In November 1982, 10-year-old Samantha Smith, from Manchester, Maine, watched a TV show about nuclear war. She asked her mother who would start a war and why. Her mother showed her a magazine article about the United States and the Soviet Union (called Russia today), featuring the new Soviet leader, Yuri Andropov. The news article talked about how people in both countries were worried that the other country would start a nuclear war.
Samantha had the idea of writing to Andropov to find out who was causing all the trouble, so she did! Months went by with no answer. In April 1983, Samantha found out that her letter had been published in a Soviet news magazine called Pravda. Soon, her letter was appearing in newspapers across the United States.
Samatha was excited but also curious as to why Andropov had not responded. Samantha’s father suggested she write another letter to the Soviet Ambassador. A week later, she received a call from the Soviet Embassy, saying Andropov’s letter was on its way. When the letter arrived, it would change Samantha and her family’s lives. It included an invitation for them to visit the Soviet Union, and suddenly, Samantha became a celebrity.
Dear Samantha!
. . . 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. . .
Yes, Samantha, we in the Soviet Union are trying to do everything so that there will not be war between our countries, so that in general there will not be war on earth. This is what every Soviet man wants. . . .
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 the 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.
Y. Andropov
Source 2 - Document
Source 2 - Image
Yuri Andropov’s Letter to Samantha Smith
April 19, 1983
Maine State Museum Collection, 2010.37.206
In 1982, a ten-year-old girl named Samantha Smith from Manchester, Maine, wrote a letter to the leader of the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov. In her letter, she asked him if he wanted a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States. This is his response to her.
In his reply, Andropov compared Samantha to Becky Thatcher, a character from the famous book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain. He noted that the book was well-known and loved in the Soviet Union, and this may have been a way of creating a positive connection between the two countries.
He emphasized the Soviet Union’s desire for world peace and recalled the suffering of his people during World War II, highlighting their alliance with the U.S. against Nazi Germany.
The letter also touched on the topic of nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, which lasted from the 1950s to the 1990s, the Soviet Union and the United States were in competition to develop and stockpile powerful weapons. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, both countries agreed to limit the number of nuclear missiles, but tensions between them were still high.
Both letters were big news stories! Reporters from around the world wanted to interview her about why she wrote to Andropov and how she felt about his response. Many people were unsure about Andropov’s true intentions and thought that the letter was a way for the Soviet leader to improve his country’s image and gain a diplomatic advantage.
Source 3 - Artifact
Source 3 - Artifact
Artek Camp Uniform worn by Samantha Smith
1983
Maine State Museum Collection, 2010.37.207.1-.4
In Yuri Andropov’s letter to Samantha Smith, he invited Samantha and her family to visit the Soviet Union (now called Russia) and suggested they visit in July. During their trip, they spent some time at the Artek Pioneer Camp in Crimea. The Young Pioneers are a little like Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, except their activities teach them about communism instead of democracy.
Artek was the most famous summer camp in the Soviet Union. It had 150 buildings, including a space museum and a film studio named Artekfilm. Only the best students and strongest athletes were invited to attend.
While visiting the camps, Samantha wore an Artek Pioneer uniform like the
other children, but she didn’t wear a red scarf, so everyone knew she was a guest. While she was at the camp, Samantha swam, learned Russian songs and dances, and made lots of new friends
Source 4 - Image
Source 4 - Image
Photo of Samantha Smith talking to the press in her Artek Uniform
July 1983
Photograph by Vladimir Mashatin
Reporters from around the world followed Samatha and her family to Crimea, where she visited the famous Soviet summer camp, Artek. Samatha’s father, Arthur Smith, asked that she be allowed to have fun with other campers and not be followed by photographers all the time.
For the most part, the reporters and photographers kept their distance. One exception was at a meet-and-greet event with campers from different camps who had questions for Samanta about life in the United States.
Reporters at the event quickly took over and asked their own questions about how Samantha liked Artek and about her visit to Moscow.
