Each week, the Archives features a woman who has been a groundbreaker at the Smithsonian, past or present, in a series titled Wonderful Women Wednesday.
Mabel A. Byrd worked as an administrative assistant to directors of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History between the 1950s until 1972. At her retirement party, Museum director Richard S. Cowan and former director Dr. T. Dale Stewart each made speeches.
In 1957, Byrd cut the ribbon at the opening of the hall of “North American Indians and Eskimos” at the National Museum of Natural History. Byrd identified as a descendant of the Seneca peoples.
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Related Recources
- The Torch, August 1972, Smithsonian Institution Archives
- Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 1958, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
