Jennifer White Smith, superintendent of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, has a 100,000-watt smile, one that illustrates what it means to say a person is “beaming.”
In conversation, she telegraphs her boundless enthusiasm for New Bedford, its history, and its national park.
You could say that she and the park were dedicated on the same day. Having started as a volunteer in 1997, her first shift as an employee was the park’s dedication day: May 17, 1998.
From a seasonal park ranger 25 years ago, White Smith rose to be chief of visitor services and acting superintendent of New Bedford’s park before becoming site manager at Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence in 2008. Returning to New Bedford in 2014, she served in several roles before she was appointed superintendent in March 2019.
Raising three children while attending evening classes at UMass Dartmouth for 10 years, White Smith graduated in 2000 with a bachelor of arts degree in English literature with minors in Judaic studies and women’s studies. She went on to earn a master’s in community planning with a concentration in historic preservation and urban design from the University of Rhode Island in 2004.