Anthea M. Hartig

Last updated
Anthea M. Hartig
2022-1013-grace-young-julia-child-award 10.jpg
Hartig in 2022
Born1964 (age 5960)
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Historian
  • educator
  • cultural and historic preservation specialist
  • museum director

Anthea M. Hartig (born 1964) is an American historian and museum administrator who is the director of the Smithsonian Institution 's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian trustees appointed Hartig as director beginning in 2019, succeeding John Gray. She is the museum's first female director.

Contents

With a background in historic preservation and museums, Hartig was earlier the director of the California Historical Society.

Early life and career

Hartig was born in 1964 [1] into a family with a long history in California. Her great-grandfather was a sheep rancher near Chino, California, and her grandfather and father both lived in the Pomona Valley in Southern California. Her mother's family, however, is largely based in Rhode Island. Hartig was raised in Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County, California, [2] where she attended and graduated from the local public school system. [1]

Hartig received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and spent part of her undergraduate career studying at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. [2] She received her master's degree in public history from the University of California, Riverside in 1989 and her Ph.D. in American architectural history and material culture studies from UC-Riverside in 2001. [2]

Hartig worked as a municipal preservation planner for more than 10 years, [3] serving for a time as Senior Planner with the city of Riverside, California. [4] She also founded her own preservation consulting firm. [3]

Dr. Hartig was an assistant professor of history at La Sierra University from 2000 to 2005, teaching history and cultural studies. She also taught graduate courses in historic preservation at UC-Riverside. [3] From 2001 to 2005, she also served as chair of the California State Historic Resources Commission. [5]

Preservation career

In 2005, Hartig was appointed director of the Western Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This was not only the Trust's largest geographic region but also its most architecturally, culturally, and historically diverse. [2]

After six years with the National Trust, [3] Hartig was named executive director and chief executive officer of the California Historical Society (CHS). [6] CHS was struggling as an organization and museum. During Hartig's tenure, she raised $20 million in a capital fundraising campaign, launched the organization's first digital library, and significantly raised attendance at CHS museum exhibits from a few thousand to more than 100,000. She won funding from the state of California, which had not contributed to the organization before, and quadrupled the CHS annual operating budget to $5.2 million. [1]

National Museum of American History

On December 12, 2018, the Smithsonian Institution announced it had appointed Hartig as the director of the National Museum of American History, succeeding six-year incumbent John Gray. [6] She is the first woman to hold this position at the museum. [1] [6]

Other roles and honors

Hartig has served on the board of directors of a wide range of local, state, and national history and historic preservation organizations, including the California Council for the Promotion of History and the California Preservation Foundation. [3] As of 2018, she also served as a cultural resources specialist for the California State Park and Recreation Commission. [6]

Dr. Hartig has authored several books and a number of articles in academic and professional journals. [3]

Hartig received the 2011 California Preservationist of the Year Award from the California Preservation Foundation in recognition of her contribution to the cause of historic preservation in California. [3]

Personal life

Hartig is married to John A. Swiecki, principal planner for the city of Brisbane, California. [2] The couple has two college-age sons. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Trust for Historic Preservation</span> US nonprofit organization

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support the preservation of America’s diverse historic buildings, neighborhoods, and heritage through its programs, resources, and advocacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Museum of American History</span> Museum in Washington, D.C.

The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center is a historical museum in Washington, D.C. It collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is the original Star-Spangled Banner. The museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution and located on the National Mall at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pensacola Historic District</span> Historic district in Florida, United States

The Pensacola Historic District is a U.S. historic district located in Pensacola, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violet Oakley</span> American artist

Violet Oakley was an American artist. She was the first American woman to receive a public mural commission. During the first quarter of the 20th century, she was renowned as a pathbreaker in mural decoration, a field that had been exclusively practiced by men. Oakley excelled at murals and stained glass designs that addressed themes from history and literature in Renaissance-revival styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic districts in the United States</span>

Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing a group of buildings, archaeological resources, or other properties as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects, and sites within a historic district are normally divided into two categories, contributing and non-contributing. Districts vary greatly in size and composition: a historic district could comprise an entire neighborhood with hundreds of buildings, or a smaller area with just one or a few resources.

The American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) is a non-profit organization "dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of [the history of] American aviation." AAHS has had an educational program in promoting American aviation through its journal and a periodic newsletter, archives historical aviation documents and photos, maintains multiple websites on aviation history, and assists aviation historians and the public in the acquisition and exchange of aviation history information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Siva Saubel</span> Native American leader and scholar

Katherine Siva Saubel was a Native American scholar, educator, tribal leader, author, and activist committed to preserving her Cahuilla history, culture and language. Her efforts focused on preserving the language of the Cahuilla. Saubel is acknowledged nationally and internationally as one of California's most respected Native American leaders. She received an honorary PhD in philosophy from La Sierra University, Riverside, California, and was awarded the Chancellor's Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the University of California at the University of California, Riverside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irene Hirano</span> American business executive (1948–2020)

Irene Hirano Inouye was an American business executive who was the founding President of the U.S.-Japan Council, a position she held ever since she helped create the organization in 2009 until her death. Hirano Inouye focused on building positive relations between the United States and Japan, and was also a leader in philanthropy, community engagement, and advancing social causes. She served on a number of prominent non-profit boards, and was chair of the Ford Foundation's board of trustees. She previously served as president and founding chief executive officer of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles from 1988 to 2008, which is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Historical Society</span> U.S. state of Californias state historical society

The California Historical Society (CHS) is the official historical society of California. It was founded in 1871, by a group of prominent Californian intellectuals at Santa Clara University. It was officially designated as the Californian state historical society in 1979. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, though it hosts exhibits and collections across California.

