Jul
23

A Collection of Olympic Proportions

Last year, the Office of Visitor Services and Volunteer Management hosted Kenneth Cohen, Edward & Helen Hintz Secretarial Scholar and Curator at National Museum of American History, for a virtual lecture about the Olympic collection at the Smithsonian. Now that the Tokyo games have been postponed, we still wanted to celebrate with you! If you were unable to join us live, you can watch a recording of the program below.

Please note the two polls collected during the lecture were available and viewable to live attendees only. If you’re interested in knowing what we asked, Here are the questions:

Poll Questions

What do you think of when you think about Olympic Collections?

  • medals
  • uniforms
  • equipment
  • tickets and memorabilia (fans)
  • advertising

What topics do you think our collecting should consider in the future to help communicate the deeper meaning of the Olympics?

  • stadia/venues
  • support staff
  • financing and pay equity
  • other
  • don’t change anything: diversity of athletes, their messages, and consumerism

If you prefer to watch the transcribed recording with closed captions, please visit this link:

Recording of webinar:
https://smithsonian.zoom.us/rec/share/z-dtCZDw8EBIf4nk90LzcJADOr3Haaa80HRN_aBey0e4b8IjbA3PDFRAa25wg7fQ

Password: 31@jkuDG

Related posts:

"Pay Raise Just Ahead" traffice signFederal and Trust pay raise takes effect January 14 Neon sign saying openWelcome back! Black athletes raising black power fist at 1968 OlympicsThe Power of Olympians Black and white photo of parents with young child on dad's shouldersThe Relationship Between Race and Wellness Has Never Been More Pressing

Posted: 23 July 2021
About the Author:

Alexis manages the volunteer corps at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Prior to her current position, she worked for the Smithsonian Office of Visitor Services and Volunteer Management (OVS) and oversaw the Volunteer Voices blog!