Mary S. Linn is Curator of Language and Cultural Vitality at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH). Mary specializes in work with Indigenous communities in North America to sustain and revitalize languages and cultural heritage.

Mary joined the Smithsonian in 2014. She works in revitalization strategies with Indigenous and minoritized community members, including language and cultural documentation, culturally-based language curriculum, language in the home, survey methods, impact evaluation, and language policy.

In Mary’s words, “working at Smithsonian on these exciting new language and cultural initiatives will help me affect positive changes that create a more diverse and sustainable world for everyone.” Since coming to the Smithsonian, she co-founded the Sino-Tibetan Language and Linguistics Research Workshop at Nankai University, led the research program Sustaining Minoritised Languages of Europe (SMiLE), and co-curated the 2016 Basque Folklife Festival program. She helps curate the annual Smithsonian Mother Tongue Film Festival. Mary directs the Language Vitality Initiative, part of the Cultural Sustainability Initiative at CFCH.

Prior to joining the Smithsonian, Mary was the founding curator of Native American Languages at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, and associate professor of linguistic anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. At the Sam Noble, she co-founded and directed the Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair (2003-2014) and the Oklahoma Breath of Life Workshop (2010-2014). She was an active member of the Oklahoma Native Language Association from 1996-2006. Mary received her PhD in linguistics from the University of Kansas in 2001.

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Article

• Yeshes, Ashtog Vodgsal and Linn, Mary S. 2020. "Field Report: The Sino-Tibetan Language Research Methodology Workshop." ICH Courier, Mar 1, 2020, 42, 9–11. Daejeon, Republic of Korea. 2020
• Linn, Mary S. 2015. "The Human Right to Speak Whatever Language You Want Is Worth Celebrating." Feb 15, 2015, 2015
• Linn, Mary S. 2015. "The Human Right to Speak Whatever Language You Want Is Worth Celebrating." Smithsonian.com, Feb 8, 2015, 2015
• Linn, Mary S. 2014. "Living Archives: A Community-Based Language Archive Model." Language Documentation and Description, 12 53–67. (Special Issue on Language Documentation and Archiving) 2014

Book

• Jackson, Jason Baird and Linn, Mary S. 2013. Yuchi Folklore: Customary and Expressive Life in a Southeastern Native American Community. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. 2013

Chapter

• Linn, Mary S. 2021. "Conclusion: The Power of Words, Relationships, and Archives." In Indigenous Languages and the Promise of Archives. 489–500. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. 2021
• Tracy, Hirata-Edds, Linn, Mary S., Berardo, Marcellino, Peter, Lizette, and Sly, Gloria. 2019. "How are Endangered and Sleeping Languages Being Revitalized?" In The Five-Minute Linguist Bite-sized Essays on Language and Languages. 3rd ed. 321–326. Sheffield, United Kingdom: Equinox. 2019
• Linn, Mary S. 2018. "Reflections on Public Awareness." In Reflections on Language Documentation 20 Years after Himmelmann 1998. McDonnell, Bradley, Berez-Kroeker, Andrea L., and Holton, Gary, editors. 66–74. Honolulu, Hawai'i: University of Hawai'i Press. In Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication, 15. 2018
• Linn, Mary S. and Oberly, Stacey I. 2016. "Local and Global Dimensions of Language Revitalization in the USA and Canada." In Indigenous Language Revitalization in the Americas. Coronel-Molina, Serafín M. and McCarty, Teresa L., editors. 139–157. New York: Routledge. 2016
• Linn, Mary S. 2016. "Stories, Yuchi." In A Listening Wind: Native Literature from the Southeast. Haag, Marcia, editor. 139–164. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. In Native Literatures of the Americas and Indigenous World Literature. 2016