Anne St. Clair Wright (1910—1993) was an American historic preservationist. A central figure in the foundation, in 1952, of Historic Annapolis Incorporated, she served four terms as president and as chairman emeritus of the board. She was responsible for the preservation of the historic center of the city of Annapolis, Maryland. Her preservation work, advocacy and achievements inspired many preservation movements around the United States. She is considered a leading 20th-century American preservationist. Among many civic offices, she served as the director of the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities; chairman of the board of Preservation Action; was a member of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Park Service; director of the Southern Garden History Society; and a director of the Nature Conservancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Heritage Center</span> Non-profit organization in New York, United States

The Jay Heritage Center (JHC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1990 and chartered by the New York State Board of Regents to act as stewards of the 23-acre Jay Estate, the National Historic Landmark home of American Founding Father John Jay. Jay's ancestral property in Rye, New York is considered the centerpiece of the Boston Post Road Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History Colorado</span> Historical society

History Colorado is a historical society that was established in 1879 as the State Historical Society of Colorado, also known as the Colorado Historical Society. History Colorado is a 501(c)(3) organization and an agency of the State of Colorado under the Department of Higher Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth von Till Warren</span> American historian and preservationist (1934–2021)

Elizabeth von Till Warren was an American historian and preservationist. She had expertise in the history of water development in the Mojave Desert and the Las Vegas Valley in particular. She also had expertise in the historical route of the Old Spanish Trail in Southern Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gray (museum administrator)</span> American businessman and museum administrator

John Gray is an American businessman and museum administrator. He was the director of the National Museum of American History until 2018 and a former president and CEO of the Autry National Center.

A Smithsonian trinomial is a unique identifier assigned to archaeological sites in many states in the United States. Trinomials are composed of a one or two digit coding for the state, typically two letters coding for the county or county-equivalent within the state, and one or more sequential digits representing the order in which the site was listed in that county. The Smithsonian Institution developed the site number system in the 1930s and 1940s, but it no longer maintains the system. Trinomials are now assigned by the individual states. The 48 states then in the union were assigned numbers in alphabetical order. Alaska was assigned number 49 and Hawaii was assigned number 50, after those states were admitted to the union. There is no Smithsonian trinomial number assigned for the District of Columbia or any United States territory.

Wintersburg Village is an area in Huntington Beach, California, United States, that represents over a century of Japanese immigration to the United States. The property, consisting of six structures on a 4.5-acre (1.8 ha) parcel, was noted as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in the City of Huntington Beach General Plan in 2014. The C.M. Furuta Gold Fish Farm and the Wintersburg Japanese Mission are recognized nationally by historians as a rare, pre-1913 Japanese pioneer-owned property with intact physical features that convey the progression of Japanese American history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Ross Carey</span>

Alice Ross Carey was an American preservation architect, advocate, and early practitioner of historic preservation, restoration, and reuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antoinette Downing</span> American historian (1904–2001)

Antoinette Forrester Downing was an American architectural historian and preservationist who wrote the standard reference work on historical houses in Rhode Island. She is credited with spearheading a movement that saved many of Providence's historic buildings from demolition in the mid 20th century and for her leadership was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockhaven Sanitarium Historic District</span> Hospital in Glendale, California, United States

The Rockhaven Sanitarium Historic District is located in the Crescenta Valley at 2713 Honolulu Avenue in what is now the City of Glendale, California, United States. The sanitarium for which it is named was opened in 1923 by psychiatric nurse Agnes Richards as a private mental health institution for women with mild mental and nervous disorders. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in June 2016 and in 2021 it was announced that it would be developed into a museum.

Mary Gregory Jewett was an American preservationist, journalist, public official, and historian who ran the Georgia Historical Commission from 1960 through its dissolution in 1973, and served as the first president of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2013, she was posthumously named a Georgia Woman of Achievement.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Whiting, Sam (December 13, 2018). "Anthea Hartig to leave California Historical Society for Smithsonian". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jarmusch, Ann (April 1, 2007). "Preservationist favors this goal: Save Qualcomm". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Lecturer Profile: Anthea M. Hartig, Ph.D." (PDF). The 640 Report. Summer 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  4. Itogawa, Gene (Summer 2002). "The State Historical Resources Commission" (PDF). News and Views. p. 4. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  5. State Historic Resources Commission (January 2006). State Historic Resources Commission. 2005 Annual Report (PDF) (Report). Sacramento, Calif.: Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. p. 2. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Bowley, Graham (December 13, 2018). "Smithsonian Museum of American History Names Woman to Top Post". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2018.