OBITUARY
Brooke Hindle, 82,
Historian Emeritus,
National Museum of American History
Brooke Hindle, 82, historian,
academician and author who directed what is now the Smithsonian Institution's
National Museum of American History from 1974 to 1978, died of pneumonia
June 3 at the Wilson Health Care Center of Asbury Methodist Village in
Gaithersburg. Upon his resignation in 1978, he continued with his life's
work, researching the role of technology and objects in the social history
of the United States as historian emeritus of the museum. He wrote with
historian Steven Lubar "Engines of Change" (1986), and authored "Emulation
and Invention" (1981) and "Material Culture of the Wooden Age" (1981).He
lectured frequently, combining his interests in photography and travel
to develop slide lectures for classes and talks to scholarly groups.
In 1974, S. Dillon Ripley,
then secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, selected Dr. Hindle to
served as director of what was at the time the National Museum of History
and Technology. Dr. Hindle, chairman of the Department of History at New
York University, succeeded Daniel J. Boorstin, who became librarian of
Congress.Dr. Hindle helped raise the museum's public image as it prepared
exhibits, symposiums, books and other educational material celebrating
the country's 200th birthday. In addition to overseeing those activities,
he presided over the opening of the museum's Dibner Library, which houses
collections of rare books and documents, and supported efforts to strengthen
historical research and emphasized the importance of U.S. history and
cultural education. As director, he was known for his modesty and preference
for engaging in research instead of attending fundraisers."He was much
more of a scholar and thinker as opposed to a public figure," said his
son-in-law, Bob Hazen. "He felt very strongly that history, in part, provided
a framework for understanding our country and our future direction, and
for that reason he was widely respected in his field."
A former Bethesda resident,
Dr. Hindle was a Philadelphia native who attended the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology before graduating from Brown University in 1940. His graduate
studies were interrupted by World War II, when he enlisted in the Navy
and served as a radar maintenance officer aboard an escort carrier
in the Pacific.He received a doctorate in history from the > University
of Pennsylvania in 1949 and briefly worked for the Institute of Early
American History and Culture, a research organization supported by Colonial
Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary.He then began a 24-year
career at New York University, where he was a professor, dean of the College
at University Heights and head of the university's History > Department.He
was a member of the American Philosophical Society, the Royal Society
of Arts, the Society for the History of Technology, the Cosmos Club and
the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Gaithersburg.Survivors include
his wife of 58 years, Helen Morris Hindle of Gaithersburg; two children,
Margaret Hindle Hazen of Bethesda and Donald M. Hindle of Greenwich, N.J.;
a brother; and six grandchildren.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26589-2001Jun5.html
11 June 2001 | Contact
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