Samantha Smith
Samantha Smith | |
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Peace activist | |
Years active | 1982–1985 |
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Samantha Reed Smith (June 29, 1972 – August 25, 1985) was an American
Smith attracted extensive media attention in both countries as a "Goodwill Ambassador", becoming known as America's Youngest Ambassador and subsequently participating in peacemaking activities in Japan.[2] With the assistance of her father, Arthur (an academic), she wrote a book titled Journey to the Soviet Union, which chronicled her visit to the country. She later became a child actress, hosting a child-oriented special on the 1984 United States presidential election for The Disney Channel and playing a co-starring role in the television series Lime Street. Smith died at the age of 13 in 1985, onboard Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808, which crashed short of the runway on final approach to the Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport in Maine.
Historical context
When
At the time, large
The two superpowers had by this point abandoned their strategy of détente and in response to the deployment of the Soviet Union's new SS-20, NATO deployed cruise and Pershing II missiles in Europe. The 1979–1989 Soviet–Afghan War was also into its third year. In this atmosphere, on November 22, 1982, Time magazine published an issue with Andropov on the cover. When Smith viewed the edition, she asked her mother: "If people are so afraid of him, why doesn't someone write a letter asking whether he wants to have a war or not?" Her mother replied, "Why don't you?"[7]
Life
Samantha Smith was born on June 29, 1972, in the small town of
In November 1982, when Smith was 10 years old, she wrote to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, seeking to understand why Soviet Union–United States relations were so tense:
Dear Mr. Andropov,
My name is Samantha Smith. I am 10 years old. Congratulations on your new job. I have been worrying about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. Are you going to vote to have a war or not? If you aren't please tell me how you are going to help to not have a war. This question you do not have to answer, but I would like it if you would. Why do you want to conquer the world or at least our country? God made the world for us to share and take care of. Not to fight over or have one group of people own it all. Please lets do what he wanted and have everybody be happy too.
Samantha Smith[10]
Her letter was published in the Soviet state-run newspaper Pravda.[11] Smith was happy to discover that her letter had been published; however, she had not received a reply. She then sent a letter to Soviet ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin asking if Andropov intended to respond.[12] On April 26, 1983, she received a response from Andropov:
Dear Samantha,
I received your letter, which is like many others that have reached me recently from your country and from other countries around the world.
It seems to me – I can tell by your letter – that you are a courageous and honest girl, resembling
Tom Sawyer in the famous book of your compatriot Mark Twain. This book is well known and loved in our country by all boys and girls.You write that you are anxious about whether there will be a nuclear war between our two countries. And you ask are we doing anything so that war will not break out.
Your question is the most important of those that every thinking man can pose. I will reply to you seriously and honestly.
Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are trying to do everything so that there will not be war on Earth. This is what every Soviet man wants. This is what the great founder of our state, Vladimir Lenin, taught us.
Soviet people well know what a terrible thing war is. Forty-two years ago, Nazi Germany, which strove for supremacy over the whole world, attacked our country, burned and destroyed many thousands of our towns and villages, killed millions of Soviet men, women and children.
In that war, which ended with our victory, we were in alliance with the United States: together we fought for the liberation of many people from the Nazi invaders. I hope that you know about this from your history lessons in school. And today we want very much to live in peace, to trade and cooperate with all our neighbors on this earth—with those far away and those near by. And certainly with such a great country as the United States of America.
In America and in our country there are nuclear weapons—terrible weapons that can kill millions of people in an instant. But we do not want them to be ever used. That's precisely why the Soviet Union solemnly declared throughout the entire world that never will it use nuclear weapons first against any country. In general we propose to discontinue further production of them and to proceed to the abolition of all the stockpiles on Earth.
It seems to me that this is a sufficient answer to your second question: 'Why do you want to wage war against the whole world or at least the United States?' We want nothing of the kind. No one in our country–neither workers, peasants, writers nor doctors, neither grown-ups nor children, nor members of the government–want either a big or 'little' war.
We want peace—there is something that we are occupied with: growing wheat, building and inventing, writing books and flying into space. We want peace for ourselves and for all peoples of the planet. For our children and for you, Samantha.
I invite you, if your parents will let you, to come to our country, the best time being this summer. You will find out about our country, meet with your contemporaries, visit an international children's camp – Artek – on the sea. And see for yourself: in the Soviet Union, everyone is for peace and friendship among peoples.
