Smithsonian Institution Archives

C. Malcolm Watkins Papers, 1935-1979 and undated

Summary

Collection ID:
SIA.FARU7322
Creators:
Watkins, C. Malcolm
Dates:
1935-1979 and undated
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
12.59 cu. ft. (23 document boxes) (1 half document box) (1 16x20 box) (1 oversize folder)
Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives

Descriptive Entry

Descriptive Entry
The papers of C. Malcolm Watkins provide comprehensive documentation of his professional career from 1934 to 1980. The collection documents his interest in early American culture; his research on ceramics, historic archeology, and early California history; his curatorial and administrative activities in the Department of Anthropology, USNM, and the Departments of Civil and Cultural History, NMHT; exhibits planning; and his role in professional societies
Series 1 consists of correspondence written and received by Watkins between 1941 and 1978. This large correspondence file documents his career at the Smithsonian, particularly his interest in American material culture, especially ceramics, glass, and artificial lighting; historic archeology; teaching; and his role in professional societies. Correspondence also documents exhibitions; restoration and identification of historic material; acquisitions; and museum administration. Correspondence files include magazine and newspaper articles, booklets, photographs, graphic illustrations, and brochures.
Series 2 contains subject files, 1949-1979, documenting his research, exhibits planning, and professional society activities including his role in founding the Society for Historical Archeology. These research files and those found in Series 5, 6, 7, and 8 document Watkins' work on early American culture, including the Marlborough and Jamestown, Virginia, excavations; California early history and California Kitchen projects; North Devon pottery; Yorktown pottery; decorative arts; and American imports. Research files include notes, correspondence, graphic illustrations, articles, photographs, site drawings, seminar and conference literature, and exhibit scripts.
Series 2 also contains information compiled by Watkins on historic sites, institutions dedicated to historic preservation and historic archeology, museums, and museum practices. Museology files in Series 3 contain correspondence, brochures and pamphlets, newsclippings, and articles, reports, procedures manuals, proposals, and lecture notes.
Throughout his years at the USNM and NMHT, Watkins amassed a variety of material on the Smithsonian. The files in Series 4 document administrative policies; acquisitions; ideas for departmental reorganization and future planning; Smithsonian Council meetings; the Smithson Bicentennial; exhibits including "Everyday Life in the American Past," "Artificial Lighting in America," and "A Nation of Nations"; symposia and seminars; Watkins' sabbatical; and general information on travel, teaching, and the Smithsonian Research Foundation. Smithsonian files include memoranda, copies of reports, correspondence, notes, scripts, proposals, newsclippings, name and address lists, and articles. Series 9 documents his work on the "A Nation of Nations" exhibit.
The collection also includes a Series (10) on historical archeology mainly comprising the files of Marilyn Sara Cohen, a museum specialist working on the Historical Archeology Project in the Division of Cultural History. It contains conference information, an interview with Watkins, correspondence, research notes, memoranda, and reports.

Historical Note

Historical Note
C. Malcolm Watkins (1911- ) was born in Malden, Massachusetts, and developed an interest in early American material culture at a young age through the work of his parents and grandfather. His mother, Lura Woodside Watkins, collected glass and pottery and published Cambridge Glass, 1818-1888 on the history of the New England Glass Company. She later donated her extensive collection of kiln site pottery to the Smithsonian. Watkins' father, Charles H. Watkins, was interested in pottery as well. He participated in the excavation of a site at Newburyport, Massachusetts, and collected potsherds. In addition, the inheritance of his grandfather's collection of lighting devices served as an impetus for Watkins' research in artificial lighting techniques.
Watkins received his B.S. from Harvard College in 1934 and began his museum career as curator for the Wells Historical Museum (Southbridge, Massachusetts), the predecessor of Old Sturbridge village (Sturbridge, Massachusetts). Watkins was its first curator, working there from 1936 to 1948, except for a leave of absence from 1942-1946 to serve in the United States Air Force during World War II. In 1949, he began his career at the Smithsonian as an associate curator in the Division of Ethnology, Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum (USNM). Watkins was responsible for the collections of American technology and decorative arts. When a separate Museum of History and Technology was created in 1958, Watkins assumed responsibility for the new Division of Cultural History in the Department of Civil History, as curator (1958, 1960-1966) and supervisor and curator (1967-1968). In this position, Watkins developed the national collections of American material culture, especially ceramics and glass. He also built the staff of the Division and in 1969 achieved departmental status for Cultural History. He was appointed its first chairman, in addition to his duties as curator of Pre-Industrial History and Ethnic and Western History. In 1973, he became senior curator of the Department of Cultural History, the position he held until his retirement in 1980. He continued research as curator emeritus until 1984.
Watkins' wife, Joan Pearson Watkins, collaborated with him. From 1964 to 1977, she held the position of honorary curator, and from 1978 to 1979 she was an honorary research associate. In 1980, she became a collaborator in the Division of Ceramics and Glass, a position she held until 1983.
During his career at the Smithsonian, Watkins worked on numerous exhibits. In 1955, he prepared an exhibition on "Folk Pottery of Early New England," which contained the redware and stoneware from his mother's collection. The first large exhibition hall devoted to the history of everyday life in colonial and federal America was developed by Watkins and opened in 1957 as part of the Exhibits Modernization Program. In 1964, a revised version of the hall opened in the new History and Technology Building as the "Hall of Everyday Life in the American Past." Watkins was also involved in the construction of the "Growth of the United States" exhibit in the new museum, which represented the material culture of the developing nation. The California Kitchen, found by Watkins and Pearson Watkins, was added to the exhibits in the History and Technology Building in 1965. In celebration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution, Watkins contributed to the colonial section of the exhibition, "A Nation of Nations," which opened in 1976.
In addition to working on exhibits, Watkins spent much of his time acquiring and developing collections. His most important acquisition was the Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection of some 2,000 objects of Americana documenting everyday life in colonial America. Other major acquisitions during his tenure included the Remensnyder Collection of American Stoneware and the Morgenstern Collection of early American material culture.
In addition to his curatorial duties, Watkins devoted much of his time to lecturing and writing scholarly and popular articles. His major publications include The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia, North Devon Pottery and its Export to America in the 17th Century, and The "Poor Potter" of Yorktown, which he wrote with Ivor Noel Hume.
Watkins was a pioneer in the field of historic archeology. He began his excavations of a colonial plantation at Marlborough, Virginia, with Frank M. Setzler in 1953 and continued through 1969. Watkins also began excavations at the Jamestown, Virginia, site in 1955. In addition, he wrote and lectured extensively on historic archeology, served as a consultant to numerous historic archeology projects, and was an active member of the Society for Historic Archeology, which he helped found.
In 1960, Watkins began his research on North Devon pottery imported to the United States in the 17th century, which led to a monograph on that topic. In 1965, he and Pearson Watkins collaborated on an oral history project in Moore County, North Carolina, researching folk pottery traditions. In addition to Watkins' interest in ceramics, he also spent considerable time researching early California history. Publications on this topic include James Johnston's White House in Half Moon Bay: An Example of Early Anglo-American Reminiscent Architecture in California and New England in El Dorado: The Letters and Narrative Accounts of Robert and Caroline Batchelder Thompson, California Pioneers.
Watkins was active in numerous associations and societies including the Early American Industries Association, the Society of Architectural Historians, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Western History Association, the California Historical Society, and the American Association of Museums. During the 1960s, Watkins also taught for the American Studies Program at George Washington University.
For additional information on Watkins, see Record Unit 331, Department of Cultural History, 1954-1979, and undated, Records, and the C. Malcolm Watkins Interviews in the Smithsonian Archives.

