Washington, 9 May 2012
The Smithsonian Institute has appointed John L. Gray director of the National Museum of American History, a museum dedicated to the history of the United States, displaying historical objects and documents along with artworks and handcrafts.
A former banker, John Gray turned to working in museums in 1999 and became director of the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, a museum specialising in the history of the Wild West in Los Angeles. Over five years, he developed this museum, merging with the Women of the West Museum in Denver and the Southwest Museum of the American Indian in Los Angeles to create the Autry National Center of the American West, bringing together more than 500,000 objects and documents. He left this institution in 2010 to settle in Santa Fe, where he resumed his studies in classical Asian literature.
According to an article published on the Washington Post’s webpage, this appointment could be a response to the criticisms against the museum. Indeed, numerous observers accused it of neglecting the Wild West and the Amerindian populations, in favour of the history of the West Coast and of the American nation’s founders.
With five million visitors and a $34 m budget, the National Museum of American History is the third largest museum of the Smithsonian Institute.