Events for the Week of May 23-27: Grand Canyon, Aviator’s Lecture, Lincoln and More

Monday, May 23

Grand Canyon 3D: River at Risk

Take a virtual white water raft ride through the Grand Canyon in this exhilarating new 3D IMAX adventure. Experience the beauty of the Canyon while learning about the future of the Colorado River. Tickets are $6.50 members, $9 adults, $8 seniors and $7.50 children ages 2 to 12. Purchase tickets online or toll-free 866-868-7774. Natural History Museum

Tuesday, May 24 Memoirs of an Aviator

Rear Adm. Edward “Whitey” Feightner will deliver this year’s Charles A. Lindbergh memorial lecture entitled “Memoirs from an Aviator’s Notebook.” Feightner is a WWII ace who flew F4F Wildcats and F6F Hellcats. At the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, Maryland, he test flew the cantankerous F7U Cutlass. Among his command positions, Feightner also directed the design of such future naval aircraft as the F-14 and Navy Strike Fighter and implemented fundamental changes for all naval aviation forces before retiring in 1974 after 33 years in the Navy. Free, but tickets are required.  Request tickets or call 202-633-2398. 8:00 PM lecture will be preceded by a  6:15 PM showing of the documentary Speed and Angels. Air & Space Museum

Wednesday, May 25 Across the Miles

Late last year, we wrote, “In 1930, Lorenzo Dow Turner, an English professor-turned linguist, began studying a language spoken by former slaves along the east coast of South Carolina. Words spoken there, like gambo, tabi and jiga, would reveal a complex web of linguistic and cultural convergences between the Gullah people and the African countries, former homelands to the 645,000 enslaved Africans transported to the United States between the 16th and 19th centuries.” The film The Language You Cry In bridges hundreds of years and thousands of miles between the Gullah people of present-day Georgia and the people of 18th-century Sierra Leone. Meet Mary Moran, a Georgia woman who still remembers the words to a Mende funeral song that her mother, one of Turner’s original interviewees, had taught her. 10:30 AM. Free, but reservations requested. Anacostia Community Museum. The exhibition, Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner Connecting Communities through Language is on view through July 24th.

Thursday, May 26 Bird Watching is For Everyone

Ornithologist and author John C. Robinson has introduced thousands of people to birds and birdwatching. Robinson will discuss his mission to give all people a reason to protect the environment and offers new solutions for changing the face of conservation through birding. Free. 7:00 to 8:00 PM. National Zoo

Friday, May 27 Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life

Last chance to see the more than 60 artifacts from the unparalleled Abraham Lincoln collections at the National Museum of American History before it closes on May 30. See the top hat Lincoln wore to Ford’s Theater the night that he was assassinated, his gold pocket watch, a patent model of his own invention, as well as a black broadcloth suit, a coat, vest and trousers that Lincoln wore during his presidency. Exhibition photos are also online. Special tours daily at 2:00 PM. The museum will be open until 7:30 PM today and Saturday. American History Museum

For updates on all exhibitions and events, visit our companion website goSmithsonian.com