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Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 251

National Museum of History and Technology. Department of Cultural History

Records, 1957, 1964-1975

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:National Museum of History and Technology. Department of Cultural History
Title:Records
Dates:1957, 1964-1975
Quantity:4 cu. ft. (8 document boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 251
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These records of the Department of Cultural History and its predecessor, the Department of Civil History, consist of administrative files including memoranda and correspondence concerning exhibits, general museum and departmental policies, the acquisition of objects, and the search for a curator; general correspondence with donors, researchers, and non-Smithsonian museum administrators concerning the acquisition of objects, exhibits, museum programs, and C. Malcolm Watkins' research on southwestern United States and New England cultural life; reading files; and plans of operations, annual reports, and budget proposals.

Historical Note

Curatorial responsibility for many of the objects relating to American cultural history was originally divided between various divisions and departments in the United States National Museum. When the Museum of History and Technology (MHT) was set up in 1957, these responsibilities were transferred to the newly established Department of Civil History. From 1964 to 1968 the Department included the Divisions of Political History, Cultural History, Philately and Postal History, and Numismatics; in 1967, the Divisions of Musical Instruments and Growth of the United States were added to the Department. Growth of the United States was a unit in the Department, circa 1958 to 1965, and from 1965 to 1967 it was administered by the assistant director of MHT. In 1969, when MHT was renamed the National Museum of History and Technology, administrative reorganizations within the Museum included the name change of this department to the Department of Cultural History. This Department included the Divisions of Costume and Furnishings, Ethnic and Western Cultural History, Musical Instruments, and Preindustrial Cultural History.

Richard H. Howland was appointed chairman of the Department of Civil History in 1965; previously, he had been the Department's head curator. Howland's successors as chairman have included C. Malcolm Watkins, acting chairman, 1968, and chairman, 1969-1972; Rodris C. Roth, acting chairman, 1973-1974; and Richard E. Ahlborn, chairman, 1975- .

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Descriptive Entry

These records of the Department of Cultural History and its predecessor, the Department of Civil History, consist of administrative files including memoranda and correspondence concerning exhibits, general museum and departmental policies, the acquisition of objects, and the search for a curator; general correspondence with donors, researchers, and non-Smithsonian museum administrators concerning the acquisition of objects, exhibits, museum programs, and C. Malcolm Watkins' research on southwestern United States and New England cultural life; reading files; and plans of operations, annual reports, and budget proposals.

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This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.

Name

Subject

Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 251, National Museum of History and Technology. Department of Cultural History, Records

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Container List

Series 1

ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, 1957, 1964-1975.

Box 1

American Ceramics Study Center, 1969, 1972. Includes correspondence with Ivor Noel Hume and proposals for establishing the Center.

Box 1 of 8

American Folklife Foundation Act, 1971. Includes a copy of the Congressional Record (Senate) in which the bill for the Foundation is printed.

Box 1 of 8

A, 1969-1974. Includes correspondence with James de T. Abajian.

Box 1 of 8

Bishop Hill Exhibit, 1970-1971. Includes correspondence with John F. Norton.

Box 1 of 8

B, 1974. Includes correspondence with Francis W. Bilodeau.

Box 1 of 8

Carolina Pottery Shop, 1968-1974. Includes correspondence with Edna Chriscoe Tillman and a Smithsonian news release concerning the pottery shop.

Box 1 of 8

Collection of Business Americana (Warshaw), 1974.

Box 1 of 8

Collections, 1972-1974.

Box 1 of 8

Curatorial Candidates, 1973. Includes correspondence and curricula vitae of candidates.

Box 1 of 8

Curatorial Candidates: Memoranda to S. Bedini, 1973.

Box 1 of 8

Curatorial Candidates: procedures, 1973.

Box 1 of 8

Curatorial Prospects, 1974.

Box 1 of 8

Curatorial Search: Queries, 1973.

Box 1 of 8

Curatorial Search: Paul Rivard, 1974.

