Marvette Perez was interviewed by Martin Collins on July 5, 1996. Perez was born in Puerto Rico in 1961. She earned the B.S. in social psychology, the M.S. in anthropology, and is a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology. She came to the Smithsonian in 1987 as an intern in the Division of Community Life at the National Museum of American History (NMAH). Her work as an intern lasted for one and a half years, and she then began working at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) under contract. Perez also worked at the S. Dillon Ripley International Center and did fieldwork in Puerto Rico before returning to the Smithsonian in 1991. She is currently the curator in the Division of Cultural History in the NMAH and is the first Latino curator at the Smithsonian. This interview discusses Perez's education, how she came to work at the Smithsonian, issues she has had to confront as a Latino at the Smithsonian, the reorganization of the NMAH in 1993 and her work with the Community Studies Task Force committee, her work with the collections, her major accomplishment in acquiring a large collection of Puerto Rican objects and her plans for that collection, exhibits she has worked on, her involvement with the ethnic imagery project by Fath Ruffins, a typical day at work, and colleagues Richard Ahlborn, Charlie McGovern, Barbara Clark Smith, Steve Lubar, Niani Kilkenny, and Bernice Reagon.

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