Focuses on his role in administration, c. 1960-1966, including: Head Curator of the Department of Anthropology, 1961-1962; Director of NMNH, 1962-1965; Acting Assistant Secretary for Science, 1964-1965; planning for construction of the wings to the NHB...
Collection Creator::
Stewart, T. D. (Thomas Dale), 1901-1997, interviewee Search this
Container:
Interviews
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Rights:
Restricted. Recording of interview 13 may not be reproduced without permission. Contact SIHistory@si.edu for permission.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9521, T. D. Stewart Oral History Interviews
The papers of C. Malcolm Watkins provide comprehensive documentation of his professional career from 1934 to 1980. The collection documents his interest in early American
culture; his research on ceramics, historic archeology, and early California history; his curatorial and administrative activities in the Department of Anthropology, USNM,
and the Departments of Civil and Cultural History, NMHT; exhibits planning; and his role in professional societies
Series 1 consists of correspondence written and received by Watkins between 1941 and 1978. This large correspondence file documents his career at the Smithsonian, particularly
his interest in American material culture, especially ceramics, glass, and artificial lighting; historic archeology; teaching; and his role in professional societies. Correspondence
also documents exhibitions; restoration and identification of historic material; acquisitions; and museum administration. Correspondence files include magazine and newspaper
articles, booklets, photographs, graphic illustrations, and brochures.
Series 2 contains subject files, 1949-1979, documenting his research, exhibits planning, and professional society activities including his role in founding the Society
for Historical Archeology. These research files and those found in Series 5, 6, 7, and 8 document Watkins' work on early American culture, including the Marlborough and Jamestown,
Virginia, excavations; California early history and California Kitchen projects; North Devon pottery; Yorktown pottery; decorative arts; and American imports. Research files
include notes, correspondence, graphic illustrations, articles, photographs, site drawings, seminar and conference literature, and exhibit scripts.
Series 2 also contains information compiled by Watkins on historic sites, institutions dedicated to historic preservation and historic archeology, museums, and museum practices.
Museology files in Series 3 contain correspondence, brochures and pamphlets, newsclippings, and articles, reports, procedures manuals, proposals, and lecture notes.
Throughout his years at the USNM and NMHT, Watkins amassed a variety of material on the Smithsonian. The files in Series 4 document administrative policies; acquisitions;
ideas for departmental reorganization and future planning; Smithsonian Council meetings; the Smithson Bicentennial; exhibits including "Everyday Life in the American Past,"
"Artificial Lighting in America," and "A Nation of Nations"; symposia and seminars; Watkins' sabbatical; and general information on travel, teaching, and the Smithsonian Research
Foundation. Smithsonian files include memoranda, copies of reports, correspondence, notes, scripts, proposals, newsclippings, name and address lists, and articles. Series
9 documents his work on the "A Nation of Nations" exhibit.
The collection also includes a Series (10) on historical archeology mainly comprising the files of Marilyn Sara Cohen, a museum specialist working on the Historical Archeology
Project in the Division of Cultural History. It contains conference information, an interview with Watkins, correspondence, research notes, memoranda, and reports.
Historical Note:
C. Malcolm Watkins (1911- ) was born in Malden, Massachusetts, and developed an interest in early American material culture at a young age through the work of his parents
and grandfather. His mother, Lura Woodside Watkins, collected glass and pottery and published Cambridge Glass, 1818-1888 on the history of the New England Glass Company.
She later donated her extensive collection of kiln site pottery to the Smithsonian. Watkins' father, Charles H. Watkins, was interested in pottery as well. He participated
in the excavation of a site at Newburyport, Massachusetts, and collected potsherds. In addition, the inheritance of his grandfather's collection of lighting devices served
as an impetus for Watkins' research in artificial lighting techniques.
