PStarWi
The National Air and
Space Museum will
feature movie
paraphernalia to peak
children’s interests.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The X
wing fighter piloted by Luke
Skywalker in “Star Wars” isn’t as his
torically significant as the Apollo 11
space capsule in the Smithsonian’s
most popular museum. Curators say il
,has earned its space by sparking
.Americans’ imaginations.
• The National Air and Space Mu
seum announced Tuesday it will oper
an exhibit next fall to mark the 20tl
anniversary of “Star Wars,” showcas
ing 250 original movie props, artwork
models and costumes.
“The best way to get kids interested
in space is to give them a good fan
tasy,” said curator Mary Henderson,
who is also writing a book about “Star
Wars” as a popular American myth.
“One major motive... is to show' Star
Wars’ as a compelling space-flight fan
tasy.”'
Among the displays will be mod
els of Han Solo's Millennium Falcon,
imperial star destroyers and Luke’s X
wing fighter. Also look for life-size
models’of Chewbacca and C-3PO,
Princess Leia’s white robe dress from
the original movie and her scant slave
girl costume from “Return of the Jedi.”
Also included will be artwork used
as scenery on the ice planet of Hoth,
i early drawings of characters and scenes
l such as the bar cm Luke’s home planet,
. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s light saber and a
30-minute documentary about the myth
that captured America’s imagination.
“ Star Wars’ is famous for the
beauty and the rich detail of the mod
els that were made for it,” Henderson
said. “One of the things' Star Wars’ did
was create a whole new way of doing
special effects. It looks a little primi
tive now, but back then it was some
thing really special.”
tins is not the museum’s first foray
into Hollywood’s version of space. The
Air and Space Museum displayed
props and costumes from “Star Trek”
in a 1992 exhibit, which attracted
nearly 900,000 visitors. Many lined up
before the museum opened each day
for 11 months.
Curators had an idea how popular
their planned “Star Wars” exhibit
would be when they started setting up
the preview display case this week.
Though workers were hidden by a six
foot partition, visitors stretched cam
eras over their heads to take pictures
of the life-size model of C-3PO, the
golden robot who accompanied Luke
Skywalker around the galaxy. v
“You can tell how popular it’s go
ing to be just by looking at the kids’
faces when they see R2-D2,” said Kim
Riddle, spokeswoman for the museum.
“They love it.”
The showcase offers a sneak pre
view with life-size models of C-3PO,
R2-D2 and an imperial storm trooper,
and several paintings used in the film
ing.
Props and costumes from the tril
ogy have been stored in the California
archives of Lucasfilm Ltd., and only a
few items have been displayed in San
Francisco and Japan.
“The Smithsonian asked us if they
could create an exhibit about the im
pact the' Star Wars’ trilogy has had on
popular culture,” said Gordon Radley,
president of Lucasfilm. “We were very
pleased to be recognized in this way.”
The museum show, to open in No
vember 1997, should add to what is
expected to be a blaze of publicity for
next year’s anniversary of the original.
In addition to the original three mov
ies returning to the big screen this
spring, expect Hollywood merchandis
ing to include everything from action
figures to lunch boxes.
f;:/ t
The re-released “Star Wars” trilogy
will include previously discarded foot
age and buffed-up special effects and
soundtracks. “Star Wars” hits theaters
Jan. 31, followed by “The Empire
Strikes Back” Feb. 21, and “Jedi”
March 7. Then in 1998, the first of the
' prequels’ are expected to tell the story
of how Darth Vader turned to the dark
side.
“Star Wars” is the fourth-highest
grossing film ever, with $323 million
in receipts, behind “E.T.,” “Jurassic
Park,” and “Forrest Gump.” “Empire”
and “Jedi” took in $264 million and
$223 million respectively, still putting
them in the top 15.
Widows gam from generosity of former slave
Ohio town still distributes man's century-old bequest
YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio (AP)
—For years, Yellow Springs has been
keeping a list and checking it twice. But
it’s the widows, not the kids, who get
the Christmas gift.
Every year during this season, ev
ery widow in town gets a free 10
pounds of flour and 10 pounds of sugar,
part of a century-old bequest from a
former slave.
“The first time I got it I didn’t know
whether to laugh or cry,” said Pat
Hubbard, whose husband died nine
years ago. “So I did both.”
The widows’ benefactor, Wheeling
Gaunt, bought his freedom from a Ken
tucky slaveholder for $900, moved to
Yellow Springs — a stop on the Un
derground Railroad — in the 1860s,
and made his fortune as a teamster, car
penter and farmer.
At the time of his death in 1894, he
donated nine acres of farmland to the
community on the condition it distrib
ute 25 pounds of flour to its “poor
worthy widows” every Christmas.
The village, population 4,000, has
not missed a Christmas since, though
it has made some changes. From the
first, the flour was given to all widows,
apparently in the belief that is what
Gaunt would have wanted.
There are now 110 widows on the
distribution list, updated by a village
administrative assistant who pores over
the obituaries in the newspaper.
Occasionally, a widow will decline
the offer, usually because she doesn’t
“One lady will make zucchini bread
and give to us,” Fox said. “And around
Christmastime a batch of cookies is
likely to show up at random. It makes
you feel good.”
Lottie Phillips, 73, said she uses the
flour and sugar to make combread,
cakes, sugar cookies and fudge.
Maxine Grubb, 76, said she is es
pecially glad to get the flour and sugar
in the winter, because it saves her from
having to go to the grocery store.
Gaunt intended that the rent from
the land pay for his gift, which cost
about $900 this year. The land is now
a park, with a swimming pool, base
ball diamonds and soccer fields, and
the pool admission fees pay for the
flour and sugar, which the village buys
«
The first time I go
whether to la
Pat Hu
wid<
from a grocery store.
No one knows why Gaunt chose
this particular legacy, but local histo
rian Phyllis Jackson noted that most
women did not hold jobs then and were
often left penniless when their hus
bands died.
“Bread is the staff of life. If you had
bread, you could survive for a while,”
she said.
_There is hardly a widow in Yellow;
.. ... , .,A -
t it I didn’t know
ugh or cry.”
j' ^ ^
d
BBARD
iw
Springs — a village that is two-thirds
white — who does not know Gaunt’s
name.
“This Wheeling Gaunt was a man
who had been a slave. I don’t know
how well he was treated or how poorly
he was treated, but he didn’t have any
freedom,” Hubbard said. “But he still
found it in his heart to give to others.’
i “I guess it’s one of the sweetest
things in life,’’she said. ; ;<; to
mm
t •" |:r
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