Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service's Blog

Behind the Scenes with the Curator

Jim Deutsch is co-curator of The Working White House: 200 Years of Tradition and Memories, which examines the fascinating history of the men and women who work behind the scenes to help keep the White House running smoothly. Reflecting his work as a program curator at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Jim focused on the White House as a unique workplace with a distinctive work culture. Excerpts from his interviews with recently retired White House workers are featured in the exhibition’s audio tour and video and may be downloaded from The Working White House exhibition page on SITES’ website.

Q. Define “occupational culture.”
A. Every occupational group—whether it is actuaries, biologists, cowboys, dishwashers, engineers, firefighters, gaffers, and haberdashers (to take just the first eight letters of the alphabet)—has its own “occupational culture”—the set of skills, specialized knowledge, and codes of behavior that not only distinguish it from other occupational groups, but which also meet its needs as a community. There is only one White House, so the people who work there have a very specialized set of skills, knowledge, and codes of behavior. As with any folk group, these skills, etc., are shared and passed on, from one generation of workers to the next. In the case of doctors and nurses working in a hospital, some of their traditions will be part of a broad category of medical lore; some will be tied to the individual hospital in which they work; and some will be tied to their specific department. For instance, the culture of emergency room workers is quite different from that of endocrinologists.

Q. How many former workers did you interview?
A. We interviewed 10 former workers in the late summer and early fall of 2007.They represented a wide variety of occupational skills (chefs, butlers, ushers, electricians, housekeepers, etc.) and supplemented the more extensive series of interviews with former White House workers that had been done by my colleague Marjorie Hunt in preparation for the 1992 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Q. What makes a good interview?
A. I think the best interviews are ones that are free-flowing and conversational. I always try to start with basic questions that are easier to answer—such as how the interviewee came to work at the White House—in order to put them at ease, before moving into topics that might be more sensitive and difficult to answer. I do have some questions in mind before the interview begins, but I think what’s most important is to listen very closely to what is being said, and to follow up on some of those points before going on to whatever your next question might be.

Q. Give an example of how not to conduct an interview.
A. One example comes from a conversation with Lynne Cheney that I observed in 2005. When asked about her favorite presidents, Cheney named George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and James K. Polk. But instead of posing the obvious follow-up question—James K. Polk!?—the interviewer simply looked down at his index cards and went on to the next question he had prepared. So my first three rules of successful interviewing should be listen, listen, listen.

Q. What tips can you give individuals who would like to conduct oral histories with family members?
A. Do it, and do it before it’s too late! My mother’s parents died when I was five years old, and I’ve been trying to find out where they came from; all we know now is that they immigrated from somewhere on what was the western edge of the Russian Empire in 1908. But that could have been present-day Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia; my grandparents’ native tongue was Yiddish, which was spoken all over that part of the world. If only someone in our family had interviewed them, or had saved some of the relevant documents, I might now have the answers I am seeking.

Want the full interview with curator Jim Deutsch?

A New Look at Old Fish

In a windowless room on the ground floor of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, museum specialist Sandra Raredon opens a specimen jar and removes a Notopogon schoteli with forceps. She blots the preservative from the fish, places it on a panel, retreats to the other side of the leaded-wall room, and gives it a shot of 68 kilovolts from the digital x-ray machine mounted above. Seconds later its ghostly image appears on her computer screen. She saves the file to her hard drive and returns the fish to the jar. Raredon then readies a Pegasus draconis for its close-up.

It’s a procedure she’ll repeat again and again to meet her museum’s goal of digitally documenting all 20,000 primary type specimens (preserved specimens that serve to represent particular species) in its Division of Fishes collection, the largest in the world. Despite the prosaic process, the results are anything but.

What has Raredon discovered? Here's a glimpse of a few fascinating details . . .

Read the full article about our latest science exhibition, Ichthyo: The Architecture of Fish, in this month's issue of our biannual newsletter, SITELINE. Want to subscribe?

SITES and American History

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) reopened on November 21 after a massive renovation of its grand entry corridor and its key exhibition gallery--the Star Spangled Banner display.

A colleague and I crossed the blustery National Mall a few days for an official look at the new building. In a word, the new space is BRIGHT, a far cry from the dark, catacomb-like interior of the 1960s museum. The entrance from the Mall side is spacious and modern, making use of reflective glass and metal, but the real eye candy is most certainly the Star Spangled Banner gallery. "Upon entering this exhibition, visitors are immersed in the Battle of Baltimore, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write his famous lyrics. The almost 200-year old, 30 x 34"-foot flag is displayed in a special environmentally-controlled chamber, while an interactive table with a tactile image allows visitors to investigate key details of the flag and how it was made."

Beyond this central space, the museum offers visitors a smorgasbord of historical delights. At SITES, we're particularly fond of the first ladies gallery. In fact, the traveling version of First Ladies, on the road from 2004-2007, was one of our most popular exhibitions--as was the American Presidency, another collaborator effort with NMAH. Our commitment to american history, both the museum and the topic, is strong.

We're currently working with NMAH on three other diverse exhibitions, including Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program, 1942-1964, about the Mexican agricultural work program that was enacted as a stopgap measure for labor shortages during WWII. We're also traveling two shows that document notable politicians and world events: Diana Walker: Photojournalist--a behind-the-scenes look at the administrations of several presidents, from Gerald Ford to Bill Clinton and The Kennedys | Portrait of a Family: Photographs by Richard Avedon, presenting some of the most candid images of the young first family ever taken. 

If you're in D.C. go to the American History; if you're looking for american history in your neck of the woods, check out a SITES/American History show today.

New Exhibition on Horses

"Horses were and still are an integral part of Native peoples' cultures,” says Emil Her Many Horses, lead curator of the new Smithsonian exhibition A Song for the Horse Nation. “Many people don’t realize the impact that horses have had in our lives. From hunting to warfare to travel, the horse opened many possibilities for us. They are a part of who we are.”

From the Oglala Lakota Nation of South Dakota, the curator knows the subject well. When he was in college, Her Many Horses got on a temperamental show horse that took off at full speed. “I just had to let him run,” he recalls, “but I got back on that same horse the next week. I learned how to control him."

A sense of equine intuition must be in his blood. His surname comes from a paternal great-grandmother, whose own name can be translated to “Many Horses Woman,” or owner of many horses. Since horses were often a family’s most valuable possessions, she would certainly have been a wealthy woman. Yet for the Oglala Lakota and many other Native Americans, the real gauge of status was the ability to relinquish one’s most prized belongings. To give away one’s horse was the ultimate gesture of generosity and a fitting way to honor a family member or friend. A horse would be “brought out at a community gathering, while men on horseback waited outside. Then it was given a slap on the rump and released. The man on horseback fortunate enough to catch the freed horse became its new owner,” says the curator of traditional giveaway ceremonies.

Whoever the owner, a horse was always cherished. Native Americans adorned their mounts with intricately beaded head coverings, finely created saddles, and colorful saddle bags. Indeed, the accoutrements worn by a beloved steed were often as majestic as the animal itself. A collection of more than 150 such items will be on view in A Song for the Horse Nation, debuting at the Smithsonian’s of the American Indian in 2009 and beginning its national tour in 2012. Other impressive items—such as hide robes, coats, and leggings—paint a personal picture of what the horse meant to individuals in battle and in daily life. At its core, this exhibition explores the deep-rooted and powerful relationship between Native Americans and horses.