Charles Nagel (CN) records, 1946 - 1955

Charles Nagel (1899-1992)

Charles Nagel was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1899, the son of Charles and Anne Shepley Nagel. His father, an attorney, was Secretary of Commerce and Labor in the Cabinet of President William Taft. Nagel attended Yale University, receiving B.A. (1923), B.F.A. (1926) and M.F.A. (1928) degrees. He practiced architecture in Boston and St. Louis from 1926 through 1930, when he returned to Yale to serve as Curator of Decorative Art at the Yale Gallery and Assistant Professor of Art History. In 1936, Nagel returned to the practice of architecture in St. Louis. In 1942, he was appointed Acting Director of the City Art Museum, St. Louis.

On the resignation of Isabel Spaulding Roberts from the directorship of The Brooklyn Museum in February 1946, Nagel was appointed Acting Director. He became full Director in May of that year, shortly after the resignation of Laurance Page Roberts, who had been on military leave. He served until June 1955, when he returned to St. Louis to become Director of the City Art Museum (1955-1964). From 1964 through 1969, Nagel was Director of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. Charles Nagel died in Marion, Massachusetts, in February 1992.

During his nine years at The Brooklyn Museum, Nagel's goal, articulated in the annual reports, was to maintain the programs developed by his predecessors, to reach more deeply into the community, and to stimulate more interest in the Museum's services and resources. These post-war years were a period of planning and evaluation, but implementation of plans was often hampered by financial retrenchment.

A number of administrative changes occurred under Nagel. The Children's Museum, a subdivision of the Museum since its founding, became a separate, independent division of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences with its own Director, Margaret DeWolf Tullock. The Art School, a new addition to the Museum's programs in 1941, expanded in both curriculum and physical plant. As a result, the last of the Natural History installations, the habitat groups, were removed to make room for studios and offices. The position of Museum Secretary was created, with John J. Gordon overseeing Publications, Publicity and Membership. The Edward C. Blum Design Laboratory opened in October 1948 and a industrial membership program was inaugurated. The Community Committee was established in 1949 as a continuation of committees that produced United Nations programs in 1947-1948, and took on responsibility for increasing the Museum's membership program. The Community Committee Fair also raised funds for the Museum through an annual fair.

Staff benefits began to improve during Nagel's administration. A forty-hour work week was inaugurated in 1947-1948, along with a salary bonus to City and private employees. Discussions continued on establishing a pension plan, with inclusion under the Social Security Act accomplished in 1950-1951.

In the area of community involvement, the Museum and the other Institute departments were the focus of a new organization, Toward a Better Brooklyn. This group, with heavy participation from school and parent groups, raised funds for Museum and Institute programs. Closer involvement of Brooklyn borough government officials in Institute affairs was ensured with the appointment of the Borough President as an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees.

The Museum reached out to a broad audience with programs centered around the new United Nations, intending to create a climate that would teach the virtues of tolerance and responsibility. In September 1952, the Museum hosted the UNESCO International Seminar, "The Role of the Museum in Education." Use of the media as an outreach tool also increased under Nagel, with the production of a two films: a movie on the Museum and its programs produced in conjunction with the Board of Education's Vocational High School Division, and "Take Care," a film dealing with examination and restoration of works of art. Educational television was also under consideration as a method of reaching a wider audience.

The curatorial departments continued the policy of producing fewer but larger exhibitions, some of which were borrowed from other institutions. Among the exhibitions of note are "Theodore Robinson" (1946-1947), "The Coast and the Sea" (1948), "American Folk Sculpture" (1949-1950), "Westward Ho!" (1949), "Wedgewood" (1949), "Glass and Glazes of Ancient Egypt" (1948), "Art of the North West Coast" (1951 ), "American Woodcuts, 1670-1950" (1950-1951), "Designer-Craftsmen U.S.A." (1952-1953), "Masterpieces of African Art" (1954), and "Take Care" (1954). The National Print Annual series was inaugurated in 1947; purchase awards from these exhibitions were added to the collections. The new Design Lab also created a number of exhibitions, among them 5000 Years of Fabrics and Fibres. Nagel, who served as Curator of Decorative Arts concurrently with his directorship, was a member of the jury and assisted in organizing the exhibition "Italy at Work. Her Renaissance in Design Today" (1949-1950), which premiered at The Brooklyn Museum and then travelled to several institutions in the United States.

A great deal of effort focused on the Museum building itself. Extensive renovation and improvement of mechanical systems was finally undertaken. A lecture hall was created in a third-floor gallery. The architectural firm of Brown, Lawford and Forbes surveyed the Museum and planned adaptations of the building to accommodate growing programs. In particular, separate Art School and Education facilities were considered to be essential. Discussions were held with the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences over the possibility--eventually rejected--of moving the parent institution's offices and Department of Education programs from offices at the Brooklyn Academy of Music to Museum facilities.

Nagel was very active in professional circles during his tenure at The Brooklyn Museum. He served on the council of the American Association of Museums, was president of the Association of Art Museum Directors, chairman of the Museums Council of New York City, and a trustee of the American Federation of Arts, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Association, and the Textile Museum of Washington, D.C. In addition he maintained his connections in the architectural profession, serving on various committees of the American Institute of Architects, including as chair of the Committee on Allied Arts, and assisted in compiling a list of New York City historic buildings worthy of preservation as a member of the Municipal Art Society's Committee on Historic Sites and Structures.