Chronology

Chronology
1911
Born in Malden, Massachusetts
1934
Bachelor of Science, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts
1934-1935
Self employed as a free-lance writer on antiques
1936
Studied Fine Arts at Harvard University
1936-1948
Curator, Wells Historical Museum, Southbridge, Massachusetts
1942-1946
United States Air Force, World War II
1948
Consultant in Furnishing, Dana Palmer House, Harvard University
1949-1957
Associate Curator, Division of Ethnology, Department of Anthropology, United States National Museum
1951
Negotiated donation of the Arthur and Edna Greenwood collection of colonial American material culture
1952
Published "Artificial Lighting in America: 1830-1860" in the Smithsonian Annual Report for 1951
1953-1969
Conducted excavations of a colonial plantation at Marlborough, Virginia
1955
Organized exhibition on "Folk Pottery of Early New England"
1958-1969
Curator, Division of Cultural History, Department of Civil History, National Museum of History and Technology (NMHT)
1960
Published North Devon Pottery and its Export to America in the 17th century
1964-1977
Joan Jockwig Pearson appointed Honorary Curator, Department of Civil History, NMHT
1964
Opening of the National Museum of History and Technology
Installation of "Hall of Everyday Life in the American Past"
1965
Married Joan Jockwig Pearson ; With Joan Pearson Watkins, located California Kitchen for exhibition in NMHT
1966-1967
Sabbatical
1967
Published with Ivor Noel Hume, The "Poor Potter" of Yorktown
1967-1968
Supervisor and curator, Division of Cultural History, Department of Civil History, NMHT
1968
Published The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia
1969-1972
Curator, Pre-Industrial and Ethnic and Western History, and chairman, Department of Cultural History, NMHT
1969
Began historic archeology excavations at Alexandria, Virginia
1972
Published James Johnston's White House in Half Moon Bay: An Example of Early Anglo-American Reminiscent Architecture in California
1973-1979
Senior Curator, Department of Cultural History, NMHT
1976
Opening of "A Nation of Nations" exhibition
1978-1979
Joan Pearson Watkins appointed research associate, Department of Cultural History, NMHT
1980-1983
Joan Pearson Watkins appointed collaborator, Department of Cultural History, NMHT
1980-1984
Retired and appointed curator emeritus, Department of Cultural History, NMHT
1981
National Museum of History and Technology renamed National Museum of American History

Administration

Author
Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives
Oversize
This collection contains oversize material.

Using the Collection

Prefered Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7322, C. Malcolm Watkins Papers

More Information

Notes

Personal Papers


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Watkins, C. Malcolm Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Society for Historical Archaeology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harvard University Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Wells Historical Museum Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Old Sturbridge Village Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States. Air Force Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States National Museum. Department of Anthropology Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.). Department of Civil History Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of History and Technology (U.S.). Department of Cultural History Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Nation of Nations (1976 : Smithsonian Institution) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Archaeology Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Civilization -- History Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum techniques Topic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Manuscripts Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Illustrations Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white photographs Genre/Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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