Departmental Administration, 1899 - 1997, 1899-1997

This series contains records relating to the administrative functions of the department, including collections management and fundraising. The bulk of the records are correspondence with institutions, artists, colleagues, donors, trustees, and collectors regarding topics such as proposed exhibitions, research, recommendations, donations, and tours. Monthly and departmental reports provide a useful account of the various projects and developments of the department. Also included are records which provide information on the creation, development, and maintenance of the Sculpture Garden.

In addition, this series contains curatorial files regarding activities such as visiting exhibitions, nonBrooklyn Museum events, and tours. For further information on curatorial work not related to the Brooklyn Museum, see Extra-museum activities.

Some object information, from restoration and conservation to potential acquisitions, purchases, or loans of artwork, can also be found in this series, specifically in bequest files, early memo files, and gallery and dealer correspondence. This material was kept in this series either because it was originally incorporated in a departmental administrative file or because it contained more general, administrative information about object transactions. See Objects for more specific records relating to purchases, gifts, and loans.

This series also contains some administrative information on other curatorial departments when Painting and Sculpture staff filled vacant positions temporarily. From 1930 to 1934, Herbert Tschudy was acting curator of the Department of Natural History and from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s Sarah Faunce was acting curator of prints.