Curatorial - American Art did not exist as a full-time, permanent position until 1985; although, the position was first filled in a temporary capacity in 1974. In that year, Susan Hobbs was hired as Joint Curator of American Art at the Freer Gallery of Art and the National Collection of Fine Arts. Then, in 1981, David Park Curry served a term of one and a half years to conduct research for the James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art exhibition (1984) in commemoration of the anniversary of the artist's 150th birthday. The position was terminated in 1983, but it was revived in 1985 as a permanent appointment. It reported to the Assistant Director for Research and Collections from about 1989 to 1994. It currently reports to the Chief Curator, also called the Curatorial Chair.

Hobbs was Joint Curator of American Art from 1974 to 1978. Curry's curatorship extended from 1981 to 1983. Linda Merrill was the next Curator, serving from 1985 to 1998. Merrill was the first full-time, permanent Curator of American Art at the Freer Gallery of Art. After a brief vacancy Kenneth Myers became Curator in 1999 and remains so to the present.

Curatorial - American Art conducts research for publication and for use in exhibitions about the American art collection, artwork from the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. This work entails studying the collection at hand and its relation to the Asian art collections of the Freer and Sackler galleries.