Apr

Volunteer Spotlight: Maureen Bryant

Bridget Balog introduces us to Maureen Bryant, who has spent 45 years volunteering for the Smithsonian at the Air and Space Museum, the American History Museum and in just about every volunteer role at the Castle. Celebrate her dedication along with us this Volunteer Appreciation Month.

Woman in pink shirt with pine trees in background

Here, Maureen is seen in the Haupt Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle, where she currently volunteers answering the Smithsonian information line, offering assistance to callers from all over the world. (Photo courtesy of the Office of Visitor Services and Volunteer Management)

“The day the National Air and Space Museum opened [on July 4, 1976] was overwhelming,” recalls Maureen Bryant. “The museum opened early unofficially, so opening day wasn’t my first day, but it’s the first day I really remember.”

Maureen grew up in Colfax, Washington, where her father was a doctor. She attended community college and received a Library Tech degree, then took the PACE (Professional and Administrative Career Examination) for federal employment, which she passed. She came to Washington, D.C., to work for the Tariff Commission (which later became the US International Trade Commission). She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in library science and helped start the first Law Library at the Commission.

Recruited to volunteer at the Air and Space Museum information desk by the Visitor Information and Associates’ Reception Center (VIARC), now known the Office of Visitor Services and Volunteer Management (OVS), Maureen was attracted to “the Smithsonian’s mystique and prestige.” She learned quickly how and how not to serve. She was fortunate enough to work with Dick Evans, “a really gentle soul and king of volunteers. He spent as much time with the visitors as needed to make them feel welcome.” Maureen remembers him spending 45 minutes with an upset visitor to calm her down and help her with her visit.

Maureen then moved to the Castle as a desk volunteer, where she remembers the desk being along the south wall of the Great Hall. At the time, there were two desks: a visitor information desk and a museum members’ desk. She also served for a period at American History and Natural History and remembers them as being very noisy—especially once at the Natural History Museum when a group of school children bought whistles in the museum store and decided to test them in the Rotunda. “I don’t know where their teachers were or why they thought that was a good idea!” She preferred the less rowdy atmosphere at the Castle, so she moved back across the Mall.

During this stint at the Castle, Maureen volunteered in the Phones program, answering the Smithsonian information line and providing assistance to inquisitive callers from around the globe. When Maureen started as a Phones volunteer, the Call Center was located in the South Tower Room (now the Children’s Room) “before they revealed the ceiling, and the door was blocked, so it wasn’t what it is now.” Volunteers relied on printed notebooks and staff knowledge to answer questions. She remembers Cordelia Benedict, “not the first Call Center supervisor, but the first I remember. The Call Center was open on federal holidays at first, but when it closed on New Year’s Day, we would go to Cordelia’s to play Trivial Pursuit.” They still stay in touch.

She left the Call Center for a while to serve as a Castle docent, with Dick Evans and World War II vet Dave West. At the time, docents offered evening tours for special groups. On one of those tours, Maureen thought she recognized a participant. She mentioned it to another volunteer, who replied, “No, he just has that kind of face.” It wasn’t until later that Maureen recognized him as actor Richard Bull, who played shopkeeper Nels Oleson on the television show Little House on the Prairie.

She returned to the Call Center when she started volunteering at a food bank and realized she would enjoy an opportunity where she could sit down. She remembers that Cordelia took a call while training a new phone volunteer. The caller spoke German and Cordelia was getting frustrated that she couldn’t help. Unexpectedly, the trainee mentioned that he spoke German. “You never know what hidden talents people have!”

Maureen has served for almost the entire history of VIARC/OVS and in almost every Castle volunteer position available, but she spent the most time in the Call Center. She really appreciates the computers and how information can be updated in real time, instead of when the building coordinators switched out notebook pages when there were changes. She currently answers phones and questions in the Call Center on Thursday mornings.

Bridget Balog is a Visitor Services Coordinator for the Smithsonian Office of Visitor Services and Volunteer Management.