Box 1 of 8

Curatorial Search: Sandra S. Tinkham, 1973-1974.

Box 1 of 8

C, 1972-1974.

Box 1 of 8

Division of Costume and Furnishings, 1966, 1970-1973.

Box 1 of 8

Division of Ethnic and Western Cultural History, 1969-1974.

Box 1 of 8

Division of Musical Instruments, 1964-1974.

Box 1 of 8

Division of Pre-Industrial Cultural History, 1957, 1964-1974.

Box 1 of 8

Exhibit: "Corridors of American Experience," 1970-1971.

Box 1 of 8

Exhibit: One Room Schoolhouse, 1969-1971.

Box 1 of 8

Exhibit (Proposed): Velox Ward, 1969-1971. Includes correspondence with Margaret Vogel and Donald S. Vogel.

Box 1 of 8

Exhibits, 1969-1971, 1974. Includes script for Special Exhibit on The FBI Block to be installed in the 9th Street branch of the D.C. National Bank.

Box 1 of 8

Box 2

Exhibits: Contemporary Counterparts of Early American Craftsmen, 1970-1974. Includes correspondence with Ernest Cabat.

Box 2 of 8

Exhibits: Founders Day, 1970. Includes a script for the exhibit.

Box 2 of 8

Exhibits: Smithsonian Bookstore, 1972.

Box 2 of 8

Film Projects, 1969-1972.

Box 2 of 8

Folk Life Institute, 1968.

Box 2 of 8

Hampton Association for the Arts and Humanities, 1968-1974. Correspondents include Rufus B. Easter, Jr., Joseph L. Benthall, and Stephen Goodell.

Box 2 of 8

H-I, 1969-1974.

Box 2 of 8

K, 1974.

Box 2 of 8

Library Committee, 1970-1971, 1974.

Box 2 of 8

Museum Agenda and Activities, 1972.

Box 2 of 8

Museum Committees, 1972.

Box 2 of 8

M, 1969-1973.

Box 2 of 8

O, 1973.

Box 2 of 8

P-Q, 1968-1973. Includes correspondence with J. R. Penny.

Box 2 of 8

Renwick Gallery Committee, 1966-1971.

Box 2 of 8

Schumacher, Paul J. F., 1971-1974.

Box 2 of 8

Scribner's (Charles) Sons, 1973-1974.

Box 2 of 8

Section of Furnishings, 1969-1971.

Box 2 of 8

Smithsonian Bookstore (staff publications), 1972.

Box 2 of 8

Van Alstyne American Folk Art Collection, 1964-1965. Includes correspondence with Mabel Van Alstyne Marsh.

Box 2 of 8

Walter Parrish International Limited, 1973-1975.

Box 2 of 8

Williamsburg, 1969-1973. Correspondents include Graham Hood and Ivor Noel Hume.

Box 2 of 8

Winterthur Conference 1974, 1972-1974. Correspondents include Benno Forman and Charles Van Ravenswaay.

Box 2 of 8

Series 2

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1964, 1968-1974.

Box 3

A, 1970. Includes correspondence with Antiques magazine.

Box 3 of 8

B, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with Thomas C. Baker, Ellen Boggemes, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum.

Box 3 of 8

C, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with the Society of California Pioneers, Helen Camp, Corning Museum of Glass, and John L. Cotter.

Box 3 of 8

D, 1969-1970. Correspondents include Robert L. Damm, Kenneth Neff Dearolf, and Edward Durrell.

Box 3 of 8

E, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with Elliot Evans.

Box 3 of 8

F, 1969-1970. Correspondents include James Marston Fitch, Phoebe Ford, the Henry Ford Museum, Frederick Fried, and Leland Thomas Frye.

Box 3 of 8

G, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with Edna Greenwood.

Box 3 of 8

H, 1969-1970. Correspondents include Jeremy Haslam, W. Craig Hinde, James S. Holliday, Graham Hood, and J. Paul Hudson.

