See and Be Seen!
Friday, April 12th: Annual Associates Volunteer Party: A Global Celebration
6 to 8 pm, Ripley Center, Room 3037
Monday, April 15th: Smithsonian Wide Town Hall with Secretary Skorton
10 am to 11 am, Ripley Center Lecture Hall, Followed by informal reception.
Meet Heather Jaran, Operations Coordinator
by Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger
When your new job starts on Halloween is that a good thing, or a potentially bad omen? Luckily for Heather Jaran, Smithsonian Associates Operations Coordinator, it’s been all good.
Heather was hired full time by the Smithsonian Associates on Halloween, Oct. 31, 2016. Her job as Operations Coordinator is to handle program logistics, such as contracts, order supplies and write logistics memos for the various programs. She supports the program coordinators in many other ways that run the gamut from covering the programs in person to being “another set of hands” for larger or more complex programs.
She also manages general program needs such as dry cleaning linens needed for an event, managing the concessions being sold, or maintaining archival files. And if there were trains involved, she’d probably be the one making sure they run on time.
Heather was given the added role of intern coordinator in the spring of last year. Having been an intern at the Smithsonian, she knows a bit about what’s involved. It’s sort of an it-takes-one-to-know-one kind of thing. She was an intern in the Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships while writing her master’s thesis. After finishing up her thesis, she worked part-time at the Hill Center as a program and special events assistant, while at the same time being an intern at SA in the programming department. So with all of that experience, she’s definitely walked in the shoes of an intern.
Heather grew up in Budd Lake, New Jersey, and did her undergraduate work at Dickenson College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She earned her undergraduate degree in history. When it was time to go to graduate school, she picked a college in Italy with a program in Arts Administration. That’s some brilliant planning, right there. She earned her Masters’ degree in Innovation and Organization of Culture and the Arts (or Arts Administration) from the University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy.
In her current job, Heather also interacts with Smithsonian Associates volunteers, who are part of the essential crews supporting various programs. So we asked her a few questions about what makes for good volunteers as well as good interns. And then just to keep things interesting, we asked a few oddball questions like what she thought she wanted to be when she grew up.
Here’s some of what we learned.
Q: Has your job changed since you were first hired?
A: Absolutely! Besides being made the intern coordinator, due to some changes in staffing, I was supporting all six program coordinators for a time. Then it was dropped back down to three coordinators once we hired a new operations coordinator. I have also begun creating my own programs—the first one will be in May! (“Seneca and Stoicism: An Ancient Philosophy’s Modern Relevance”)
Q: How much do you interact with Smithsonian Associates volunteers?
A: I work with volunteers in two main ways: concessions and programs. Because I am on the behind-the-scenes side of concessions, I only get to work with those volunteers when I stay for a program or see them on my way out of the office. For programs, whether I am the main coordinator on the program, or a second set of staff hands, I work with volunteers a lot. Usually these are evening lectures/seminars. Occasionally, I will cover a daytime program.
Q: What qualities make for a uniquely well qualified volunteer? If you could have a volunteer with super powers, what would you put them in charge of?
A: Like with super interns, super volunteers are flexible. More so than interns though, since our volunteers are often the first face our patrons see, it is exceptionally important that their customer service be top notch. Being able to deal with a grumpy patron with poise or anticipating a need before we are in crunch time is a quality that really makes for a well qualified volunteer.
Q: Can you recall an instance where a volunteer did something to save the day or rescue a program in some way?
A: I can think of several times. All of them involved a really chaotic program where I was occupied with something else and the volunteers just did what they knew to do and handled the good, the bad and the ugly. They were able to support me without asking what I needed from them. Or, they really stepped up during a labor-intensive program and never complained for a second about how much I asked of them.
Q: How many interns do you manage at peak times? When do you have to start recruiting to make sure you have a full team when you need them?
