Record Unit 9587

Interview 1: January 21, 1987

Covers her youth, early career at Veterans Administration, including: family history and youth; Butter Business College in Pennsylvania; Wheeler Business College; early years living in Washington, D.C.; work as stenographer at the Veterans Administration; work in the Division of Correspondence and Documents; reminiscences of working for Herbert S. Bryant and Walter Hough; workload challenges at the Smithsonian during the Great Depression; reminiscences about Correspondence and Documents colleagues; recollections of colleagues, Lester Commerford, Lewis Perry and Louise Pearson; reminiscences of sixth Smithsonian Secretary Alexander Wetmore when substituting for his assistant; appointment as private secretary to Ray S. Bassler, Head Curator of Geology Department; reminiscences of Department of Geology and United States Geological Survey staff; working in Natural History Building near the Mineralogy and Invertebrate Paleontology Departments; and the Correspondence and Documents routing system.

Transcript, pp. 1-34, of audiotape recording, 1.0 hour.

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.0 hour

Interview 2: February 3, 1987

Covers period during and the effects of the Great Depression and World War II on the museum and Washington, D.C., including: housing shortages; street-cars; staffing and work-schedule at museum; growth of the city; Works Progress Administration; national image of the Smithsonian; Smithsonian management chain of command; budget control; control over information requests; Dr. Bassler's supervisory style; exhibits in museum; security for mineral science gem collection; change in security with arrival of the Hope Diamond; transportation arrangements for the Hope Diamond to an foreign exhibition in South Africa; Dr. William F. Foshag's trip to and study of Paricutin Volcano in Mexico; death of Dr. Charles E. Resser; staffing changes in Geology after the war; and thoughts of leaving the Smithsonian during World War II.

Transcript, pp. 35-67, of audiotape recording, 1.0 hour.

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.0 hour

Interview 3: February 11, 1987

Covers appointment as Administrative Assistant at the Office of Correspondence and Records in 1948 to the 1950s, including: reminiscences of Mr. Bryant and Lester Commerford at the time of her promotion to Chief; Alexander Wetmore becoming Secretary; reminiscences of Louise Pearson as assistant to Alexander Wetmore and subsequent Secretaries; changes in responsibilities and staffing of the office including mail service, telegrams, timecards, and response to general inquiries; transfer of responsibilities from the central correspondence division to individual curators in the 1950s; reminiscences of types of information inquiries, especially from children, and types of objects sent in for examination; process and management of records pertaining to accessions; National Air and Space Museum storage at Park Ridge, Illinois, and its move to Suitland, Maryland; splitting up accessions and differences between Museum of History and Technology (MHT) and Natural History Museum (NHM); reminiscences of MHT Registrar, Virginia Beets; and records for loans and exchanges.

Transcript, pp. 68-104, of audiotape recording, 1.0 hour.

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.0 hour

Interview 4: March 10, 1987

Covers changing responsibilities of the departments, shipments of notable works in the Smithsonian collections and interactions with staff, including: strict loan policies for specimens; commitment to the support of rural schools; requirements, including insurance, for loaning of specimens; responsibilities and challenges of shipping collections including the Amelung collection and The Kitty Hawk; shipping and preparing of the Fenykovi Elephant; "Swanky Dan" and the Peter's Chocolate Co.; assisting National Zoological Park ship in pandas and snakes; Donald Ray Davis of the Entomology Department; department interactions with the press; shipment of Dr. G. Arthur Cooper's Glass Mountain blocks; and shipment of planes from O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois, for National Air and Space Museum.

Transcript, pp. 105-131, of audiotape recording, 1.0 hour.

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.0 hour

Interview 5: March 16, 1987

Covers details of shipping new objects in collections, as well as details and procedures for curators and scientists traveling abroad, including: shipping of and public interest in lunar roving vehicle; objects sent in by the public for examination; work with Dr. Fred L. Whipple of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and planning of satellite tracking stations; tracking scientific equipment for foreign travel; details about travel preparations of Alexander Wetmore and S. Dillon Ripley; reminiscences of Smithsonian staff, Watson M. Perrygo and Gorman M. Bond; customs requirements for objects and specimens collected during foreign travel; Saul Riesenburg and Yap money specimen; Dr. Wetmore in Panama; John Frederick Gates Clarke's challenges working in the field; relations with military during travel; dangers of field work; Arnhem Land Expedition; and challenges of transportation, permits, and access to foreign expedition sites.

Transcript, pp. 132-171, of audiotape recording, 1.0 hour.

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.0 hour

Interview 6: March 27, 1987

Covers arrangements for expeditions during the 1960s and 1970s, planning and equipping of SAO Satellite Tracking Program, and challenges in staffing and records management with the growth and proliferation of Smithsonian departments, including: work with the Satellite Tracking Program office in Cambridge, Massachusetts; work with the U. S. Department of Justice; travel arrangements of foreign scientists and students for Smithson Bicentennial; change in departmental duties in 1970s to include entire mail system, files, travel, and correspondence; name change to the Office of the Registrar; reminiscences about Office of the Registrar staff; and complexities of accession records with changes in the Smithsonian structure.

Transcript, pp. 172-208, of audiotape recording, 1.0 hour.

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.0 hour

Interview 7: April 20, 1987

Covers challenges of legal requirements of accessioning new collections, office move to new location, and recollections about Smithsonian staff, including: departmental contributions to the Smithsonian Annual Reports; results of 1966 John F. Jameson audit of Office of the Registrar; planning for separate registrar's offices for museums; collections from Marjorie Merriweather Post; legal issues surrounding Deeds of Gift prior to Office of General Counsel; de-accessioning collections and Museum of Natural History's school collections; establishment of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service; reminiscences about Leonard Carmichael, seventh Smithsonian Secretary; effect of the Hoover Commission on the Reorganization of the Federal Government on modernizing offices; issues with mail service for Smithsonian; office move to Art and Industries Building; and reminiscences of John [Jack] E. Anglim, as first professional exhibitions staff.

Transcript, pp. 209-246, of audiotape recording, 1.0 hour.

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.0 hour

Interview 8: May 12, 1987

Covers the changes and increase in public inquiry mail as Smithsonian became better known, recollections of Smithsonian staff, and beginnings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives, including: public reaction to Radio Smithsonian; popularity of meteorites; process of responding to an increase in public inquiry letters; early methods of paycheck distribution; the Arthur M. Greenwood House donated to the Smithsonian, housed at NMNH; recollections of Watson M. Perrygo; work with International Biological Program; delivery of missiles outside the Arts and Industries Building; challenges of working with curators; lack of procedures for managing accession files between curators and Office of Registrar; and her retirement in 1971.

Transcript, pp. 247-291, of audiotape recording, 1.0 hour.

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.0 hour