INTRODUCTION
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.Soon after he was hired as assistant curator in 1933, Calvin Hathaway
introduced a new system for accessioning and cataloging the collections of the
Cooper Union Museum. By 1942 Hathaway had become associate curator, and his
system was maintained by secretarial staff under the supervision of Mary A.
Noon, assistant to the curator for collections. Noon became acting head of the
Museum in 1945, and in 1947 Dorothea C. Shipley was appointed catalog
supervisor. Paul Dreschler replaced her in 1951, and Mary Fonner Blackwelder
was named to the post in 1956. Shortly after the Museum was transferred
to the Smithsonian Institution, Blackwelder assumed the position of registrar,
where she remained until February 1975. Elizabeth Burnham was registrar from
FY 1976 through FY 1978, and Albina De Meio served in that function from FY
1980 through FY 1981. Cordelia Rose was appointed registrar in FY 1982. Box 1 of 3
Box 2 of 3
Box 3 of 3
Contact us at osiaref@si.edu
Revised: December 14, 2006 HISTORICAL NOTE
DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY
These records document the administrative and program activities of the Office
of the Registrar from 1973 to 1992, with some files dating from 1959. Records
consist of staff meeting notes, administrative memoranda, quarterly reports,
and annual reports to the Smithsonian's central Office of the Registrar in
response to Office Memorandum 808, "Collections Management Policy." Also
included are reports and budgets for the Museum's acquisitions fund; memoranda
and correspondence concerning the Smithsonian Institution Registrar's Council
and its predecessors, the Registrarial Council of the Smithsonian Institution
and the Council of Registrars, from its inception in January 1973 through
1987; and insurance registers, projections, and claims. The records also
contain labels describing various objects on exhibition, circa 1937 to 1968;
accession card corrections and changes from 1959 and undated; contracts from
the 1960s; lists of income and object purchases; and the correspondence of
Mary Blackwelder from 1970 to 1971.
Hours & Directions ||
Archives Division Home ||
SIA Home