Coming to Carolina
Blazich grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, where his father was a horticultural science professor at NC State University. The professor told his son, “Go to Carolina. They’re a fantastic school.”
At Carolina, Blazich met teaching associate professor Joe Caddell, still a friend, and recommends his course on air power and modern warfare (HIST 212). He worked on his senior thesis with now-retired history professor Melissa Bullard, and studied chemistry with professor Todd Austell, who previously taught at the Air Force Academy and “really understood the undergrad mentality.”
After the Air Force, Blazich earned a master’s degree at NC State. His doctoral studies at Ohio State University took him back to Chapel Hill to conduct research at Wilson Library’s Southern Historical Collection for his dissertation on the history of the North Carolina Civil Defense Program.
“It was great to come home,” he said.
Blazich’s studies at Carolina laid the groundwork for his career as a curator and historian, including jobs at the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme, California, and in the Naval History and Heritage Command in D.C.
Blazich said he’s known as “Frank the Pigeon Guy” because of his expertise on Cher Ami, a pigeon used by the U.S. Army during World War I. (John Roberts/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Life at the museum
No two days as Smithsonian curator are alike.
Blazich conducts research, fields inquiries on potential artifacts, catalogs materials, improves exhibits and gives tours to important people. He even made sure the long-lost bracelet of a late World War II veteran reached his daughter.
All of his tasks are part of a larger mission. “We take an academic topic and make it accessible to the public,” Blazich said.
Blazich can talk extensively but conversationally about George Washington’s sword and the horse famed Union Gen. Philip Sheridan rode in the Civil War.
Then there’s the obscure artifact that earned Blazich the nickname “Frank the Pigeon Guy.”
Cher Ami, “arguably the most famous pigeon in the world,” was donated by the British to the Army in 1918. During World War I, the bird carried a message from a group of besieged U.S. soldiers, which led to their rescue from German forces. For these heroics, a preserved Cher Ami calls the Smithsonian home.
“I’ve taken this pigeon to Carnegie Hall,” Blazich said. “We’ve had him 3D scanned. I’ve written papers on him.”
Did you know: In April UNC-Chapel Hill opened its Carolina in the Capital office in Washington.
Still serving
A source of endless military stories, Blazich is still writing his own.
Earlier this year, Blazich was commissioned as a major in the Army Reserve. He’ll head to Fort Benning in Georgia in August for six weeks of training to become fully qualified as a civil affairs officer, protecting national museums or cultural sites in places of war.
“It’s one thing to collect it here for the Smithsonian and save it for the American public,” Blazich said, “but it’s another to put on the uniform of the nation and do this for the betterment of the world. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
Frank Blazich on…
Being a Tar Heel in Washington: I was amazed to hear there are that many Carolina alums here in the D.C. area, but I really shouldn’t be considering the variety of academic programs at Chapel Hill. If you’re here in the museum, stop by and say hello.
Favorite Franklin Street spot: There was a place called Hector’s, which if memory serves, Zach Galifianakis’ family ran or owned. They used to have hamburgers on pita and be open late. So if you had a late chem lab and hadn’t been able to go to Lenoir for dinner, you would go to Hector’s. The other place is Cosmic Cantina, also late night. I knew I could always get a quesadilla, a burrito or just some chips and salsa and sit there and work. In fact, when I would go back to Carolina for grad research, I would still go.
Advice to students interested in working in public history: To take an expression from the military, you want to put tools in your tool bag. What I recommend for any undergrad is to do an internship. You can apply for internships here at the Smithsonian. Many can turn into paid employment. It gives you a chance to come to Washington to work here at the museum, to work behind the scenes with the artifacts. From that, you might decide, “I want to publish an article. I want to review a book. I want to collect an artifact. I want to help work on an exhibition.” The more you can develop your experiences, the more you can develop your skills. Never stop learning and never stop working — and you’ll be successful.
