'Days of our Lives' Artifacts Donated to Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (Photos/Audio)

Diedre Hall, Greg Meng, Susan Seaforth-Hayes and ceremony host Tippi
Hedren with items from Days of our Lives. Photo Credit: Lisa England

On Wednesday, November 4, 2015, The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History added artifacts that reflect the contributions of daytime television programming to the national entertainment collection in a ceremony that continues an ongoing partnership with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).

The donation from NBC soap opera Days of our Lives, which is marking 50 years on the air, included show scripts, original art and other memorabilia, including sets of Horton family Christmas ornaments and a pledge of the iconic hourglass that opens each episode. Actresses Deidre Hall (Dr. Marlena Evans) and Susan Seaforth Hayes (Julie Williams) and Executive Producer Greg Meng, who wrote a book about the show's 50th anniversary, presented the objects.

The ceremony continued a collecting initiative established in 2013 between the National Museum of American History and NATAS to help the museum tell the story of daytime television.

“Since its advent in the 1940s, television has become integral to American culture,” said John Gray, director of the museum. “By adding the contributions of daytime television to our collections, we are recognizing television's influence on everyday life and capacity to explore national values such as democracy, opportunity and innovation.”

Melody Thomas Scott Pledges THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Wedding Gown To The Smithsonian

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will receive the wedding gown worn by actress Melody Thomas Scott as Nikki during one of her 12 weddings on the daytime drama, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. This gown was worn on air in 2002 during her second wedding to Victor Newman, played by actor Eric Braeden. Scott has been a major player in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS daytime drama, acting on the show for more than 34 years. The dress was pledged to the museum during the Sunday, June 16, broadcast of the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

The museum has partnered with the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to collect objects reflecting the contributions of daytime television. A donation ceremony in May marked the partnership’s beginning with donations from ALL MY CHILDREN actress Susan Lucci, Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, and Kathy and Phil Parker of Barney. The donations represent three of the Daytime Entertainment Emmy categories—daytime dramas, game shows and children’s programming.

Nikki Newman's 2002 Wedding Gown Will Be Donated To The Smithsonian; Melody Thomas Scott & Alex Trebek Will Appear At The Daytime Emmys

Melody Thomas Scott and Alex Trebek will make a special appear on the June 16th Broadcast to announce the NATAS partnership with The Smithsonian and present Nikki's wedding gown from THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS to The National Museum of American History. WE LOVE SOAPS TV was in Washington last month and spoke with Trebek about the museum's daytime collection and more.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will receive the wedding gown worn by actress Melody Thomas Scott as Nikki Reed during one of her 12 weddings on the daytime drama, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. This gown was worn on air in 2002 during her second wedding to Victor Newman, played by actor Eric Braeden. Ms. Thomas Scott has been a major player in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS daytime drama, acting on the show for more than 34 years. The dress was pledged to the museum during the Sunday, June 16 broadcast of the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

Daytime Television at the Smithsonian on WE LOVE SOAPS TV -- Susan Lucci, Alex Trebek, Phil & Kathy Baker, John Gray and Malachy G. Wienges

Photo Credit: Neshan Naltchayan, courtesy and copyright NATAS

On May 9, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington D.C. added artifacts that reflect the contributions of daytime television programming to the national entertainment collection in a special ceremony to mark a new partnership with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Three-time Indie Soap Award winner Anthony Anderson from ANACASTIA covered the event WE LOVE SOAPS TV.

The donations--from ALL MY CHILDREN actress Susan Lucci, JEOPARDY! host Alex Trebek and BARNEY creators Kathy and Phil Parker—represented three of the primary Daytime Entertainment Emmy categories—daytime dramas, game shows and children’s programming.

WE LOVE SOAPS TV spoke to all the contributors as well as museum director, John Gray, as well as NATAS chairman Malachy G. Wienges. Wienges told us The OnLine Network's ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE would be eligible for the 2014 Daytime Emmy Awards.

"Those two shows will fall into the normal soap opera categories," Wienges said. "It makes no difference what the genre is."

Check out the latest episode of our web series WE LOVE SOAPS TV below to hear on the scene reaction. Plus, Susan Lucci reveals more about her character on the upcoming primetime soap opera DEVIOUS MAIDS and a possible return to ALL MY CHILDREN.

"I hope so," Lucci told us about the chances of her bringing Erica Kane to the new ALL MY CHILDREN. "I'm trying, and they are trying.  There's a lot to work out simply because when they went into production I was in Atlanta working on the Marc Cherry series, DEVIOUS MAIDS.  And now we're about to start Season 2 on my Investigation Discovery series, DEADLY AFFAIRS next week in New York.  So that's a lot of complicated scheduling.  Plus, ALL MY CHILDREN's schedule is also complicated and challenging because they work five weeks on and five weeks off.  So trying to marry those two things, that's what the challenge is and that's what we're going to try to make happen."

Speaking of DEVIOUS MAIDS, Lucci told us she loves how her character's name, Genevieve Delatour, is pronounced and gave us some insights about her role in the Lifetime series.

Daytime Television Gets Primetime Spot at Smithsonian: Susan Lucci, Alex Trebek & Barney Objects Added to Collections

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History today adds artifacts that reflect the contributions of daytime television programming to the national entertainment collection in a special ceremony to mark a new partnership with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. And WE LOVE SOAPS TV is on the scene in D.C. The donations--from ALL MY CHILDREN actress Susan Lucci, JEOPARDY! host Alex Trebek and BARNEY creators Kathy and Phil Parker—represent three of the primary Daytime Entertainment Emmy categories—daytime dramas, game shows and children’s programming.

The objects range from show scripts and original art to set props and other memorabilia, including a pink gown and shoes worn by Lucci when she appeared on a national magazine cover after winning her 1999 Daytime Emmy, a 1984 JEOPARDY! script with handwritten notes by Trebek and a script from the first video to be released in the BARNEY & THE BACKYARD GANG series along with a plush toy of the purple dinosaur. Today’s ceremony officially launches a three-year collecting initiative by the museum in partnership with NATAS to help the museum expand its capacity to tell the story of daytime television and the Daytime Emmys.