Brent Glass | |
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Born | Brent D. Glass 1946 (age 76–77) New York City, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Lafayette College New York University University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Harvard University |
Brent D. Glass (born 1947) is a public historian who pioneered influential oral history and material culture studies and was Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History from 2002-2011. [1] He is an author and international speaker on cultural diplomacy and museum management. He writes on topics ranging from state-of-the-museum blogs to public memory, historic literacy, historic preservation, and industrial history.
Glass was born in 1947 [2] in Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up in the village of Lynbrook in Nassau County on Long Island. [3] A graduate of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government nonprofit executive leadership program, Glass earned his doctorate in history from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (1980), master's degree in American Studies from New York University (1971), and bachelor's degree from Lafayette College (1969) where he was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. [4] He writes on public history, public memory, historic literacy, historic preservation, industrial history and the history of Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Glass was executive director of the North Carolina Humanities Council from 1983 to 1987. From 1987-2002, Glass served as executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, managing the largest and most comprehensive state history program in the country, with 25 historical sites and museums, including the State Archives and State Museum; the State Historic Preservation Office, public history programs, and historical publications. Beginning 2002, he was named the director of the National Museum of American History.
In 2008, Glass led a two-year, $85 million renovation of the National Museum of American History, revitalizing public spaces and creating a new public square on the National Mall for citizenship naturalization ceremonies and other public events. Since 2002, he has overseen conservation of the Star-Spangled Banner, creation of major new exhibitions on transportation, maritime history, military history and first ladies' gowns, installation of nearly 50 other exhibitions and hundreds of online and public programs, and the Museum has raised more than $75 million from individuals, foundations and corporations. Under Glass’ leadership, the National Museum of American History opened the popular permanent exhibitions, “America on the Move” in November 2003 and “The Price of Freedom: Americans at War” in November 2004, as well as a temporary display, “Treasures of American History,” while the museum was closed for renovations.
Glass is an active member of and consultant to the diplomatic, cultural, and academic communities. He founded Brent D. Glass LLC in 2011 as a museum and history consulting business. [5] The firm specializes in governance, executive recruitment, fundraising, and strategic and master planning. Glass has served as a consultant to more than fifty cultural and historic organizations, including the Sing Sing Prison Museum, [6] the Berkshire Museum, [7] the National Railroad Hall of Fame, [8] the National Museum of Industrial History, [9] the Presidio, [10] and the DeVos Institute of Arts Management. [11]
Glass also has served on several boards and commissions including the Flight 93 Memorial Advisory Commission and the State Department's US-Russian Commission Working Group on Education, Culture, Sports and Media. [12] He has served on the U.S. State Department Diplomatic Center Advisory Committee, the San Francisco Presidio Heritage Advisory Board, and as a trustee of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He has served as a Federal Commissioner of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and on the National Council of the American Association for State and Local History. A frequent speaker and participant in public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy programs, he has made presentations about museum management, public memory and American history in France, Germany, Italy, China, Russia, Egypt, Mexico, Portugal, Lithuania, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic.
Lowell National Historical Park is a National Historical Park of the United States located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Established in 1978 a few years after Lowell Heritage State Park, it is operated by the National Park Service and comprises a group of different sites in and around the city of Lowell related to the era of textile manufacturing in the city during the Industrial Revolution. In 2019, the park was included as Massachusetts' representative in the America the Beautiful Quarters series.
St. Mary's City is a former colonial town that was Maryland's first European settlement and capital. It is now a large, state-run historic area, which includes a reconstruction of the original colonial settlement, and a living history area and museum complex. Half of the area is occupied by the campus of the public honors college, St. Mary's College of Maryland. The area also contains a community of about 933 residents.
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is a historic art museum between 7th, 9th, F, and G Streets NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Founded in 1962 and opened to the public in 1968, it is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of famous Americans. Along with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the museum is housed in the historic Old Patent Office Building.
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center 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.
Irving Amen (1918–2011) was an American painter, printmaker and sculptor.