A: During the summer, our peak intern season, we have between 12 and 16 interns. The lead time we need to advertise for interns depends on the season. In the summer, when the SI-wide offices have the highest volume, we make the deadline February 1, so we have plenty of time to go through the applications, interview them and on-board the interns. We get our interns from all over, so it is hard to say where the best ones come from. Plus, I have only been doing this for about a year, so I am not really sure if there is a pattern.
Q: What makes for a super successful intern? Are there different skills you look for depending on what the intern will be doing? Do interns come back year after year and do they have to be in college?
A: I would say a super successful intern is one that really owns their role. They are the ones who throw themselves into the entire experience and make sure they learn everything they can. They also tend to be the ones who learn quickly and adapt. Flexibility is key. That is especially important in an office like ours, where one moment you are researching Taiwanese ecotourism and putting together push carts the next. Some interns come back multiple years, especially our summer camp interns, but in general, interns come for one season and go to the next adventure. Most interns are in college, although they don’t have to be. However, internships are designed to be learning experiences, so we try to take interns who will learn the most here.
Q: What’s on your bucket list?
A: My bucket list—hmm—mostly everything on my list involves traveling in one way or another. For example, see the Northern Lights (stay in one of those glass igloos); stay in a treehouse in the woods; hike the Highlands in Scotland; stay in a hut over the water; rent a boat and drive down the canals of Amsterdam, etc. I am lucky enough to have done a lot of my bucket list items already, but that just means I keep adding to it!
Q: When you were in high school, what did you think you wanted to do when you grew up and launched a career?
A: I was interested in museum work, living historical museums specifically, because they are so immersive. But I also wanted to be a professional soccer player. At least I made one of those things happen!
Smithsonian’s Collection Search Center and Women’s History Month
By Kiren Jahangeer, Guest Blogger
Did you know the Smithsonian’s Collections Search Center (CSC) is a vast resource for the public? It is an online catalog of the most important collections at the Smithsonian. Its 13.5 million records include over 3.1 million images, videos, podcasts, audio files, blog posts and electronic journals on science and technology, history and culture, and art and design. The CSC not only contains the image of the artifact you search for, but the text for the exhibit label as well – truly the next best thing to being there. Approximately 3% of the Smithsonian’s entire collection is on display to the public at any given time, whereas the CSC contains records of objects visitors may not ever get to see when they visit. The CSC is continuously updated as the Smithsonian adds more artifacts to its vast collections.
In March, the Collections Search Center featured women in aeronautics, the suffrage movement, and women in sports, in honor of Women’s History Month. In 1981, Congress authorized the President to proclaim the week beginning on March 7, 1982 as Women’s History Week. Then in 1987, Congress passed resolutions to designate March as Women’s History Month. Many federal organizations participate in honoring and celebrating the integral role of women in U.S. history, including the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and of course, the Smithsonian Institution.
You can search the CSC, for example, for suffragist Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party (NWP). She was part of the group of women who posted pickets at the White House gates – the first people to ever picket the White House. There are over 1500 records for Paul in the CSC, but only 16 are on display to the public. You can also see the dress worn by Billie Jean King during the infamous “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. King, a former World No. 1 professional tennis player, won over 129 singles matches in her career, including 12 Grand Slam singles titles. You can also find many photos of Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, and a pioneer for the future of women in aviation. If you would like a tutorial to conduct your search, here is a helpful one - http://collections.si.edu/search/tutorial.htm. See and learn about all kinds of things at the Smithsonian’s Collections Search Center now!
Ana Gardano: Volunteer on a Mission
by Joann Stevens, Guest Blogger
Never underestimate the power of party chit chat. A simple conversation might turn a life around, or at least tilt its trajectory. Just ask Ana who moved from New York to Washington, DC in the 1980s to pursue graduate school and a new career path in counseling.
As a graduate student with few financial resources, Ana was hungry for the lively cultural arts scene that New York City offered. “I couldn’t afford the Kennedy Center and it was difficult to find cultural activities in DC.
“A woman at a party told me ‘I’m a volunteer at the Smithsonian. Why don’t you join them?’
Thirty years later she’s still volunteering for Smithsonian Associates, where she has found lifelong friends and plenty of cultural events in her mission to satisfy a passion for life long learning, especially in the arts.
