A Few of my Favorite Things: Shannon Baldioli

Smithsonian staff and volunteers work countless hours in the halls of 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.  Amy Kehs introduces Shannon Baldioli and a few of her favorite Smithsonian things.

A lot of Smithsonian employees would call their workplace their second home, not just because of the time they spend there, but due to the profound impact it has on their careers. But for Shannon Baldioli, Youth and Teacher Programs Manager at the National Air and Space Museum, the institution is so much more than that. For her, the museum is like family—playing a pivotal role not only in her professional life but in her personal life as well.

In 2013, after completing her undergraduate degree at Kent State University in Ohio, Shannon moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue her master’s degree in Museum Education at George Washington University. Feeling that many of her classmates had more museum experience than she did, she eagerly sought volunteer opportunities. This search led her to the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum, where she operated and demonstrated to visitors the Spider Press in the William Gross Gallery, her first favorite thing. The Spider Press, named for the long, spider-like spokes on its wheel, was a crucial tool for printing stamps before 1880. While demonstrating the press, Shannon also delighted in connecting it to one of the museum’s most famous artifacts, the inverted Jenny stamp. What a really neat skill to add to someone’s resume!

Spider Press at the National Postal Museum. Loan from the Sennett Estate. Richard C. Sennett was a pioneer in the privatization of U.S. stamp production who helped develop many technological innovations.

A year later, Shannon went to the National Air and Space Museum to interview for an internship. During her interview, her interviewer took her to the nearly finished “Time and Navigation: the untold story of getting from here to there” exhibit, giving her a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the museum’s buzzing preparation. Seeing the team excitedly working to complete the exhibit and talking to her interviewer inspired Shannon. This exhibit is her second favorite thing. “It was a huge turning point in my career and my life,” Shannon reflects. “The excitement and the idea that I could be involved and contribute to exhibitions definitely reassured me I was in the right place.” While Shannon didn’t take the internship she was interviewing for that day, her encounter with her interviewer, Agustin, marked the beginning of something even more significant—she later married him.

The “Winnie Mae” hung in the “Time and Navigation: The Untold Story of Getting from Here to There” exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum. The exhibit is now closed.
Photo credit: Eric Long, Smithsonian

The Baldioli Family: Augustin, Maxine, Stella, and Shannon. (photo courtesy of Shannon Baldioli)

Shannon and Agustin were married (also at a museum!) and now have two daughters, Stella and Maxine, who share their parents’ love for museums. Shannon jokes that her eldest daughter, Stella, could probably give a better tour of the Air and Space Museum than she can. One family favorite, and Shannon’s third favorite, is the Pitts Special S-1C plane, which hangs upside down as you enter the Udvar-Hazy Center. Stella, as a toddler, quickly declared Betty Skelton’s “Little Stinker” her favorite plane. “I think she liked it because it was little, bright, cheerful, upside-down, and had a great name!” Shannon shares. “I love that it, along with Betty Skelton herself, has become a family favorite.” Built in 1948, this plane is the oldest surviving Pitts Special and, at the time, was the smallest aerobatic airplane in the world. Betty Skelton, known as “The First Lady of Firsts,” used this plane to win the 1949 and 1950 International Feminine Aerobatic Championships. She helped pave the way for women in aviation—an inspiring role model for two young girls.

Betty Skelton flying in “Little Stinker.” In this plane, she won the 1949 and 1950 International Feminine Aerobatic Championships. Photo Credit: Gift of Gift of Betty Skelton Frankman

Betty Skelton’s Pitts S-1C Special “Little Stinker” (r/n NX86401, A19850806000) on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. [Lilstinker2005_002_1]

For Shannon, what she loves most about working at the Smithsonian is how much of a family affair it has become. She cherishes that her daughters get to grow up surrounded by the stories told within the museum walls, and how they, too, can be inspired by them.

Shannon and her museum kids! (Photo courtesy of Shannon Baldioli)