WHAT:       Civil War-era balloon on the National Mall

WHEN:       Saturday, June 11
               10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Civil War balloon
               1 p.m.: Dedication ceremony for a plaque commemorating Thaddeus Lowe

WHERE:     On the National Mall in front of the National Air and Space Museum 
               (Between Fourth and Seventh streets S.W.)

WHO:           Tom Crouch, curator for lighter-than-air aircraft
                President Abraham Lincoln (re-enactor)
                Thaddeus Lowe (re-enactor)
                Mary Henry, daughter of Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian (re-enactor)
 
In June 1861, on what now is the National Mall in front of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Thaddeus Lowe demonstrated to President Lincoln how a gas-filled balloon might be used to spy on the enemy—thus helping the Union Army and establishing the earliest “air force.” This marked the beginning of the Union Balloon Corps. The museum will commemorate the 150th anniversary of this event June 11.

The day’s programs will include an inflated balloon on the National Mall; re-enactors portraying Lowe, President Lincoln and Union soldiers; and presentations about ballooning and espionage during the Civil War and hands-on educational activities inside the museum.

The 19,000-cubic-foot, netted gas balloon will be partially inflated with a “cold air blower.” It was built in 1941 and is very similar in operation and size to the balloons used by Lowe. Partial inflation complies with National Park Service guidelines.

Interested media must RSVP to larai@si.edu or mullenb@si.edu.