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.
John Canfield Ewers, 1964–1965
Claudia Brush Kidwell, 1979 (Acting)
Spencer Crew, 1992–1994 (Acting), 1994–2001
Marc J. Pachter, 2001–2002 (Acting)
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
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