Box 3 of 8

I, 1969-1970.

Box 3 of 8

J-K, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with Joseph H. Kler.

Box 3 of 8

L, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with G. Carroll Lindsay and the Living Historical Farms Project.

Box 3 of 8

McNulty, Robert H. 1969-1970.

Box 3 of 8

M, 1969-1970. Correspondents include Mrs. M. Hampton Magruder, Mrs. William M. Marston, The Mendocino Art Center, Toni Miles Morgenstern, and Arnold R. Mountford.

Box 3 of 8

N-O, 1964, 1968-1970. Includes correspondence with the National Institute of American Doll Artists, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Richard Nixon Foundation.

Box 3 of 8

P-Q, 1969-1970.

Box 3 of 8

R, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with Janice Robison.

Box 3 of 8

S, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with San Mateo County Historical Association and County Historical Museum, Sixteen Seventy (1670) Tavern, Robert L. Stephenson, and Ambrose H. Storck.

Box 3 of 8

T-U, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with the Union Fork and Hoe Company.

Box 3 of 8

V-W, 1969-1970. Includes correspondence with Warner Brothers.

Box 3 of 8

General Correspondence, 1971. Includes a proposal for a Center of Study on Food History.

Box 3 of 8

A, 1971. Includes meeting roster of American Association of Museums and correspondence with Antiques (magazine).

Box 3 of 8

B, 1971. Includes correspondence with Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum.

Box 3 of 8

Box 4

C, 1971. Correspondents include Ernest Cabat, Rose Cabat, Helen Camp, and the Conner Prairie Pioneer Settlement and Museum.

Box 4 of 8

D, 1971. Includes correspondence with Edward Durrell.

Box 4 of 8

E, 1971. Includes correspondence with Elliot Evans.

Box 4 of 8

F, 1971. Includes correspondence with Frederick Fried.

Box 4 of 8

G, 1971.

Box 4 of 8

H, 1970-1971. Includes correspondence with Albert S. Harden, Jr., W. Craig Hinde, Merton E. Hinshaw, and J. Paul Hudson.

Box 4 of 8

I, 1971.

Box 4 of 8

J, 1971.

Box 4 of 8

K, 1971. Includes correspondence with Joseph H. Kler.

Box 4 of 8

L, 1971. Includes correspondence with Daniel W. Litscher.

Box 4 of 8

M, 1971. Correspondents include Gregory A. McClure, Robert H. McNulty, and Arnold R. Mountford.

Box 4 of 8

N, 1971. Includes correspondence with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and New York State Historical Association.

Box 4 of 8

O, 1971. Includes list of participants at Old Sturbridge Village Antiques Collectors Weekend.

Box 4 of 8

P, 1971. Includes correspondence with J. R. Penny and an examination and report of artifacts excavated at Port Tobacco, Maryland.

Box 4 of 8

R, 1971. Includes correspondence with Janice Robison, Ernest D. Rose, and the Royal Ontario Museum.

Box 4 of 8

Society for Historical Archaeology-1971 Meeting, 1969-1971. Includes correspondence with Bernard L. Fontana and J. Duncan Campbell.

Box 4 of 8

S, 1971. Includes correspondence with San Mateo County Historical Association and County Historical Museum, Elspeth C. Smith, Mrs. Charles E. Sorenson, Douglas Sorenson, Stanley South, and Mrs. Elwin F. Stock.

Box 4 of 8

T, 1971.

Box 4 of 8

V, 1971. Includes correspondence with the Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission.

Box 4 of 8

W, 1971. Includes correspondence with Iain C. Walker, Donald Blake Webster, Wells Fargo Bank History Room, Western History Association, and Winterthur Museum.

Box 4 of 8

General Correspondence, 1972. Includes inventories of the Department's collections.

Box 4 of 8

A, 1972. Includes correspondence with Samuel Agins and Antiques (magazine) and a memorandum on the Alaska (Iditarod) project.