Thank you for your letter. I wish you all the best in your young life.
A
Samantha spontaneously participated in the documentary film "The Capital of Childhood" dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Artek.
Andropov, however, was unable to meet with her during her visit,
Smith's return to the US on July 22, 1983, was celebrated by the people of
Smith pursued her role as a media celebrity when in 1984, billed as a "Special Correspondent", she hosted a children's special for The Disney Channel entitled Samantha Smith Goes To Washington... Campaign '84.[34][35] The show covered politics, where Smith interviewed several candidates for the 1984 Democratic Party presidential primaries, including George McGovern, John Glenn and Jesse Jackson. That same year, she guest starred in Charles in Charge as Kim, alongside another celebrity guest star, Julianne McNamara. Her fame resulted in Smith becoming the subject of stalker Robert John Bardo, the man who would later go on to stalk and ultimately murder My Sister Sam actress Rebecca Schaeffer. Bardo traveled to Maine in an attempt to meet Smith, however he aborted his attempt when being given a citation by police. Concerned that he was drawing too much attention to himself, Bardo returned home. He later confessed to finding new ways to stalk Smith, but her later death terminated his master plan.[36]
In 1985, she played the co-starring role of the elder daughter to Robert Wagner's character in the television series Lime Street.[37][38]
Death
On August 25, 1985, Smith and her father were returning home aboard
About 1,000 people attended Smith's funeral in Augusta, Maine, and she was eulogized in Moscow as a champion of peace. Attendees included Robert Wagner and Vladimir Kulagin of the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C., who read a personal message of condolence from Mikhail Gorbachev.[44]
Everyone in the Soviet Union who has known Samantha Smith will forever remember the image of the American girl who, like millions of Soviet young men and women, dreamt about peace, and about friendship between the peoples of the United States and the Soviet Union.[45]
President Ronald Reagan sent his condolences to Smith's mother, in writing:
Perhaps you can take some measure of comfort in the knowledge that millions of Americans, indeed millions of people, share the burdens of your grief. They also will cherish and remember Samantha, her smile, her idealism and unaffected sweetness of spirit.[46]
The remains of Samantha and her father were cremated,[47] and their ashes were buried at Estabrook Cemetery, Amity, Maine.[48]
Legacy
Smith's contributions have been honored with a number of tributes by Russians and by the people of her home state of Maine. A monument to her was built in Moscow; "Samantha Smith Alley" in the Artek Young Pioneer camp was named after her in 1986.
A 1987 episode of the US sitcom
In the mid-1980s, after Smith's death, a script was written for a
Speculation as to what a surviving Samantha might have done in adulthood was dismissed by her mother Jane as unanswerable in 2003, given Samantha was only thirteen when she died and her ambitions had varied from a veterinarian to a ballerina.[67] The notion, which had been put to Samantha herself in the eighties, that she could be President of the United States in adulthood, was dismissed by her in the Disney Channel special that she hosted, with the words "being President is not a job I would like to have".[35]
In 2008, Smith posthumously received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award for "helping to bring about better understanding between the peoples of the [USA and the USSR], and as a result, reduce the tension between the superpowers that were poised to engage in nuclear war".[68] The Peace Abbey has also proposed The Peace Literature Project in Honor of Samantha Smith "to educate students about peace and promote peace literature for school-age children in 50 selected pilot schools across the United States".[32]
Elliott Holt's 2013 novel You Are One of Them, uses the story of Smith as inspiration for a fictional character, Jennifer Jones.[69]
On the 30th anniversary of the plane crash in 2015, the
Pioneer shift No. 7 at Artek — from June 20 to July 11 — is called "Samantha's Smile". During this shift, the center "becomes a Young Diplomacy School, each camp turns into a kind of peacekeeping corps." There is also a "Samantha's Place" in the Artek Museum.[17]
In July 2023, a bronze monument to Samantha Smith was unveiled in Artek.[71] The inscription is stamped on the pedestal: "May There Always Be Sunshine".[72]
See also
- List of peace activists
- Sarah York, another American girl who wrote to a foreign political leader, in this case Manuel Noriega
References
- ^ Evening Magazine; WBZ-TV, Boston, 1985
- ^ a b Saint-André, Yvette Irène. "I Remember Samantha Smith: Goodwill Ambassador". U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Archived from the original on 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ Burns, John M. "The Emergence of Yuri Andropov". The New York Times, November 6, 1983. Retrieved on 2022-03-14.
