A few of my favorite things: Adrienne Smith
Smithsonian staff and volunteers work countless hours in our museums and research centers, in the field, at the Zoo, in our gardens and facilities. We are privileged to spend time with some of the nation’s most cherished treasures as we go about our duties. Sometimes, these unique experiences find a special place in our own personal stories. On hiatus since 2020, the “A Few of my Favorite Things” Torch series is back. Amy Kehs introduces Adrienne Smith and a few of her favorite Smithsonian things.
Adrienne Smith is the Family and Youth Experiences Coordinator at the National Museum of the American Indian. She oversees programming for the Pre-K-12 age group, school tours, the museum’s teaching carts, the children’s imagiNATIONS Activity Center and public gallery tours. Adrienne joined the museum in September 2005 as a Visitor Services assistant. One career highlight was helping to open the imagiNATIONS Activity Center in 2011. Even though her job title has changed several times over the last 19 years, she loves that cultural interpretation is at the core of what she does each and every day. She loves sharing her culture with visitors, especially children. Adrienne, a member of the Cherokee and Muscogee Creek Nations, was born and raised in Oklahoma. Before she came to the Smithsonian she was an infant and toddler teacher in her home state.
Adrienne Smith wears her latest pair of Air Jordans, a reminder of the ones she loved when she was younger. (Photo by Jose Salamanca, NMAI Staff)
“I think everyone will be able to tell I’m an 80’s baby from my favorite things list!” she said as we got started.
Adrienne played basketball growing up in Oklahoma, and so it is no surprise that her first favorite thing is the pair of Air Jordan Ones at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. She still remembers her first pair of Jordans and got them out of storage for this story.
“Michael Jordan was who we all looked up to growing up,” she remembers.
Pair of Nike Air Jordan I shoes worn and autographed by super-athlete Michael Jordan. (Courtesy National Museum of African American History and Culture)
The pair in the NMAAHC collection red, black and white Air Jordan I shoes featuring the now-iconic black leather Nike “swoosh” on the side that were worn and autographed by the iconic player himself. Jordan’s skill and popularity changed the game of basketball from a solely American game in the 1980s to an international sport, while inspiring people of all ages, such as Adrienne, to “just do it.” The shoes symbolized a movement, a call to action and, most importantly, hope for a young generation.
Adrienne’s second favorite is the classic X-wing Starfighter at the National Air and Space Museum. The movie prop from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, on long-time loan from Lucasfilm, hangs high above the museum’s second floor, perfectly placed in front of the museum’s Albert Einstein planetarium. It has a wingspan of 37 feet and its distinctive shaped wings shows how it got its name. Since the first Star Wars film in 1977, artists at Industrial Light & Magic have depicted these imaginary space vehicles using miniatures as well as full-size vehicles and cockpits. This is the first Star Wars movie prop on long-term display at the museum since the “Star Wars: Myth of Magic” exhibit in 1997.
This X-wing Starfighter was created for the film “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and is on long-term loan to the National Air and Space Museum from Lucasfilm. (Photo Credit: Jim Preston, NASM)
“I love that Star Wars captures the imaginations of generations for a lifetime,” Adrienne says. Her job sharing her culture with young visitors means that she is very aware of the power of storytelling and the deep-rooted understanding of myth. She hopes that the stories that she shares also connect and capture the imaginations of the children she works with.
A red Cadillac Eldorado, model year 1973, owned and driven by Chuck Berry. The car was part of Berry’s personal fleet of Cadillacs and was driven during the filming of Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, a 1987 documentary that chronicles two 1986 concerts. (Courtesy National Museum of African American History and Culture)
Adrienne’s third favorite thing is Chuck Berry’s Cadillac Eldorado, on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Chuck Berry was known for owning a fleet of Cadillacs; the one on display is a 1973 red Cadillac Eldorado that Berry drove on stage at the Fox Theater in St. Louis in the documentary, Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll! The Fox Theater was the same theater that turned him away as a child because he was black. This car made Adrienne’s list because Chuck Berry was part of the sounds of her youth. She grew up listening to his music and it still reminds her of home. It is a good reminder that even though you might be an “80s baby,” our childhood is also made up of our parents’ “favorite things.” Their music also has an impact on the soundtrack of our life.
Adrienne emphasizes that what she loves most about working at the Smithsonian is the interactions with the young visitors and having the chance to share her culture and make an impact on their visit. We can’t help but wonder if any of the children she has influenced might grow up to work at the Smithsonian one day.
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Posted: 22 May 2024
