American Archives Month Employee Spotlights - Lynn Smith
Name: Lynn Smith
Job Title: Audio-Visual Archivist at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
How long have you worked at the National Archives?
From October 1991 to March 1993, I was an Archives Aid at the Denver Records Center. I left NARA to work for the U.S.Forest Service as an Archivist, then worked a few years at the University of Denver's Penrose Library in their government documents department. In November 2000, I rejoined NARA at the Hoover Presidential Library.
What made you interested in being an archivist? Why did you want to work at your Presidential Library in particular?
From the middle of my days as an undergraduate my career path was to be a history professor. When looking at MA programs, I was introduced to the public history program at Colorado State University. I thought it would be ideal to get a degree I needed to advance to a PhD that would provide me with a skill set (archives management) so I could work in the history field while working on the PhD. After graduate school, I found working in archives and museums a better option than dealing with college students who may or may not be interested in history but had to attend class, and I wouldn't have to grade exams and term papers.
Give us an overview of your job. What are some of your responsibilities?
My primary work is to preserve and make available for research our library’s collection of films, photographs, and audio recordings. I oversee volunteers and interns who scan our photo collection for long-term preservation. Aside from my primary work, I wear lots of other hats: I assist with content for our social media channels, work with our curatorial staff with AV needs in temporary exhibits, and coordinate with guest speakers to meet their AV needs for presentations in our auditorium.
What’s the strangest thing that’s happened to you in this line of work? What’s the best?
Perhaps this is recency bias, I recall a strange thing that happened back in the early days of the pandemic in April 2020. Like so many other places worldwide, the Hoover Museum was closed, but we still wanted to remain a presence on social media. A plan was hatched to take one of our Herbert Hoover bobbleheads, make it a tiny facemask, and photograph it in the galleries to create a virtual tour. It was eerie to be alone walking around our closed and not fully lit museum, taking pictures of a bobblehead wearing a homemade mask.
I think there’s two answers to the “best” thing. One is playing a small role in our annual citizenship/naturalization ceremony. My favorite, “once in a lifetime experience” was back in August 2011, when I was tapped to be chauffeur to a few visitors: Lynda Johnson Robb, the daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson; Clifton Truman-Daniels, grandson of President Truman; and opera singer Simon Estes. It was a fun time; I wish that van ride was longer than just to the other side of our small town.
What’s your favorite fact about the President for your particular library?
I don’t really have a favorite fact. One interesting fact about Herbert Hoover is that he was the first President to have a telephone on his desk. As a former engineer, he liked efficiency.
What’s your favorite fact about the President for your library?
According to Mr. Hoover’s memoir, the entire overhead expenses for the Commission for Relief of Belgium, the organization headed by Mr. Hoover during WWI, to feed war torn Belgium, totaled less than one-half of one percent. I know of no NGO or other nonprofit organization that runs so lean.
You’re having dinner with the President of your library. What restaurant would you take him to or what would you cook? What artifact would you ask him about? Why?
I know that Herbert Hoover circled the world multiple times by age 50, and he was a big baseball fan. Being a cosmopolitan individual, I doubt he’d be impressed with any restaurant that I could think of. With that in mind, I’d take him to a minor league baseball game here in eastern Iowa. I’m not sure if we’d go to Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, or Davenport. All those parks offer different things for fans, some of which would likely be unimaginable to him, like a Ferris Wheel beyond left field. Our meal would be whatever's at the ballpark. If this dinner is in the offseason, I would simply take him for a walk a few blocks north of the Library–Museum and have beer and pizza at a popular hangout here in West Branch, Herb & Lou’s.
As for asking about an artifact, we have roughly 70 blue and white Chinese vases and decorative jars. I would love to chat with Mr. Hoover about these blue and whites. I’d ask if he and Mrs. Hoover had any favorites and/or any fun stories about collecting them.
If you were making a movie about your President, what would the tagline be and who would you cast? Why?
I guess for a movie tagline, I’d go with a basic statement of his career achievements: “Engineer-Humanitarian-President-Elder Statesman.” Honestly, I don’t watch many movies and have no idea who I’d cast as Herbert Hoover. Probably a long dead actor like Spencer Tracy or Paul Newman, they were outstanding back in the day.
What's your favorite document, and why?
Working with AV materials, I have more favorite photos than favorite documents. I love the artistic quality of the 1928 photo of Mr. Hoover fishing near Brown’s Camp, California . As a longtime Girl Scout from my youth, I personally connect to First Lady Lou Henry Hoover speaking on the radio flanked by a pair of Girl Scouts.
What advice would you have for someone interested in a career in archival work, or how would you convince someone to consider a career in archival work?
I would encourage anyone who is interested in being an archivist to go for a variety of internships and volunteer experiences in order to be exposed to as many facets of archival work as possible. I would also tell them to be open to going anywhere for an archivist position. Sometimes I think folks are too focused on working in a particular state or region and miss out on great job opportunities that are somewhere else.
Lastly (and most important), why should people visit or learn more about your Presidential Library?
Herbert Hoover is basically only thought of as the President during the Great Depression. His Presidency is a four-year blip on his 50 years of public service. From saving millions of lives during World War I and World War II to being a sounding board to many Presidents, from both parties, who followed him. The story of this quiet yet dynamic man is all here, just waiting for visitors to discover.