- ISBN 0-14-028487-7.
- ^ a b "Pen Pals". Time magazine, May 9, 1983. Retrieved on April 14, 2008.
- ]
- ^ "Youngest Ambassador". samanthasmith.info. Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
- ^ "Jane Goshorn Smith". Hollins.
- ^ Wright, Bruce (2007–2011) "Ricker College: A Small School in A Big County", Ricker College Trustees. Retrieved on February 6, 2015.
- ^ "The original of Samantha Smith's letter". The Russian State Archive of Contemporary History (RGANI) F. 82 Op. 1 D. 61 L. 8. 2021-06-19.
- ^ Chazanov, Mathis (1983-04-12). "PRAVDA says it has letters from America". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. E16.
- .
- ^ "Samantha's Letter". www.SamanthaSmith.Info. Archived from the original on 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- ISBN 0826403824.
- ^ Koppel, Ted (2004-12-23). "A Nightline Moment From 1983". ABC News. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
- ^ Krauthammer, Charles (1983-08-15). "Deep Down, We're All Alike, Right? Wrong". Time. Archived from the original on 2008-09-28. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
- ^ a b c d e С миссией мира: как 10-летней девочке удалось сблизить две супердержавы. In Russian
- ^ Боролась за мир и погибла в 13 лет: как Саманта Смит из США написала Андропову и стала знаменитой. In Russian
- ^ a b c «Будем жить!» Как Саманта Смит боролась за мир. In Russian
- ^ a b c «Сказала, что вернётся ещё раз». 35 лет назад в Крыму побывала Саманта Смит. In Russian
- ^ "Andropov Is Too Busy To Meet Maine Girl". The New York Times. 1983-07-21. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
- ^ Smith, William E. (1985-02-04). "Soviet Union Sick Leave". Time. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
- ^ "An American girl gets a telephone call from a former cosmonaut". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1983-07-15. p. A03.
- ^ Moats, Alice-Leone (1983-07-12). "Yes, Samantha, there's a Soviet bear". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. A11.
- ^ a b "From Russia back to 'regular things'". The New York Times. 1983-07-23. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
- ^ a b "Samantha Smith remembered on 20th anniversary of Soviet visit". USA Today.com. 2003-07-14. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
- ^ "Andropov's Pen Pal Is Off to See Japanese". The New York Times. 1983-12-22. Retrieved 2008-03-03.
- ^ "Samantha's address to the Children's Symposium 1983 December 26". samanthasmith.info. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- ISBN 0-275-94615-0.
- ^ Garcia, Guy D. (1986-03-31). "People". Time. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
- ^ "Results for '0316801763'". Worldcat. 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ a b "The Samantha Smith Project". The Peace Abbey Foundation. 1985-08-25. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
- ISBN 0-8264-0382-4. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ February 1984 issue, Disney Channel Magazine.
- ^ YouTube
- ]
- ^ "Samantha, SOV visitor, going on TV". Philadelphia Daily News. 1985-02-25. p. 9.
- ^ Castro, Janice (1985-03-11). "People". Time. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
- ^ "Accident report, 25 AUG 1985". Aviation Safety Network Database. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
- ^ Thomas, Evan (1985-09-09). "The Great War of Words". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ "Washington talk: U.S.-Soviet relations; Commonality at an Exhibition". The New York Times. 1987-12-07. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
- ^ Aircraft Accident Report: Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 Beech BE-99, N300WP Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport Auburn, Maine August 25, 1985 (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. 1986-09-30. p. 16. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
- ^ "Pilot Blamed in Samantha Death". The Los Angeles Times. 1986-09-30. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
- ^ "Diplomat, actor attend Samantha Smith's rites". The Sun. San Bernardino, California. Associated Press. 1985-08-29. p. A-14, Col. 1. Retrieved 2018-06-17 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Milestones: Samantha Smith". Time Magazine. 1985-09-09. Archived from the original on 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
- ^ "History: Samantha Reed Smith". samanthasmith.info. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- ^ Wallace, David (1985-11-11). "Still Mourning Samantha Smith, Robert Wagner Decides That His Lime Street Show Must Go on". People magazine.
