Helen Gardner McCormack (March 17, 1903 – January 22, 1974) was the Director of the Valentine Museum, archivist and curator for the South Carolina Historical Society and director of the Gibbes Museum of Art.

Biography

Helen Gardner McCormack was born on March 17, 1903, in Charleston, the daughter of William Henry McCormack (1868–1940) and Alice Broome (1871-1948). She attended the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

and graduated in 1925 with an A.B. in English. She did postgraduate work at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. In 1936 she received a Rockefeller Foundation grant to study museum methods at the Brooklyn Museum and in Europe. In 1942 she received a fellowship from the Charleston Scientific and Cultural Educational Fund to reorganize the

South Carolina Historical Society The South Carolina Historical Society is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1855 to preserve South Carolina's rich historical legacy. The SCHS is the state's oldest and largest private repository of books, letters, journals, maps, d ...

records and documents. From 1926 to 1928 she was curator of South Carolina collection at the

Charleston Museum The Charleston Museum is a museum located in the Wraggborough neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina. It is one of the oldest museums in the United States. Its highly regarded collection includes historic artifacts, natural history, decora ...

. In 1928 she helped organizing the

Valentine Museum The Valentine is a museum in Richmond, Virginia dedicated to collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond's history. Founded by Mann S. Valentine II 1898, it was the first museum in Richmond. In the early 21st century, The Valentine offer ...

in Richmond, Virginia and from 1930 to 1940 she was its Director. During this time she completed the restoration of the 1812 Wickham-Valentine House designed by

Alexander Parris Alexander Parris (November 24, 1780 – June 16, 1852) was a prominent American architect-engineer. Beginning as a housewright, he evolved into an architect whose work transitioned from Federal style architecture to the later Greek Revival. Parr ...

. She served on the museum committee of the Virginia Academy of Science and on the board of the Virginia Art Alliance. In 1941 she became assistant director at the

Gibbes Museum of Art The Gibbes Museum of Art, formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, is an art museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the museum moved into a new Beaux Arts building at 135 Meeting Street, in t ...

in Charleston. From 1942 to 1944 she was archivist for the

in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1947 she was named curator of collections at the

. From 1954 to 1966 she was director of the

in Charleston. At retirement from directorship in 1966 she remained at the

as curator. In 1954 she became archivist for the Guild of South Carolina Artists and in 1968 she became its executive director. In 1941 she undertook the Charleston architectural survey, recording information of 1380 historic properties. The survey was suggested by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and was conducted by the Carolina Art Association with funding from the

Carnegie Corporation The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

. It was published in 1944 as ''This is Charleston''. McCormack was the companion of

Laura Bragg Laura Mary Bragg (October 9, 1881 – May 16, 1978) was an American museum director who became the first woman to run a publicly funded art museum in America when she was named the director of the Charleston Museum in 1920. She later directed the ...

, the director of the

.Pinar, William F
"Religion, Love, and Democracy in Laura Bragg’s Boxes"
''Journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies'', vol. 3 (June 2007). McCormack lived at the Confederate Home, 62 Broad Street. Helen Gardner McCormack died on January 22, 1974, and is buried at Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston. The ''H. F. Plowden Weston (1738–1827)'' miniature, dating from 1824, by Charles Fraser, was purchased by the Gibbes Museum with funds provided by the Eliza Huger Kammerer Fund in memory of Helen Gardner McCormack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton-Brown, Geoffrey 1903 births 1974 deaths