Chronologies and history go hand in hand.  With more than 3 million objects in its collectons, the National Museum of American History is focused on the scientific, cultural, social, technological, and political development of the United States.  The museum opened in 1964 and holds among its collections the Star Spangled Banner, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat, Dizzy Gillespie’s angled trumpet, Dorothy’s ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz," First Ladies gowns, a Samuel Morse telegraph, locomotives, an Alexander Graham Bell telephone, American-made quilts, Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves, Duke Ellington’s sheet music and presidential artifacts.  On the occasion of John Gray beginning his tenure this month as Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, we take a look back at those who proceeded him.

Frank A. Taylor, 1958–1964

John Canfield Ewers, 1964–1965

Robert P. Multhauf, 1966–1968

Daniel J. Boorstin, 1969-1973

Brooke Hindle, 1974-1978

Otto Mayr, 1978-1979 (Acting)

Claudia Brush Kidwell, 1979 (Acting)

Roger G. Kennedy, 1979–1992

Spencer Crew, 1992–1994 (Acting), 1994–2001

Marc J. Pachter, 2001–2002 (Acting)

Brent Glass, 2002–2011

Marc J. Pachter, 2011–2012 (Acting)

Related Resources

• Chronology of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution Archives

Related Collections

• Record Unit 334 - National Museum of American History, Office of the Director, Subject Files, circa 1945-1987, and related records, 1920-1930, Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Historic Images of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution Archives