David McFadden was interviewed by Jen Page on June 27, 1996. Born in North Dakota in 1947, McFadden worked for 8 years at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts as the curator of decorative arts. He came to the Smithsonian in 1978 and worked as the curator of decorative arts at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City. He remained there for 16 years and in his last year was promoted to Assistant Director for Collections and Research. He is now the Executive Director of the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico. This interview discusses McFadden's succession of jobs; the history of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and its collections; colleagues Lisa Suter Taylor, Christian Rohlfing, Elaine Dee, Milton Sonday, Gillian Moss, and Ann Dorfsman; how he came to work at the Smithsonian; the variety of work McFadden did; his first impressions and his first day working at the Smithsonian; a description of a typical day of work; how his job changed over the years, mainly in the increase of fundraising and public relations; the differences between working for the Smithsonian and a government agency or private corporation; the challenges of working at the Smithsonian; changes at the Smithsonian during his tenure; what working at the Smithsonian meant to him; and several reminiscences about working at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.

Object Details

See more items in: Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews; Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews / Interviews

Collection Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9594, Smithsonian Memories Project, Festival of American Folklife Oral History Interviews