Elease Hall was interviewed by Jen Page on July 4, 1996. Born in 1930 in South Carolina, Hall was raised in Washington, DC. She began working at the Smithsonian in 1965 as an elevator operator in the National Museum of American History (NMAH). In 1974, Hall became one of the first woman security officers at the Smithsonian. She worked at the National Museum of American Art (NMAA) until her retirement in 1994. This interview discusses the course of Hall's career at the Smithsonian; Smithsonian staff members Captain Chapman, Captain Levi Graham, Dr. Joshua Taylor, Dr. Jones, and Mr. Ronald Colaprete; stories of visitors at the NMAA; her visits to the Smithsonian as a child; her first impressions of working at the Smithsonian; her first day as an elevator operator; and the people she encountered at the NMAH. The interview also covers a typical day of work for both of her jobs; meeting artists Alma Thomas, Jacob Kainen, and Sam Gilliam, and other celebrities; the battles Hall fought as a security officer and as a woman; working at the Smithsonian as compared to working for a private company; challenging aspects of her job; the changes she has seen at the Smithsonian; her work in developing security at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York; working at different Smithsonian museums; what working at the Smithsonian meant to her; her favorite exhibits and areas in the NMAA; and her memories of the Festival of American Folklife.

Object Details

See more items in: Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews; Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews / Interviews

Collection Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9594, Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews