Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews

Object Details

Creator:

Topic

Oral history

Interviews

Visitors

Volunteers

Museums -- Employees

African Americans -- History

Anniversaries

African Americans

African Americans -- Washington (D.C.)

Museum curators

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Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews

Historical Note

A section of the 1996 Festival of American Folklife was devoted to capturing the history and memories of Smithsonian for the Smithsonian Institution's celebration of its Sesquicentennial in 1996. Staff and volunteers of the Institutional History Division and the Center for Folklife Programs conducted interviews with Smithsonian staff, volunteers, and visitors about their memories of the Smithsonian. Between June 26 and July 7, 1996, some 173 individuals were interviewed alone and in groups. Interviewees included a wide array of Smithsonian staff from many museums and organizations, several Smithsonian volunteers, and a number of visitors to the Festival. Staff interviewees ranged from guards in a K-9 unit, to administrators, curators, educators, "skull" crews who move large objects, registrars, administrative staff, and horticultural staff, among others. Interviews of visitors focused on their reminiscences of visits to the Smithsonian museums and previous Folklife Festivals. Additional interviews of collected Smithsonian staff can be found in Record Unit 9508, Senate of Scientists Interviews; Record Unit 9522, Association of Curators Reminiscences; Record Unit 9595, Smithsonian's 150th Birthday Interviews; and Record Unit 9622, National Museum of Natural History Centennial Interviews.

Extent

160 audiotapes (Originals). audiotapes (Reference copies).

Date

1996

Archival Repository

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Identifier

Record Unit 9594

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiotapes

Transcripts

Citation

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

Genre/Form

Audiotapes

Transcripts

Introduction

The Smithsonian Institution Archives began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives' record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also interviews conducted by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Descriptive Entry

This collection is comprised of one hundred and sixty interview sessions, totaling approximately 68.5 hours of recordings and 289 pages of transcript. Thirteen of the interview sessions have been transcribed, while the remainder of interview sessions have been described in short summaries. Interviewees were Smithsonian staff, retirees, volunteers, and visitors, including: Lorie Aceto - 033 Paul Allen - 044 Leslie Atkins - 034 Preston Atkins - 034 Betty Belanus - 123 Louise D. Belcher - 027 Stephen Belcher - 027 Dick Bell - 140 Cordelia Benedict - 141 Francine Berkowitz - 026 Maggie Bertin - 132 Carvester Booth - 050 David Bosserman - 133 Steven Bostwick - 137 Anita Buffaloe - 105 Josephine Burman - 057 Olivia Cadaval - 040 Richard Callwood - 139 Nathaniel Carleton - 071 Judy Chelnick - 099 Barbara Coffee - 091 Sheila E. Cogan - 095 Ronald Colaprete - 081 Judie Cooper - 058 Patricia Cox - 038 William E. Cox - 077 Myron Curtis - 009 Melissa Darden - 135 Herb Davis - 056 James Deutsch - 055 David DeVorkin - 006 Kathleen Dorman - 029 Doc Dougherty - 157 James Early - 062 Douglas Evelyn - 068 Edgar Farley - 101 Edward Fisher III - 153 Jody Fitterer - 008 Lou Fleming - 088 John Franklin - 085 William Gagham - 124 Jim Galvin - 096 Helen Gaul - 102 Mark Geiger - 083 John Gibson - 011 Jane Glaser - 041 Lee Galssco - 122 Andrew Goffrey - 042 Carol Gover - 036 Elease Hall - 092 Sara Harkavy - 080 Marguerite Harding - 021 Robert Harding - 078 Rebecca Hartman - 080 William Hartung - 017 Martha Hayes - 052 Leonard Hirsch - 125 Alice Hirschfeld - 002 Elaine Hodges - 134 Cynthia Hoover - 024 Bernard Howard - 136 David Howery - 131 Karin Hoyes - 001 Regina H. Ingrim - 160 Reuben Jackson - 111 David Jickling - 117 Myron Johnson - 047 Larry Jones - 042 Mitchell Jones - 149 Steve Jones - 042 Ken Jordan - 042 Martin Kaufna - 066 Walter Kelly - 144 Dana Kent - 065 David Kessler - 070 Kethshara Khlok - 147 Donald E. Kloster - 015 Ramunas Kondratas - 106 Amy Kotkin - 145 Kamille Kreger - 051 Michael Kreger - 051 Manjula Kumar - 010 Katharine Landfield - 114 Peggy Langrall - 086 Dorothy Laoang - 037 Felix Lapinski - 022 Jeffrey LaRiche - 152 Elyse Lattner - 159 Tom Lauderbaugh - 076 Myron Lecar - 059 Rose Lee - 061 Martin Levine - 107 Steven Lubar - 110 Marian Hope Lund - 003 Ian MacTavish - 073 Joseph Madeira - 014 Peter Magoon - 148 Barbara Manioc - 096 Sally Maran - 087 Kenneth Mason - 143 B. C. May - 004 Virginia McCawley - 121 Mary McCutcheon - 104 David McFadden - 025 Joseph H. McGuiness - 082 Adriana McMurray - 097 Jimmy Melendez - 044 Felicia Messina-D'Haiti - 084 Per Midboe - 073 Harry Miller - 138 Barbara Moore - 103 David Moore - 064 Marvin Nakashima - 005 Diana N'Diaye - 035 Norman Novack - 155 Jen Page - 146 Geoffrey Parker - 150 Joan Paull - 060 Marvette Perez - 109 Catherine Perge - 032 Don Phillips - 042 Jeff Place - 154 Nancy Pope - 119 Jean Porter - 007 Fred Price - 053 Louis R. Purnell - 089 Larry Randall - 054 Jahari Rashad - 158 Sharon Reinckens - 019 Sharon Rohnback - 093 Anne Roocker - 069 Rex Roocker - 069 Ingrid Roper - 031 Cordelia Rose - 115 Deborah Rothberg - 130 Lucile Rowe - 018 Margaret Santiago - 113 Lori Schlemmer - 098 Volkor K. Schmeissner - 127 Eric Scott - 046 Mina Smith Segal - 043 Ruth Selig - 108 Arnold Sperling - 048 David Squire - 156 John Stine - 030 Sally Sweetland - 023 Nancy Sweezey - 151 Charles Tamosa - 142 Kenneth Thomas - 045 L. Susan Tolbert - 112 Billy Turner - 020 Raineldo Urriola - 094 Vincent VanAllen - 128 Tom Vennum - 028 Jane Walsh - 012 Rita Wanpeha - 120 Mark H. Warmaling - 072 Deborah Watkins - 075 Mick Weltman - 067 David West - 079 Dennis Whigham - 074 Janice Whigham - 192 William White - 049 Amy Wilson - 063 Jennie Witthoff - 039 Douglas Wonderlic - 118 Mary Wood - 016 Chuck Woolf - 126 Steptoe Wrenn - 013 Holly Wright - 116 Agnes Yore - 090 Elizabeth Zimmer - 100 Amanda Zocchi - 038 Interviewers were Smithsonian staff and volunteers, including Francine Berkowitz, Maggie Bertin, Dorothy Blink, David Bosserman, Emily Botein, Olivia Cadaval, Tim Carr, Vivien Chen, Martin Collins, Eduardo Contreras, Odette Diaz, John Franklin, Shenandoah Gale, Joanne Gernstein-London, Margy Gibson, Terrica M. Gibson, John McKiernan Gonzalez, Pamela M. Henson, Paula Johnson, Katherine Kirlin, Felix Lapinski, Tom Lawrence, Brian LeMay, Magdelena Mieri, Pilar Somma Montalvo, Jen Page, Marvette Perez, Catherine Perge, Sarita Rodriguez, and Polly Stewart.

Record ID

ebl-1523899822106-1523899822130-0

Metadata Usage

CC0