Agency history, 1920-

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Subject

  • Chin, Cecilia H
  • Gurney, Susan
  • Ratzenberger, Katherine
  • Walker, William Bond 1930-
  • Evenhaugen, Anne
  • Litts, Douglas
  • Barrett, Lucile Torrey
  • Link, Anna Moore
  • Carlson, Ruth E
  • Roosevelt, Theodore 1858-1919
  • Smithsonian American Art Museum
  • National Museum of American Art (U.S.)
  • National Collection of Fine Arts (U.S.)
  • National Gallery of Art (U.S. : 1906-1937)
  • Patent Office Building (Washington, D.C.)
  • United States National Museum
  • National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)
  • Renwick Gallery
  • National Gallery of Art Library
  • National Collection of Fine Arts Library
  • National Collection of Fine Arts/National Portrait Gallery Library
  • National Museum of American Art/National Portrait Gallery Library
  • Smithsonian Institution Libraries Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library
  • Smithsonian Libraries Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library
  • Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library
  • Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library

Category

Agency History

Notes

  • This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
  • Guide to the Smithsonian Archives, 1996
  • LinkedIn, Anne Evenhaugen, https://www.linkedin.com/in/ace012/, accessed June 7, 2023
  • LinkedIn, Douglas Litts, https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-litts-081606167/, accessed June 7, 2023
  • Smithsonian Libraries, American Art and Portrait Gallery Library, https://library.si.edu/libraries/american-art-and-portrait-gallery, accessed June 7, 2023
  • Report of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Instituion and Financial Report of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents for the Year Ended June 30, 1943, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/99088#page/3/mode/1up, accessed June 8, 2023
  • Unbound blog, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, "Celebrating a Centennial: 100 Years at the American Art and Portrait Gallery Library," https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2020/07/01/100-years-aapg/, accessed June 8, 2023
  • Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 1952, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/35619#page/5/mode/1up, accessed June 9, 2023
  • Smithsonian Institution: Report of the Secretary and Financial Report of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents for the Year Ended June 30, 1959, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/99734#page/2/mode/1up, accessed June 9, 2023
  • Smithsonian Institution: Report of the Secretary and Financial Report of the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents for the Year Ended June 30, 1963, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/99086#page/3/mode/1up, accessed June 9, 2023
  • Email, "Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Executive Leadership Team Updates," September 23, 2022.
  • The Smithsonian American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library Research Center (AA/PG) grew out of the initial art collections of the Smithsonian Institution. The history of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) collection dates to the beginning of the Smithsonian when, in 1846, the act establishing the Smithsonian authorized the Board of Regents to collect objects of art. Called the Gallery of Art, portions of the collection were transferred from the Old Patent Office Building and the National Institute in 1858 and 1862, respectively.
  • In 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt recommended to Congress that the art collection contemplated in the act creating the Smithsonian be established as a national gallery of art and that the Institution be authorized to accept additions to the collection. Congress failed to take action on the recommendation. In 1906, the Gallery of Art achieved official status when the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, interpreting the Smithsonian's organic act, defined the Gallery of Art to be in fact the National Gallery of Art.
  • The National Gallery of Art (NGA) was administered by the United States National Museum (USNM) from 1907 until 1920, when Congress granted the Gallery enough funds to become a separate Smithsonian bureau. In 1937, the National Gallery of Art had its name changed to the National Collection of Fine Arts (NCFA), when the old name was assigned to the collection donated by Andrew W. Mellon to the United States.
  • The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) was established in 1962 by an act of Congress. The NPG began with a group of paintings of important world figures exhibited in the Smithsonian immediately after World War I. Additional portraits were transferred from other museums at the Smithsonian. When plans were underway for the new National Portrait Gallery in 1964, the NCFA library collections were combined with those for the new Gallery. This was particularly appropriate since the NPG and NCFA were to share the Old Patent Office Building. The Library collection was then developed to reflect the missions of the two museums with strong holdings in American art, as well as American history and biography. In 1980, the NCFA was renamed the National Museum of American Art; then in 2000 it became the Smithsonian American Art Museum. When the Renwick Gallery became a part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1972, the Library began to collect in the area of American crafts, as well, in order to support the work of the Renwick Gallery staff.
  • Originally a separate library, the AA/PG Library became a part of the central Smithsonian Institution Libraries in 2000. In 2011 Smithsonian Institution Libraries changed its name to Smithsonian Libraries. In 2020, after the merger of the Smithsonian Libraries and the Smithsonian Institution Archives, it became part of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. In 2022, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives renamed their libraries as library research centers.
  • Lucile Torrey Barrett was the Librarian from 1937-1942, followed by Anna Moore Link, 1943-1952; and Ruth E. Carlson, circa 1959-1963. William Bond Walker was appointed Librarian in 1965 and held that position until 1979. Katherine Ratzenberger was named Acting Librarian in 1980, followed by Acting Librarian Susan R. Gurney in 1981. Cecilia H. Chin served as Librarian, 1982-2008. Douglas Litts was Head Librarian, 2008-2015, and was followed by Anne Evenhaugen, Head Librarian, 2015- .
  • For a history of the larger creating unit, refer to "Forms part of above."

Repository Loc.

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520

Date

  • 1920
  • 1920-

Topic

  • Museum libraries
  • Art museums
  • Art libraries

Form/Genre

Mixed archival materials

Local number

SIA AH00161

Full Record

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