Samantha Smith, of Manchester, holds the letter she received from Soviet leader Yuri Andropov on April 26, 1983. Smith became known as a peace activist after writing to Andropov to ask him whether the Soviet Union intended to start a war. Andropov wrote her back, inviting her to visit the Soviet Union to meet Russian people and see that they were peace loving with no desire to start a war.
Smith sat in the back of Chaika limousine with her mother, Jane, on July 8, 1983, in Moscow.
Samantha Smith and her parents, Arthur and Jane Smith, tour Red Square in Moscow on July 9, 1983.
Samantha Smith, left, and her friend Natalia “Natasha” Kashirina Rosston chat on July 11, 1983, on a beach in the Pioneer Camp "Artek" on the southern coast of Crimea during Smith’s visit to Soviet Union.
Smith, invited to the Soviet Union by Yuri Andropov, visited Petrodvorets near Leningrad July 17, 1983, with her friend Natasha Kasharina.
Samantha Smith and her parents, Jane and Arthur Smith, during their tour of Russia.
Smith took a tour of Moscow on July 19, 1983. Here she and a guide stroll the grounds of the Novodevichy Convent.
Smith wears a Russian folk costume given to her by schoolchildren on July 20, 1983, during her visit to Moscow.
Samantha Smith at the Young Pioneers camp Artek during her 1983 visit to Soviet Union.
Smith accompanies a group of Young Pioneers on a boat ride on the Black Sea on July 20, 1983, from Yalta, U.S.S.R.
Smith met with Valentina Tereshkova and Soviet leader Yuri Andropov while in Moscow. Tereshkova was the first woman to go into space.
Smith's grandmother Theresa Smith and first cousin Tyler Jones hold up a "welcome home" banner on July 20, 1983. They were preparing for 11-year-old Samantha's return from her two-week tour of the Soviet Union with her parents.
Smith at a news conference in her luxury Moscow hotel before returning home to Maine on July 21,1983.
Smith, her father, Arthur, background, and mother, Jane, receive flowers and gifts as they arrive at the Augusta State Airport on July 22, 1983.
Smith is greeted by her grandmother Theresa Smith of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, as she arrives home on July 23, 1983.
Back at her home in Manchester on July 23,1983, Smith holds up one of the gifts she received from Soviet leader Yuri V. Andropov.
Smith holds up a ceremonial key to her hometown that town officials gave her during a welcome home celebration in Manchester on July 23, 1983.
Smith waves from her guest of honor car-top perch as her hometown celebrates her return from the Soviet Union on July 23, 1983. Her mother, Jane, and father, Arthur, are seated in front of her.
Smith at Manchester Elementary School in 1983.
Samantha Smith in the schoolyard of Manchester Elementary School at age 11 in 1983.
Smith, 12, walks with Soviet school children Natasha Repin, 13, left, Irene Ravlov, 14, right, and a character from the CBS TV kids show "The Get Along Gang" during her Dec. 20, 1984, visit to the compound where Russian diplomats live. Smith delivered petitions signed by thousands of American schoolchildren seeking world peace.
Actor Robert Wagner, left, escorts Jane Smith, right, to St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Augusta on Aug. 28, 1985, for a memorial service for her husband, Arthur, and her daughter, Samantha. Arthur and Samantha Smith died in a plane crash on their way home to Maine from London, where Samantha was filming an ABC-TV series, "Lime Street,” with Wagner.
Robert Wagner, back center, joins mourners in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Augusta on Aug. 28, 1985, for a memorial service for Arthur and Samantha Smith.
Robert Wagner reacts during the funeral service for 13-year-old Samantha Smith and her father, Arthur Smith, on Aug. 29, 1985, in Augusta.
Kathy Brammer of Saco places flowers at the statue of Samantha Smith during a 2002 anti-war protest in Augusta.
Jane Smith places flowers on a memorial to her daughter, Samantha, at Artek camp in 2005. The Smith family visited the camp during a tour of the Soviet Union in 1983.
A traditional dress, called a sarafan, and headdress worn by Samantha Smith on her trip to the Soviet Union are on display at the Maine State Museum in Augusta. The Museum will also have a display of photographs from Smith's 1983 visit to the Soviet Union.
The November 1983 edition of Soviet Life had Samantha Smith on the cover and is on display at the Maine State Museum in Augusta.
Laurie LaBar, chief curator of history, sets up a display case of Samantha Smith items at the Maine State Museum in Augusta. The exhibit is in remembrance of Smith's visit to the Soviet Union 30 years after her death in a plane crash.
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