Source 5 - Image
Source 5 - Image
Political Cartoon titled “Samantha”
By Dan Wright
1983
Maine State Museum Collection, 2010.37.145
Dan Wright of the Miami News sent Samantha Smith a copy of a cartoon he drew depicting her trip to the Soviet Union. The Smith family visited the Soviet Union on the invitation of Soviet leader Yuri Andropov after Samantha had written to Andropov advocating for peace. He assured her that he did not plan to start a war. Smith’s letter and subsequent trip received international press coverage. The cartoon shows two bomb heads, one labeled U.S. and one U.S.S.R., with a girl jumping from one to the other. The caption is “Samantha.” USSR stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly known as the Soviet Union until it was dissolved in 1991. It is now known as the Russian Federation or simply Russia.
Source 6 - Image
Source 6 - Image
Samantha Smith Political Cartoon
1983
By Steven Benson
Maine State Museum Collection, 2010.37.147
Samantha Smith and her parents visited the Soviet Union at Andropov’s invitation in July 1983. Samantha spent several days at Artek, an elite Young Pioneer camp on the Black Sea.
After Samantha and her family returned from their visit to the Soviet Union, Steve Benson of the Arizona Republic sent Samantha Smith the original cartoon he had drawn. The cartoon satirizes or makes fun of Soviet leader Yuri Andropov’s letter to Samantha about war and nuclear weapons. The cartoon compares Artek to “gulags.” Gulags were Soviet prisons that forced people who didn’t agree with the government to perform hard labor under very difficult conditions, such as in extreme cold weather and with very little food.
State of Maine
Proclamation
WHEREAS, Samantha Smith embodied a spirit of peace and goodwill that touched men, women, and children in countries around the world; and
WHEREAS, Samantha Smith’s letter to Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov – – a young girl’s simple message of sincere commitment to humanity – – made great inroads in increasing understanding between the United States and the Soviet Union; and
WHEREAS, it is important to remember that there is much for all of us to do in taking up Samantha Smith’s mission and working to promote the global peace and brotherhood she envisioned,
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOHN R. McKERNAN, JR. Governor of the State of Maine, I do hereby proclaim June 1, 1987 as
SAMANTHA SMITH DAY
Throughout the State of Maine and urge all citizens, especially students, to observe the day in schools and other suitable places with appropriate ceremony and activity to commemorate and honor Samanta Smith.
In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State of Maine to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this twenty-ninth day of May in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Eighty-Seven.
JOHN R. McKERNAN, JR.
Governor
Signature of Rodney S. Quinn
Secretary of State
True Attested Copy
Source 7 - Document
Source 7 - Document
Samantha Day Proclamation
May 29, 1987
Maine State Museum Collection, 2010.37
On August 25, 1985, Samantha and her father were flying home when they were killed in an airplane crash in Auburn, Maine. She was 13. Samantha, who had become a celebrity after her trip to the Soviet Union, was returning from filming a television program.
Tributes for Samatha came from world leaders around the globe. Many people in Maine looked for ways to remember Samantha and her quest for peace.
One such effort by Maine Governor John R. McKernan was to issue a special proclamation designating the first Monday in June each year as Samantha Smith Day. Even today, people still remember Samantha and honor her message of peace.
Source 8 - Image
Source 8 - Image
Samantha Smith Stamp
1985
Maine State Museum Collection, 2010.37.37
The Soviet Union issued a stamp in honor of Samantha Smith in December 1985. Samantha and her father were killed in a plane crash in Auburn, Maine, on August 25, 1985.
Samantha’s letter to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov expressing her worries about nuclear war made her an internationally known goodwill ambassador.
Her tragic death was mourned worldwide, especially by the Russian people, who had warmly welcomed her to their country during a two-week visit in July 1983. They sent her home with many gifts that are now saved in the Maine State Museum.
Maine Industry Primary Source Sets developed in collaboration between the Maine State Archives, Maine State Library, and Maine State Museum.
