Mary Wood was interviewed by Polly Stewart on June 27, 1996. Wood, originally from Minnesota, majored in history in college and moved to Washington, DC, in 1962. She has been a docent in the National Museum of American History (NMAH) for 25 years, 23 of which have been in the Industrial Revolution exhibit. She also teaches swimming part time and is active in Girl Scouts. This interview discusses Wood's work in the medical history exhibit; her reasons for transferring to the Industrial Revolution exhibit; what brought her to the Smithsonian; Smithsonian staff members she has worked with, including Joan Madden, Alice Reno Malone, Helen Snyder, and Martha Jo Meserole; positive and negative changes she has noticed at the Smithsonian; stories of working at the Smithsonian; visitors' reactions to her as a female docent working in the Industrial Revolution exhibit; and her opinions on docent-curator relationships in creating exhibits.
Object Details
- Collection Creator:
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- Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews
- Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews / Interviews
- Container
- Interviews
- Archival Repository
- Smithsonian Institution Archives
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9594, Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews
- Record ID
- ebl-1619206230728-1619206230758-2
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
