Oct. 20, 1997 - "Oil from the Arctic: Building the Trans-Alaska Pipeline," an exhibition marking the 20th anniversary of the completion of the oil pipeline between Prudhoe and the Port of Valdez. The exhibition explores the project's engineering accomplishments and includes a 21-foot section of pipeline.

The technological history is supplemented by stories from pipeline workers and Alaska Natives, art photographs, maps and a 30-foot time line. Additionally on view are a Inupiaq parka and a Kutchin chief's coat specifically crafted by Native Alaskan artists. The exhibition opens on Oct. 23 and will be on display through April 1998 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (Constitution Avenue N.W. and 14th Street).

In 1968, North America's largest oil field was discovered in Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's North Slope. To bring the oil south, engineers constructed an 800-mile-long pipeline across three mountain ranges, three earthquake zones, vast expanses of permafrost, and scores of rivers and streams. "The project also had to work around state and national politics, address land claims of Alaska Natives, comply with new environmental regulations, and bridge competing visions for Alaska and its future," said curator Jeffrey Stine.

"Oil from the Arctic" is made possible by a generous grant from Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the builder and operator of the trans-Alaska pipeline. "We are thrilled to share with the American people the story of the tremendous accomplishment of building this important pipeline under such extremely difficult conditions," said Bob Malone, president and chief executive officer of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co..

The National Museum of American History is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5;30 p.m., except Dec. 25. Admission is free. For further information, call (202) 357-2700 (voice), or 357-1729 (TTY). Review the Smithsonian Home Page at http://www.si.edu.

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