Box 4 of 8

B, 1972. Includes correspondence with John Bakewell, Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum, and Lucius E. Burch, Jr.

Box 4 of 8

C, 1972. Correspondents include Paul G. Chace and Barbara Fahs Charles.

Box 4 of 8

D, 1972. Includes correspondence with Edward Durrell.

Box 4 of 8

E, 1972. Includes correspondence with Elliot Evans.

Box 4 of 8

F, 1972. Includes correspondence with Frederick Fried.

Box 4 of 8

G, 1972. Includes correspondence with Gadsby's Tavern, Wendell Garrett, Dorothy Huntington George, and Georgeanna H. Greer.

Box 4 of 8

H, 1972. Correspondents include Albert S. Harden, Jr., and Merton E. Hinshaw.

Box 4 of 8

I, 1972.

Box 4 of 8

J, 1972. Includes correspondence with J. Keith Johnson.

Box 4 of 8

K, 1972. Includes correspondence with Joseph H. Kler.

Box 4 of 8

L, 1972. Includes correspondence with Daniel W. Litscher.

Box 4 of 8

M, 1970-1972. Correspondents include Robert H. McNulty, Henry J. Magaziner, and Toni Miles Morgenstern.

Box 4 of 8

N, 1972. Includes correspondence with The National Trust.

Box 4 of 8

O, 1972. Includes correspondence with Oakland Museum, Old Salem, Old Sturbridge Village, and Cornelius Osgood.

Box 4 of 8

Box 5

P, 1971-1972. Includes correspondence with Walter Parrish International Limited, John N. Pearce, Charles E. Peterson, and Henry A. Pohs.

Box 5 of 8

Q, 1972.

Box 5 of 8

R, 1972.

Box 5 of 8

S, 1972. Includes correspondence with Sandwich Glass Museum, Donald L. Segerstrom, and Mrs. Elwin F. Stock.

Box 5 of 8

T, 1972. Includes correspondence with Arthur Townsend.

Box 5 of 8

U-Y, 1972. Correspondents include Dante Umbi and Alan Wilson.

Box 5 of 8

A, 1973. Includes correspondence with Antiques (magazine).

Box 5 of 8

B,1973. Includes correspondence with John Bakewell, Peter Belin, Ellen Boggemes, and M. Lelyn Branin and a discussion of C. Malcolm Watkins' "Observations and Opinions about the Baronda Adobe."

Box 5 of 8

C, 1973. Includes correspondence with Helen Camp, Peter Coe, and the Conner Prairie Pioneer Settlement.

Box 5 of 8

D, 1972-1973. Includes correspondence with Alfred M. Duca.

Box 5 of 8

E, 1973. Correspondents include Thomas J. Edwards and Elliot Evans.

Box 5 of 8

F, 1973.

Box 5 of 8

G, 1973. Includes correspondence with Georgeanna H. Greer.

Box 5 of 8

H, 1973. Correspondents include George R. Hammell, Albert S. Harden, Jr., Jeremy Haslam, and J. Paul Hudson.

Box 5 of 8

J, 1973. Includes correspondence with J. Keith Johnson and minutes of the Johnston House Foundation, Inc.

Box 5 of 8

K, 1973. Includes correspondence with William M. Kelso.

Box 5 of 8

L, 1973. Includes correspondence with Daniel W. Litscher.

Box 5 of 8

Robert H. McNulty, 1973.

Box 5 of 8

Mendocino Conference, 1973.

Box 5 of 8

M, 1973. Includes correspondence with Richard J. Muzzrole.

Box 5 of 8

N, 1973. Includes correspondence with New York State Historical Association.

Box 5 of 8

O, 1973. Includes correspondence with Old Salem, Old Sturbridge Village, and Cornelius Osgood.

Box 5 of 8

P, 1973. Includes correspondence with Charles E. Peterson.

