Jesse in a blue and white checkered shirt smiling

Jesse Smith

Director of Curatorial Affairs

Jesse Smith is the director of curatorial affairs 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.

Jesse is also the associate editor of the journal History and Technology. His writing has appeared in a variety of publications including the Washington Post and the exhibition catalog Pool: A Social History of Segregation. Jesse received his PhD in the history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania.

More from Jesse Smith

illustration of children playing

The Kids Are Alright

Understanding past attitudes toward science and medicine through children’s books.

three children sitting at a table eating

Science History Institute’s ‘Lunchtime’ Project Receives Major Grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage

$289K+ award will support exhibitions, articles, and public programming examining the history of the U.S. school lunch program through the lens of food science.

Downstream

Explore more than 200 years of water analysis and protection in the Delaware River Valley and beyond.

Black and white illustration of hydrologic cycle

Cycles, Circulations, and Systems

We live in a relational world. Technoscientific images help us see that way.

An illustration of a side view of a fish with wings

A New Blog Takes Flight

Meet Gabriela and Jesse, coeditors of the Institute’s new collections blog.