With an undergraduate degree in art education, Ana spent early years at the Smithsonian volunteering for lecture events and “20th Century Consort Concerts” that catered to singles and offered post-event receptions with food and drink. These events were so popular she says people occasionally tried to sneak in with fake tickets. “At that time tickets were not printed like they are now. That doesn’t happen so often now,” she says. “But back then it was sometimes a mob scene. We would find that people weren’t on the list and we had to calm them down because they couldn’t get in.”
This April, as part of its annual volunteer party, Smithsonian Associates will acknowledge Ana’s dedication in a ceremony that honors volunteers who have reached landmark milestones of 10, 20, 30 or more years of service to the Associates staff and audiences.
“There are many places in DC where volunteers can choose to give their time and talent,” says Jenna Jones, SA Volunteer Coordinator, “so it is wonderful that they choose Smithsonian Associates and help us year after year.” The annual volunteer party each spring is one way to convey how much we value and appreciate them and all that they do to help us present our lifelong learning programs.”
Ana speaks fondly of assisting with studio arts courses at the Ripley Center, in particular, helping a favorite teacher, Paul Glenshaw, and sketching sculptural masterpieces at the Museum of American Art. In one instance, a high school student visiting the museum asked Ana if she could purchase her sketch. Ana encouraged the budding art collector by giving her the sketch for 25 cents.
Who Am I?
by Janet, Hewitt, Guest Blogger
This lovely painting of an eight-year-old girl dressed in Victorian finery hangs on a wall in a Smithsonian gallery. The painting’s subject became an icon of American 20th century literature and would go on to write 15 novels.
She didn’t publish her first until she was 40, but went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature. She was the first woman to win that prize. And she did all this, despite strict norms at the time that dictated a woman’s place was decidedly in the home.
So who is she?
The little girl was born in a brownstone in New York City to a family of great wealth and social standing. In fact, the saying “keeping up with the Joneses” was said to refer to her father’s family. She had no formal education but was extremely well read from her father’s library and taught by private tutors and governesses. Her mother forbade her to read novels until she was married and she duly observed the ban. Her wealthy family was well travelled and she became fluent in French, German and Italian.
A passionate fan of Walt Whitman, she was allowed to read poetry and consumed many volumes of philosophy. Clearly bright, by the age of 18 she had five poems published anonymously in the Atlantic Monthly. Her family did not want her name to appear in print, thus the lack of a byline. Earlier, at just 15 years old, she secretly wrote a 30,000-word novella called Fast and Loose. (So that’s where that title comes from.)
From 1880 to 1890, strict social norms for aristocratic women pushed her to give up writing altogether to devote herself to being a debutante and socialite. When she married in 1885, at 23, she could finally start reading those long-forbidden novels. She ultimately would defy the social straightjacket of the era, including divorcing in 1913 after 28 year of marriage. She went on to a prolific writing career of skewering the tight social norms of the 19th century that put aristocratic women on a pedestal while denying them basic rights and freedoms.
So, who exactly is this famous American author? Here are a few hints:
HINT ONE: She was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature three times although she never won the award. The nominations came in 1927, 1928 and 1930.
HINT TWO: The backstory of how she won the Pulitzer Prize for literature is interesting. She basically lost the vote on the first round to Sinclair Lewis for his novel Main Street. The fiction judges went with Lewis, but the Columbia University Advisory Board overturned their decision and awarded the prize to our mystery author.
HINT THREE: This celebrated author ended up writing at least 85 short stories, many poems and several design books in addition to her 15 novels. A book on design became her first major published work. The Decoration of Houses was published in 1897.
So who is the 8-year old girl in the lovely blue dress whose picture hangs in the National Portrait Gallery? Take a guess by leaving a comment below.
ANSWER TO LAST MONTH’s Where Am I?
The exhibit on the Tuskegee Airmen featured in last month’s blog is in the National Museum of African American History and Culture. It’s definitely worth checking out, along with all the other amazing things in that museum.
