Hat for the Ages

COLUMBUS, OHIO

Next time you visit the nation’s attic — officially known as the Smithsonian Institution — don’t be surprised if you come across a display case featuring a funny-looking hat sporting a lighthouse, a carnation, a lady bug, a cardinal, the Ohio state flag and some seeds from the state tree, the buckeye.

Kim Caridas Fellinger, associate legislative director for the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association/ AFSCME Local 11, crafted and wore this colorful headwear as a delegate to the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

An experienced convention-goer (it was her fourth), Fellinger chose various state symbols for the hat so she would be noticed by the news media. But Smithsonian curators surprised her by asking if she’d donate her handiwork to their political memorabilia collection when the convention was over.

What will she say the next time she visits the Smithsonian’s American History Museum and sees her hat behind glass? Here’s what: “Wow — that’s mine! I made it! It’s pretty cool.”