Authors

By NMAH, October 27, 2009

Matthew MacArthur (Editor-in-Chief)

Matthew MacArthur Title: Director of New Media

What do you do at the Museum? I oversee the development and maintenance of the NMAH Web site and other digital products.

What is your favorite exhibition? Probably America On the Move. I guess I haven’t really grown out of the little-boy obsession with cars and trucks and trains and such. That exhibition brings these dramatic objects to life in a wonderful way.

Erin Blasco (Managing Editor)

Erin n kermitTitle: Education Specialist, New Media Department

What do you do at the Museum? I respond to tweets, write Facebook posts, pin artifacts to Pinterest, coordinate the occasional tweet-up, help exhibition and project teams take advantage of digital tools, edit blog posts, and analyze audience feedback to engage target audiences online. 

What is your favorite thing about working at the Museum? On my first day at work, the museum held a surprise birthday celebration in honor of Julia Child. Staff put on huge chef hats and carried trays of cookies throughout the museum, offering one to each surprised visitor. A band paraded through the museum and then gathered in the lobby to sing happy birthday to the French Chef. The musicians then marched to the exhibition where Child's kitchen is located, leading visitors to see "the real thing." The day combined all the fun of Child's personality, the seriousness of American history, and the awesome-ness of peering into Child's real kitchen. As I enjoyed the festivities and tried learn the names of my new co-workers, I realized just how hard it would be to convey this experience online for audiences who can't be in the building as often as I can. It's a challenge I'm thoroughly enjoying. 

Mike Johnson

Mike Johnson Title: Manager, Development Communications & Donor Relations

What do you do at the Museum? I help raise funds from generous individuals and organizations to help the Museum create new exhibitions and programs.

What is your favorite object in the Museum? I have two favorites: Jefferson’s desk and Lincoln’s top hat. They are the most famous possessions of two of the most famous men in American history.

Megan Smith

Megansmith_reduced Title: Education Specialist, Exhibition Projects and Family Programs

What do you do at the Museum? I help develop exhibitions and public programs.

What is your favorite object in the Museum? The Greensboro Lunch Counter. To me, it represents the possibility of change, and the influence that young people can have on our world.

I also really love some of the weirder things in our collection, like this framed collection of locks of hair from our first fourteen presidents. Would you want to hang this on your wall? Ew. Kind of creepy, yet very cool.

Susan Walther

Walther_s_l Title: Senior Public Programs Coordinator

What do you do at the Museum? Maintain Museum programs calendar for the Web, print, and other media, advise on programs and publications production and produce selected programs

What is your favorite thing about working at the Museum? The “ah-ha!” experience, when someone—a visitor or even myself!—makes the connection between an object or story and its connection to his and her personal history.

Jenny Wei

Wei_j_l Title: Education Specialist

What do you do at the Museum? I work with others in the museum to develop educational materials that get distributed on the Smithsonian’s History Explorer Web site.

What is your favorite object in the Museum? My favorite object is the Dumbo Car. I have really great memories that are connected to the Dumbo ride, and from what I’ve overheard, it sounds like a lot of other people do, too. So I think it’s a great example of how we can have really personal relationships with artifacts and history.