Spencer Crew

Spencer Crew (born 1949)[1] is an American professor, museum director, curator and writer.

Spencer Crew
Director of the Museum of African-American History
Interim
Assumed office 2019 – 2020
Member of the United States Postal Service's Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office 2018

Education

Crew received a PhD degree from Rutgers University in 1979.[2] In 2003, he was named to the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni.[3]

Career

Crew's career in museums began in 1981 when he was hired to work as a historian at the National Museum of American History (NMAH).[4] In 1986, he curated his first exhibition at the museum, Field to Factory: African-American Migration, 1915–1940.[2] He became the first African-American director of the NMAH in 1994.[2]

In 2001, he became the director of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.[5]

In 2019, Crew was appointed the interim director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.[6]

Crew is the Clarence J. Robinson Professor of U.S. history at George Mason University.[3][7]

References

1. Pendergast, Sara; Pendergast, Tom (March 16, 2006). Contemporary Black Biography: Profiles from the International Black Community. Gale / Cengage Learning. ISBN 9780787679279 – via Google Books.
2. "Spencer Crew". American Historical Association. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
3. "Faculty and Staff: Spencer Crew". George Mason University. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
4. John Hollis (June 6, 2019). "Smithsonian museum is 'in good hands' with Spencer Crew". George Mason University. Archived from the original on June 9, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
5. Sciolino, Elaine (September 20, 2001). "Another Smithsonian Director Resigns". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
   - "Backstory". Cincinnati Magazine. Emmis Communications. July 16, 2005 – via Google Books.
6. McGlone, Peggy. "Lonnie Bunch's Smithsonian promotion leaves big shoes to fill at the African American Museum". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
   - "Who Will Be the Next Leader of the National Museum of African American History & Culture?". Washingtonian. May 28, 2019. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
7. Curtis Tat McClatchy (September 21, 2016). "Smithsonian train exhibit preserves lost history of Jim Crow South". McClatchy DC Bureau. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.