- ^ McKennett, Hannah (2019-06-30). "How This 10-Year-Old Girl Broke Through The Iron Curtain In The 1980s". All That's Interesting. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
- ^ "The history of "Artek"" (in Russian). ICC Artek. Archived from the original on 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
- ^ "Voronezh Retiree Built A Monument to Samantha Smith". Voronezhsky Telegraph (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2006-08-21. Retrieved 2006-06-01.
- ISBN 3-540-00238-3.
- ^ "Asteroid Named for U.S. Girl". The New York Times. 1986-11-12. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- JSTOR 945345.(subscription required)
- ^ "Russians name gem for Samantha Smith". The New York Times. 1985-09-08. Retrieved 2008-02-26.
- ^ "Soviets name mountain after Samantha Smith". The Toronto Star. 1986-10-06. Archived from the original on 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ Keefe, William (2009-08-20). "Port Huron Earns 'Maritime Capital' Title" (PDF). The Beacher. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-13. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
- ^ "Samantha Smith Day". Maine law title 1 sec 126. State of Maine. Retrieved 2006-04-11.
- ^ "Samantha Smith Statue". The New York Times. 1985-12-19. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ "Samantha Smith Elementary School". Samantha Smith Elementary School. Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ "P.S. 182 Samantha Smith". The New York City Department of Education. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
- ^ "Samantha Smith Foundation". The New York Times. 1985-10-06. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
- ^ Bouchard, Kelley (2015-08-25). "Samantha Smith's legacy as America's peace ambassador endures after 30 years". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
- ^ Richard, Julie (1987-06-19). "Reeve Not Happy With Last Film's Promotion". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2014-12-31. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
- ^ Mann, Roderick (1986-07-05). "Robert Wagner: Reluctant Star In A Very Busy Universe". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
- ^ "Columbia Pictures to make TV film based on the life of Samantha Smith". Bangor Daily News. UPI. 1987-03-20. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
- Yankee Magazine. Archived from the originalon 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2015-09-20.
- ^ "Samantha Smith visit to U.S.S.R. recalled".
- ^ "International Courage of Conscience Award: 1988–2015". The Peace Abbey Foundation. 2015-05-02. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
- ^ Shipstead, Maggie (2013-05-24). "Cold War, Cooled Heart". Sunday Book Review. New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
- ^ Edwards, Keith (2015-08-22). "Samantha Smith, Manchester's messenger of peace, to be featured in Maine State Museum exhibit". Kennebec Journal. MaineToday Media. Retrieved 2015-09-01.
- ^ В "Артеке" открыли памятник Саманте Смит In Russian
- ^ В «Артеке» открыли памятник Саманте Смит In Russian
Further reading
- Galicich, Anne (1987). Samantha Smith: A Journey for Peace. Minneapolis: Dillon Press. OCLC 734914712.
- Nelson, Lena (2023). America's Youngest Ambassador: The Cold War Story of Samantha Smith's Lasting Message of Peace Down East Books. ISBN 978-1684750207
- Neumann, Matthias (April 2019). "Children Diplomacy During the Late Cold War: Samantha Smith's Visit of the 'Evil Empire'". History. 104 (360); pp. 275–308. .
- Peacock, Margaret (2018). "Samantha Smith in the Land of the Bolsheviks: Peace and the Politics of Childhood in the Late Cold War". Diplomatic History 43 (3); pp. 418–444. .
- Smith, Samantha (1985). Journey to the Soviet Union. Boston and Toronto: Little Brown and Co. OCLC 244205886.
External links
- SamanthaSmith.info – Official site
- Samantha Smith's channel on YouTube
- "A Nightline Moment from 1983" – ABC News, December 2004
- Samantha Smith, This Day in History: August 25
- Contemporary news article pertaining to the death of Samantha Smith from UPI
- "This plucky Maine girl tried to unite US and Russia before nuclear bombs consumed the world" – Article from the Bangor Daily News
- "Samantha Smith's peace-seeking letter to Soviet Union endures as lesson for children to ask questions about world events" – article from the Kennebec Journal
- Samantha Smith at Find a Grave