Leather belt worn by Melody Starya Mobley
date: label: Date
content: ca. 1980
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Unidentified
label: Worn by
content: Melody Starya Mobley, American, born 1958
label: Subject of
content: United States Forest Service, founded 1905
label: Subject of
content: Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest, American, founded 1897
notes: label: Caption
content: Melody Starya Mobley was the first African American female forester of the USDA Forest Service (USFS), serving from June 1977 until her retirement in March 2005. She also was the first African American woman to graduate (in 1979) from the University of Washington College of Forest Resources (later renamed the School of Forest Resources in the College of the Environment). During her 28 years with the USFS she served in national forests all over the country. Most notably for this collection, she served in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington state from 1980-1982, Cleveland National Forest in Southern California from 1982-1986, held a temporary assignment in Klamath National Forest in Northern California, and finally served in Ocala National Forest in central Florida from 1986-1987. From 1988 until her retirement in 2005 she served in the USFS headquarters in Washington, D.C. In the mid-1990s, Mobley was given a temporary detail to the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada where she served as Deputy Forest Supervisor.
label: Description
content: Leather belt used by Melody Starya Mobley as part of her forester uniform while serving in the United States Forest Service. The belt has a gold toned, single tongue buckle with a leather belt strap embossed with wildlife scenes. The gold tone finish of the buckle has slightly worn off and the silver tone below shows through. A relief mark on buckle is the letter [M] inside an oval. The belt strap has seven (7) notches. Embossed on the front of the strap is a repeating pattern of animals, including rabbits, bucks, mountain lions, and ducks in flight, set against a background with trees, bushes, lakes, and mountains. The belt straps slightly dips into a “V” shape at the center. The buckle is secured to the strap with two (2) metal rivets. The back of the leather is plain with a rough texture.
place: label: Place used
content: Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington, United States, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: Cleveland National Forest, San Diego County, California, United States, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: Klamath National Forest, Siskiyou County, California, United States, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: Ocala National Forest, Florida, United States, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Agriculture
label: Topic
content: American West
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Government
label: Topic
content: Labor
label: Topic
content: Nature
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Clothing - Fashion and Historical
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Melody Starya Mobley
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2019.80.7
objectType: label: Type
content: belts worn at the waist or below
label: Type
content: uniforms
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: leather and metal
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 2 1/8 × 37 5/8 × 3/8 in. (5.4 × 95.6 × 1 cm)