Wonderful Women Wednesday: Cynthia Helms

Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.

From 1969 to 1973, Cynthia Helms worked as a producer, special correspondent, and host of Radio Smithsonian, a weekly 30-minute program. In that role, she interviewed museum curators, researchers, and special lecturers. Helms later returned to the Smithsonian and worked as a project assistant between 1977 and 1978. 

She served as an honorary trustee of the Freer Gallery of Art & Arthur M. Sackler Gallery.  

Helms is the author of An Ambassador’s Wife in Iran (1981) and Favourite Stories from Persia (1982). In 1970, she co-founded Concern, Inc., an organization of women fighting to tackle environmental issues. 

Helms interviews curator Keith E. Melder in four negative photographs.  

Related Resources 

Produced by the Smithsonian Institution Archives. For copyright questions, please see the Terms of Use.