"Quincentennial Fever"
 
by James N. Baker
 
in Newsweek (Special Issue, Fall/Winter 1991, pp. 79-80)
 
     Every American will have to decide how to mark the 500th
anniversary of Columbus's first voyage.  Maybe you can't drop in on
the World's Fair in Seville, Spain.  But at the "Seeds of Change"
exhibition at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum in
Washington, you can explore much of what you've read about here. 
In addition, Columbus, Ohio, is turning itself into a giant Rose
Bowl float, and Philadelphia plans a yearlong binge of celebration. 
Other commemorations, like the Choctaw Trail of Tears, are more
solemn.  A calendar to help you choose:
 
October 1991
'Seeds of Change'
Washington, D.C.  Not counting the World's Fair or the Barcelona
Olympics, this prodigious exhibition is Columbiana's top ticket. 
At the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, visitors
will enter through a massive Spanish-style portal made of 14,000
ears of corn.  Inside, covering 14,000 square feet, they'll find
artifacts, multimedia displays and dioramas.  The Smithsonian spent
more than $2.5 million to tell the history of five "seeds"--sugar,
corn, the potato, disease and the horse--that indelibly changed the
New World and the Old.  Elsewhere, six museums and parks will offer
collaborative shows: American Quarter Horse Heritage Center &
Museum in Amarillo, Texas; the Brevard Museum in Cocoa, Fla.;
Atlanta's Fernbank Museum of Natural History; San Antonio, Texas's
Witte Museum, and Faust County Park in Chesterfield, Mo.
October 26 to April 1, 1993
 
'Neighbors in the New World'
Philadelphia.  No major American city is going to go quite as wild
as Philadelphia, which plans a yearlong celebration of events--a
stream of parades, fireworks displays, exhibits, jazz concerts,
marathons and ethnic food fairs.  Other events include a Beaux Arts
Ball for the studs-and-cummerbund set and a "Yo, Philadelphia!"
street festival if your taste runs to T-shirts and Reeboks.
Through October 1992
 
'A Day in the Life of Native America'
More than 30 Indian photographers from the United States and Canada
will start spending a year on various reservations, snapping away. 
They plan to exhibit their work in New York City in 1993.
 
'... And Then Columbus'
New York City.  The Caribbean Cultural Center plans a month-long
series of theatrical events, forums and art exhibitions to
illuminate the pre-Columbian cultures of indigenous Americans and
Africans.
 
'Circa 1492'
Washington.  The National Gallery of Art will mount one of its most
ambitious shows ever.  Subtitled "Art in the Age of Exploration,"
the show will include more than 600 paintings, sculptures, drawings
and decorative objects.
Through January 12, 1992
 
November 1991
'Imagining the New World'
New York City.  The New York Historical Society will unveil an
exhibit of paintings, drawings, maps and prints, culled largely
from European libraries and museums, that show how the Old World
visualized the New.
November 13 to January 26, 1992
 
March 1992
'The Year of Columbus'
New York City.  The Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum is planning a
yearlong series of dramatic exhibitions, naval-ship visits and
special events in order to tell the story of the early explorations
of Columbus and other voyagers.
Through March 1993
 
April 1992
'AmeriFlora '92'
Columbus, Ohio.  The international floral and garden exposition is
the first of its kind in the United States and a centerpiece of the
U.S. Jubilee Commission's festivities.  A $53 million enterprise,
AmeriFlora will feature outdoor performances, exhibits and 88 acres
of gardens.  Have the killer bees gotten wind of this?
April 20 to October 12, 1992
 
'A Prayer of Thanksgiving'
Organized by the Quincentennial Foundation of Istanbul, synagogues
around the world will offer a special prayer of Thanksgiving on
Shabbat Hagadol, the Sabbath before Passover.  The services will
mark the 500th anniversary of another departure from Spain: the
expulsion of an estimated 100,000 Sephardic Jews.
April 11
 
'Choctaw Trail of Tears Memorial Walk'
Mississippi to Oklahoma.  The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma plans to
retrace the 500-mile route taken when the group was forced to leave
its homeland in Mississippi and resettle in Oklahoma in the 1830s. 
Even the Irish are taking part in this one.  The Choctaw Nation
raised $710 back in 1847 to aid victims of Ireland's potato famine;
now some Hibernians will walk with the Choctaws to celebrate their
survival.
Spring 1992
 
May 1992
'Cristoforo Colombo: Ships and the Sea'
Genoa, Italy.  In Columbus's supposed hometown, an exposition on
the development of navigation from the 15th century to the present. 
As part of the city's celebration, Genoan Nino Grimaldo, 52, is
coming to America--paddling a kayak.
May 15 to August 15
 
'Peace and Dignity Journeys'
Two teams of relay runners--one leaving from Alaska, the other from
Argentina--will race with the goal of meeting in Mexico City by
October 12.  Their purpose: to celebrate 500 years of survival by
indigenous Americans.
 
June 1992
'Discovering America'
Near Williamsburg, Va.  Historic Jamestown Settlement will open an
exhibit exploring many "discoverers" of America, from the Paleo
Indians who crossed the Bering Strait to the ancient Phoenicians to
the British.
Through March 1993
 
September 1992
'Music of the Americas'
Organized by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, ensembles from
Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United
States will tour 10 U.S. cities.
Through October
 
October 1992
'Christopher Columbus, The Film'
Seville.  The gala opening of British director Ridley Scott's film
about the explorer, played by Gerard Depardieu.  (Meanwhile, back
in Hollywood, producers are scrambling to get Mario Puzo's version
onto the screen.  Slated to play the title role is Timothy Dalton,
a.k.a. James Bond.)
October 1
 
'The International Indian Treaty Council Protest'
San Francisco.  The treaty council, an arm of the American Indian
Movement, plans to stage various protest demonstrations, including
mock trials of Columbus and the Spanish explorers Cortes and de
Soto.
October 9-12
 
December 1992
'The Columbus Grove'
Baiona and Pontevedra, Spain.  Together, a group of American and
Spanish schoolchildren will plant 550 redwood seedlings, a gift
from the New World to the Old.
December 14-15
 
June 1993
'Expo/Feria Puerto Rico'
San Juan, Puerto Rico.  The city will open a cultural and
commercial fair to commemorate Columbus's landing on Puerto Rico as
part of his second voyage in 1493.
Through December