of the greatest electric guitarists in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. What he’s not as well known for is his Native American heritage.

The musician’s grandmother was Cherokee, a heritage Hendrix’s family has continued to celebrate.

And now, during the 40th anniversary of Hendrix’s death, it’s a heritage visitors to the National Museum of the American Indian can celebrate too, thanks to Hendrix’s family, who yesterday sent a number of the star’s belongings to the museum on a long-term loan.

Among the items that arrived, delivered by Hendrix’s sister Janie, are a multicolored, patchwork full-length leather coat, worn and creased at the elbows (left); a leather necklace and  pouch; and reproductions of some of his guitars, including a reproduction of the Gibson Flying V guitar and the Fender Stratocaster guitar, which he played at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967.

The coat, which has never been been shown before its arrival at the museum,will be  the centerpiece of the museum’s upcoming exhibit,“Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture,” which opens July 1. The exhibit will highlight items belonging to Native American musician’s from the past century as a way to explore the contributions they’ve made to music over the past century.

Now that the exhibit will bring a little Hendrix to The Mall, we can let the good times roll.

The National Portrait Gallery wraps up their nod to Jazz Appreciation Month this Thursday at 6:00 in gorgeous fashion, with a Face-To-Face Portrait Talk featuring multi-racial beauty Lena Horne (b. 1917). Curator Ann Shumard will be hosting the third and final event in front of American portraitist Florence Meyer Homolka’s 1950 silver gelatin print of the multitalented and multiracial singer, dancer and actress.

National Portrait Gallery, SI

Horne got her start in show business at the tender age of 16, joining the chorus line at the famous Cotton Club jazz night club in 1933.  After touring and performing with orchestras, she returned to the nightclub circuit, only to catch the eye of Hollywood talent scouts during a gig. Horne signed a seven-year deal with MGM studios in 1942, becoming the highest-paid African-American actor at the time. Stipulated in her contract were conditions that she wouldn’t get stereotypical African-American roles. Ironically, MGM wanted the light-complexioned actor to appear darker on screen, and commissioned cosmetician Max Factor to create a custom make-up for that purpose that was called “Light Egyptian. This make-up was later applied to white actresses, which conceivably allowed them to take roles that might otherwise have been played by Horne.

Horne was of mixed ethnic descent, including European, African and Native American ancestry. “I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream.” said Horne regarding her appearance. “I had the worst kind of acceptance, because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.”

Horne’s first major film debut was in 1942 in MGM’s Panama Hattie. She then hit it big on her next go-round in the 1943 film, Stormy Weather (made while she was on loan to 20th Century Fox). She gained further fame for her performance of the film’s title track. Horne appeared in a number of musicals during her time at MGM, yet never in a leading role, save for the all-African American musical Cabin in the Sky. Because many theaters refused to show films with African American actors, Horne appeared mainly in stand-alone, nonessential scenes that were easy to edit out, if necessary.

By the 1950s, Horne’s career, held in check by racial prejudices was now also stymied by political ones. During the Red Scare, she was blacklisted. But the indomitable Lena Horne conducted a triumphant return to the nightclub circuit, headlining all over Europe and North America. In later years, she eventually became a popular television performer.

At 93, Horne is retired, but she continued her vibrant career into her 70s, picking up three Grammys and capping off her career with a Special Tony Award in 1981 for her performance in the one-woman Broadway show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.