The historic Old Patent Office Building in Washington, D.C. covers an entire city block defined by F and G Streets and 7th and 9th Streets NW in Chinatown. It served as one of the earliest United States Patent Office buildings.
James Preston Delgado is a maritime archaeologist, historian, maritime preservation expert, author, television host, and explorer.
The Delaware & Lehigh Canal National and State Heritage Corridor (D&L) is a 165-mile (266 km) National Heritage Area in eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It stretches from north to south, across five counties and over one hundred municipalities. It follows the historic routes of the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Lehigh Navigation, Lehigh Canal, and the Delaware Canal, from Bristol northeast of Philadelphia to Wilkes-Barre in the northeastern part of the state.
The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collections showcasing art and design from around the globe.
Richard Kurin, an American cultural anthropologist, museum official and author, is the Acting Provost and Under Secretary for Museums and Research at the Smithsonian Institution. He is a key member of the senior team managing the world's largest museum and research complex with 6,500 employees and a $1.4 billion annual budget, caring for more than 139 million specimens, artifacts and artworks, working in 145 countries around the globe, hosting some 30 million visitors a year, and reaching hundreds of millions online and through the Smithsonian's educational programs and media outreach. Kurin is particularly responsible for all of the national museums, scholarly and scientific research centers, and programs spanning science, history, art and culture.
David Edward Finley Jr. was an American cultural leader during the middle third of the 20th century. He was the first director of the National Gallery of Art, the founding chairman of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a prime mover in the founding of the National Portrait Gallery, and founding chairman of the White House Historical Association. During the Second World War, Finley led the Roberts Commission, which led the rescue of much of the threatened artworks of Europe.
Philip Goodwin Freelon was an American architect. He was best known for leading the design team of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Lafayette Square is a seven-acre public park located within President's Park in Washington, D.C., directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east and Pennsylvania Avenue on the south. It is named for the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and hero of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and includes several statues of revolutionary heroes from Europe, including Lafayette, and at its center a famous statue of early 19th century U.S. president and general Andrew Jackson on horseback with both of the horse's front hooves raised.
C. Malcolm Watkins (1911–2001) was an American historian, archaeologist, and curator. He researched early American material culture, with a specific interest in the decorative arts. Watkins served as a head curator of the Department of Cultural History at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He spent a total of 31 years working at the Smithsonian.
Smithsonian Affiliations is a division of the Smithsonian Institution that establishes long-term partnerships with non-Smithsonian museums and educational and cultural organizations in order to share collections, exhibitions and educational strategies and conduct joint research. Partner organizations are known as "Smithsonian Affiliates".
The State Archives of North Carolina, officially the North Carolina Division of Archives and Records, is a division of North Carolina state government responsible for collecting, preserving, and providing public access to historically significant archival materials relating to North Carolina, and responsible for providing guidance on the preservation and management of public government records to state, county, city and state university officials. First founded as the North Carolina Historical Commission in 1903, the State Archives has undergone multiple changes in organization, title, and relation to other state agencies. Since May 2012, it has been known as the Division of Archives and Records within the North Carolina Department of Natural & Cultural Resources' Office of Archives and History.
Allen Wilson Greene, also known as Will Greene, is an American historian, author, and retired museum director. Greene was the director of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites. Later, he became director of Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in Petersburg, Virginia. He also served on the national oversight board for the Institute of Museum and Library Services Over the years, Greene has made ten appearances on C-SPAN.
Anthea M. Hartig 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.
Demond "Brent" Leggs is an African American architectural historian and preservationist from Paducah, Kentucky. Among his roles at the National Trust for Historic Preservation he has been the founding director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, with the goal of raising $25,000,000 to protect and preserve African American history via material culture and beyond.
The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund is a program formed in 2017 to aid stewards of Black cultural sites throughout the nation in preserving both physical landmarks, their material collections and associated narratives. It was organized under the auspices of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The initiative which awards grants to select applicants and advocates of Black history has been led by architectural historian Brent Leggs since 2019. It is the largest program in America to preserve places associated with Black history.