How do you bring something dangerous, something explosive, something ephemeral, into a physical museum? Join Jesse Smith, the co-curator of the Science History Institute's newest exhibition, Flash! Bang! Boom! A History of Fireworks, for a behind-the-scenes look at the process of developing a museum exhibition when you can't display the actual subject of the exhibition. Smith will describe the research, collecting, conservation, and designing of a new museum show that helps us celebrate (and think about) the U.S. Semiquincentennial through the lens of the history of science and technology. 

About the speaker:

Jesse Smith is vice president of interpretation and education and director of the museum at the Science History Institute, where he oversees collecting activities and interpretive projects in the public history of science and technology.

He was the curator of Downstream, a temporary exhibition on the history of water analysis and protection, which received a 2022 Institutional Achievement Award from PA Museums, a 2022 Award of Excellence from the American Association of State and Local History, and the 2022 Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits from the Society for the History of Technology. He is also the curator of Lunchtime: The History of Science on the School Food Tray, an exhibition that examines the scientific and technological roots of school feeding efforts in the United States for more than a century. Lunchtime and related products and programs have been supported by a $289,000 grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Jesse received his PhD in the history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania. .