Box 5 of 8

Q-R, 1973. Includes correspondence with William Rogers Quynn.

Box 5 of 8

S, 1973. Includes correspondence with H. C. S. Samuels, San Mateo County Historical Association and County Historical Museum, Harry H. Schnabel, Jr., W. Shropshire, Jr., Sixteen Seventy (1670) Tavern, and Ing Hans Spiegel.

Box 5 of 8

T, 1973.

Box 5 of 8

V, 1973. Includes correspondence with Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission and Edward Von der Porten.

Box 5 of 8

W, 1973. Correspondents include Peter C. Welsh, Edwin C. Whittemore, and Kenneth M. Wilson.

Box 5 of 8

General Departmental Correspondence, 1974.

Box 5 of 8

Box 6

A, 1974. Includes correspondence with Albany Institute of History and Art and Archives of American Art.

Box 6 of 8

B, 1974. Correspondents include Norman F. Barka and Ellen Boggemes.

Box 6 of 8

C, 1974. Includes correspondence with Arthur B. Cozzens.

Box 6 of 8

D, 1974. Includes correspondence with The Dial Press and Edward Durrell.

Box 6 of 8

E-F, 1974. Correspondents include Charles H. Fairbanks, Ralph E. Fall, and Leland Thomas Frye.

Box 6 of 8

G, 1974. Includes correspondence with the Gloucester Community Development Corporation.

Box 6 of 8

H-I, 1974. Includes correspondence with George R. Hammell, J. Paul Hudson, and the Independence National Historical Park.

Box 6 of 8

J-K, 1974. Includes correspondence with Joseph H. Kler.

Box 6 of 8

L-M, 1974. Includes correspondence with Mrs. J. Stewart McMeilley.

Box 6 of 8

N-O, 1974. Includes correspondence with National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Old Sturbridge Village.

Box 6 of 8

P-Q, 1974. Includes correspondence with John N. Pearce and William E. Pritchard and memoranda concerning H. Christian Provensen.

Box 6 of 8

R-S, 1974. Includes correspondence with Harold J. Rigg, San Mateo County Historical Association and County Historical Museum, Sixteen Seventy (1670) Tavern, Society of Architectural Historians, and Paul R. Stoney.

Box 6 of 8

T, 1974. Includes correspondence with Edna Chriscoe Tillman.

Box 6 of 8

V, W, Z, 1974. Correspondents include Edward Von der Porten and Priscilla Wegars.

Box 6 of 8

Series 3

READING FILE, 1971-1974.

Box 6

Reading File, January 1971-December 1973. (6 folders)

Box 6 of 8

Box 7

Reading File, January 1974-December 1974. (2 folders)

Box 7 of 8

Series 4

ANNUAL REPORTS, BUDGETS, AND PLANS OF OPERATIONS, 1968-1974.

Box 7

Plan of Operations, FY 1968.

Box 7 of 8

Plan of Operations (Dept. of Civil History), FY 1969.

Box 7 of 8

Working Budget (Dept. of Civil History), FY 1969.

Box 7 of 8

Annual Report, FY 1970.

Box 7 of 8

Departmental Working Budget, FY 1970.

Box 7 of 8

Budget Estimates, FY 1971.

Box 7 of 8

Departmental Working Budget, FY 1971.

Box 7 of 8

Plan of Operation, FY 1971.

Box 7 of 8

Plan of Operations and Departmental Working Budget, FY 1972.

Box 7 of 8

Annual Report, FY 1973.

Box 7 of 8

Plan of Operations, FY 1973.

Box 7 of 8

Box 8

Annual Report and Specimen Count, FY 1974.

Box 8 of 8

Budget: Unit Breakdowns and Departmental Budget, FY 1974.

Box 8 of 8

Increased Allotment, FY 1974.

Box 8 of 8

Memoranda: Fiscal and Bicentennial Requisitions, FY 1974.

Box 8 of 8

Plan of Operations, FY 1974.

Box 8 of 8

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