Watkins received his B.S. from Harvard College in 1934 and began his museum career as curator for the Wells Historical Museum (Southbridge, Massachusetts), the predecessor
of Old Sturbridge village (Sturbridge, Massachusetts). Watkins was its first curator, working there from 1936 to 1948, except for a leave of absence from 1942-1946 to serve
in the United States Air Force during World War II. In 1949, he began his career at the Smithsonian as an associate curator in the Division of Ethnology, Department of Anthropology,
United States National Museum (USNM). Watkins was responsible for the collections of American technology and decorative arts. When a separate Museum of History and Technology
was created in 1958, Watkins assumed responsibility for the new Division of Cultural History in the Department of Civil History, as curator (1958, 1960-1966) and supervisor
and curator (1967-1968). In this position, Watkins developed the national collections of American material culture, especially ceramics and glass. He also built the staff
of the Division and in 1969 achieved departmental status for Cultural History. He was appointed its first chairman, in addition to his duties as curator of Pre-Industrial
History and Ethnic and Western History. In 1973, he became senior curator of the Department of Cultural History, the position he held until his retirement in 1980. He continued
research as curator emeritus until 1984.
Watkins' wife, Joan Pearson Watkins, collaborated with him. From 1964 to 1977, she held the position of honorary curator, and from 1978 to 1979 she was an honorary research
associate. In 1980, she became a collaborator in the Division of Ceramics and Glass, a position she held until 1983.
During his career at the Smithsonian, Watkins worked on numerous exhibits. In 1955, he prepared an exhibition on "Folk Pottery of Early New England," which contained the
redware and stoneware from his mother's collection. The first large exhibition hall devoted to the history of everyday life in colonial and federal America was developed by
Watkins and opened in 1957 as part of the Exhibits Modernization Program. In 1964, a revised version of the hall opened in the new History and Technology Building as the "Hall
of Everyday Life in the American Past." Watkins was also involved in the construction of the "Growth of the United States" exhibit in the new museum, which represented the
material culture of the developing nation. The California Kitchen, found by Watkins and Pearson Watkins, was added to the exhibits in the History and Technology Building in
1965. In celebration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, Watkins contributed to the colonial section of the exhibition, "A Nation of Nations," which opened in
1976.
In addition to working on exhibits, Watkins spent much of his time acquiring and developing collections. His most important acquisition was the Arthur and Edna Greenwood
Collection of some 2,000 objects of Americana documenting everyday life in colonial America. Other major acquisitions during his tenure included the Remensnyder Collection
of American Stoneware and the Morgenstern Collection of early American material culture.
In addition to his curatorial duties, Watkins devoted much of his time to lecturing and writing scholarly and popular articles. His major publications include The Cultural
History of Marlborough, Virginia, North Devon Pottery and its Export to America in the 17th Century, and The "Poor Potter" of Yorktown, which he wrote with
Ivor Noel Hume.
Watkins was a pioneer in the field of historic archeology. He began his excavations of a colonial plantation at Marlborough, Virginia, with Frank M. Setzler in 1953 and
continued through 1969. Watkins also began excavations at the Jamestown, Virginia, site in 1955. In addition, he wrote and lectured extensively on historic archeology, served
as a consultant to numerous historic archeology projects, and was an active member of the Society for Historic Archeology, which he helped found.
In 1960, Watkins began his research on North Devon pottery imported to the United States in the 17th century, which led to a monograph on that topic. In 1965, he and Pearson
Watkins collaborated on an oral history project in Moore County, North Carolina, researching folk pottery traditions. In addition to Watkins' interest in ceramics, he also
spent considerable time researching early California history. Publications on this topic include James Johnston's White House in Half Moon Bay: An Example of Early Anglo-American
Reminiscent Architecture in California and New England in El Dorado: The Letters and Narrative Accounts of Robert and Caroline Batchelder Thompson, California Pioneers.
Watkins was active in numerous associations and societies including the Early American Industries Association, the Society of Architectural Historians, the National Trust
for Historic Preservation, the Western History Association, the California Historical Society, and the American Association of Museums. During the 1960s, Watkins also taught
for the American Studies Program at George Washington University.
