Loretta Claiborne Immortalized in New Smithsonian Book Celebrating 150 Years of Pop Culture

Special Olympics Board Vice Chair Loretta Claiborne gets the star treatment in the new tabletop book Entertainment Nation: How Music, Television, Film, Sports, and Theater Shaped the United States. The 272-page volume pulls from Smithsonian's first permanent exhibition on pop culture. You can find Claiborne on page 204 in the This-Ability” section featuring photos of her carrying the Unified Relay Across America torch in 2015 and her 1972 Special Olympics Pennsylvania t-shirt.

Claiborne, who also serves as Special Olympics’ first Chief Inspiration Officer, is the focal point of the Smithsonian physical exhibit in that opened in July 2018 called “Special Olympics at 50.”

The book Entertainment Nation presents nearly 300 breathtaking Smithsonian objects, covering 150 years, from the first long-term exhibition on popular culture, and includes contributors like Billie Jean King, Ali Wong, and Jill Lepore.