Office of the Director records

When the Central Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences opened in 1897, administrative authority was centered under the Institute’s Director, Franklin W. Hooper, and the Board of Trustees. The first curatorial staff members, William H. Goodyear and Jacob Doll, were hired in 1898 to care for, respectively, the Departments of Fine Arts and Entomology. By 1904, the need for administrative control within the growing museum led to establishment of the post of Curator-in-Chief, held by Alfred G. Mayer (1904), Frederic A. Lucas (1904-1911), and Edward L. Morris (Activing, 1911-1913).

William Henry Fox was hired in January 1913 as Curator-in-Chief, but with the death of Hooper at the end of that year, control was decentralized and a director named for each division of the Institute. Fox was named Director of the Museum effective January 1, 1914. A year later, the Museums Governing Committee (a sub-committee of the Board of Trustees) was formed; the Director of the Museum answered to that body. This organizational scheme remained stable until June 1980, when the Institute was dissolved and an independent Brooklyn Museum Board of Trustees established.

In addition to responsibility for Museum affairs, the Director oversaw the work of the Children’s Museum until 1947, when the position of Curator-in-Chief of that institution was changed to Director. A fully independent Children’s Museum was established with revision of the Institute constitution in June 1948. In a similar fashion, the Brooklyn Museum Art School, which moved from the Institute to the Museum in 1941, was a semi-autonomous department answering to the Director. The Art School closed in 1985, transferring faculty and students to Pratt Institute.

The Director oversees all curatorial, fiscal, and operational matters and serves as chief administrative authority of the Museum. As the Museum grew, various administrative positions were created to assist in fulfilling the Director’s responsibilities. During World War II, when Director Laurance P. Roberts left to serve in the armed forces, Curator Isabel S. Roberts became Acting and then full Director. At that time, the position of Assistant Director was created for Albert N. Henricksen, Superintendent, who was responsible for Museum operations. The position continued as Assistant Director or Assistant to the Director through the mid 1960s and was always held by the Museum Superintendent. It was not until late in the administration of Thomas S. Buechner (1968-1969) however, that formal subdivisions were created with a Chief Curator administering curatorial affairs and Vice Directors heading Administration and Operations divisions; a senior officer for Interpretation was added under Duncan Cameron. Further administrative positions were created in succeeding years, resulting the current organizational scheme of a Deputy Director overseeing Vice-Directors, who in turn oversee Assistant Directors; and a Chief Curator, to whom curatorial department heads answer. As a result, records pertaining to some administrative functions may be found in files of the various administrative officers, as well as in the Director’s files.

The title of the Museum was changed from The Brooklyn Museum to Brooklyn Museum of Art in October 1996, and back to Brooklyn Museum in Spring 2004.

Directors of the Brooklyn Museum include: William Henry Fox (1913-1933); Philip Newell Youtz (Assistant, 1933; 1934-1938); Laurance Page Roberts (1938-1943); Isabel Spaulding Roberts (1943-1946); Albert N. Henricksen (Acting, 1943); Charles Nagel, Jr. (1946-1955); Edgar Craig Schenck (1955-1959); John D. Cooney (Acting, 1959-1960); Thomas S. Buechner (1960-1971); Duncan F. Cameron (1971-1973); Michael Kan (Acting, 1974); Michael Botwinick (1974-1982); Linda Ferber (Acting, 1983); Robert Treat Buck (1983-1996); Linda S. Ferber (Acting Director, 1996-1997) and Roy Eddey (Acting President, 1996-1997); Arnold L. Lehman (1997-2015); Anne Pasternak (2015-present, 2021); David Berliner (2016-present, 2021).