For additional information on Watkins, see Record Unit 331, Department of Cultural History, 1954-1979, and undated, Records, and the C. Malcolm Watkins Interviews in the
Smithsonian Archives.
Chronology:
1911 -- Born in Malden, Massachusetts
1934 -- Bachelor of Science, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1934-1935 -- Self employed as a free-lance writer on antiques
Folder 10 Smithson Bicentennial, 1965. Includes brochures on the Smithsonian and booklet on the Bicentennial Celebration Commemorating the Birth of James Smithson.
Folder 5 Smithsonian, Miscellany, 1955-1956, 1964-1966, 1969, and 1973. Includes articles on Dr. Charles Greeley Abbot; newspaper clippings; correspondence; memoranda; paper on the new Museum of History and Technology; copy of "The Noble Adventure," Re...
One sheet bearing Hillary's signature, along with a line drawing of two figures climbing a mountain, both in black ink.
Arrangement:
Organized in one file folder.
Biographical / Historical:
Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (1919-2008) was New Zealand mountaineer and explorer. As part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay were the first men to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, the highest point on Earth, on May 29, 1953. For this feat, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, while Tenzing received the George Medal, one of Britain's highest civilian awards. Hillary would go on to participate in other expeditions in the Himalayas, as well as an expedition to the South Pole. In 1985, he was appointed New Zealand High Commissioner to India. Hillary also devoted much of his time and energy to various philanthropic causes, particularly those dedicated to preserving the ecology of the Himalayas and improving the living conditions of the Sherpa people. In 1998, Hillary was the recipient of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in honor of his "monumental explorations and humanitarian achievements." This autograph drawing was made by Hillary during a press conference at the Freer Gallery on November 16.
Local Numbers:
FSA A1998.09
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
1.5 cu. ft. (1 record storage box) (1 document box)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Date:
1941-1975
Descriptive Entry:
These rather fragmentary records primarily document the work of the Editorial and Publications Division, precursor of the modern Smithsonian Press. A small amount of
material dates from the tenure of Webster P. True as Chief of the Division and consists of correspondence concerning manuscripts considered for publication.
A second section of this record unit contains a portion of the correspondence and memoranda of Paul Oehser as Chief. The records include a small alphabetic correspondence
file as well as folders relating to various proposed publications. In addition, there is a small amount of material concerning volumes 1 and 2 of The Papers of Joseph Henry,
a proposed manuscript on the planning of the Smithson Bicentennial, and several folders concerning World Power from Solar Radiation, one of the final manuscripts of the fifth
Secretary of the Institution, Charles G. Abbot.
Researchers should also consult Record Unit 83 for records of the Editorial and Publications Division.
Historical Note:
Webster Prentiss True, who had previously served the Smithsonian Institution as Editor, 1919-1939, was given the title of Chief of the Editorial Division in 1940. A
separate Publications Division was responsible for the actual reproduction of manuscripts. On True's retirement, Paul H. Oehser, who had been Editor for the United States
National Museum since 1931, was appointed Chief and served from 1951 to 1953. In 1954 the two divisions were combined as the Editorial and Publications Division, with Oehser
as Chief. He held this post through 1965. In 1966 the Division was renamed the Smithsonian Institution Press, with Anders Richter as Director. Richter held the position through
1970, when Gordon Hubel became Director, serving 1970- .
Smithsonian Institution. Office of the Secretary Search this
Extent:
7.72 cu. ft. (7 record storage boxes) (1 16x20 box) (1 oversize folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Color photographs
Black-and-white photographs
Black-and-white negatives
Clippings
Manuscripts
Date:
1964-1966
Descriptive Entry:
In 1965 the Smithsonian observed the 200th anniversary of the birth of its founding benefactor, James Smithson. These records document planning for that event.
