The oldest records originated in the Director's Office, Curatorial, Library, Registration, and Education Departments. These staff chronologies are helpful when researching specific time periods in the Museum's past. The annual/biennial reports, under Museum History Resources, also include staff directories by year.
Halsey C. Ives Director, St. Louis Museum of Fine Arts (1881–1909), Director (1909–11)
Robert A. Holland Acting Director (1911–12), Director (1912–22)
Samuel L. Sherer Administrator (1921–22), Director (1922–28)
Charles P. Davis Acting Director (1928–29)
Meyric R. Rogers Director (1929–39)
James B. Musick Acting Director (1939–40)
Perry T. Rathbone Director (1940–August 1942), Director (1945–55)
Charles Nagel Jr. Acting Director (August 1942–November 1945), Director (1955–64)
William N. Eisendrath Jr. Acting Director (May–June 1955), Acting Director (July–October 1964)
Charles E. Buckley Director (1964–75)
Mary-Edgar Patton Acting Director (August–November 1975)
James N. Wood Director (1975–80)
James D. Burke Director (1980–99)
Brent Benjamin Director (1999–2021)
Carolyn J. Schmidt Interim Director (July 2021–August 2021)
Min Jung Kim Director (2021–present)
Charles Ward Rhodes Curator of Paintings, Museum of Fine Arts (1899–1903)
Francis E. A. Curley Curator (1909–13)
Charles Percy Davis Curator (1914–30)
Barclay M. Hudson Assistant to the Curator and Director (1928–34)
Margaret Wuerpel Curatorial Assistant (1933–34)
Franklin M. Biebel Assistant Curator (1935–37)
Thomas T. Hoopes Curator (1936–64); 1937 Appointed on annual, rather than 8-month basis
Catherine Filsinger (Hoopes) Assistant Curator (1935–64)
Emily S. Rauh (Pulitzer) Curator (1964–73)
| Following the retirement of Charles P. Davis, curatorial responsibilities were undertaken by Barclay M. Hudson. After Hudson left the City Art Museum, Margaret Wuerpel moved from the education department to curatorial as an assistant. Franklin M. Biebel took a leave of absence from July to October 1937 to complete excavation work in Antioch, Syria. He resigned from his post as assistant curator to take a lecturer job at Princeton University. Newly hired curator Thomas T. Hoopes transitioned from an 8-month appointment to an annual basis upon Biebel's departure. The organization of the department under a single curatorial area persisted until the 1960s. During Emily Rauh's time at the Museum, assistant, and associate curatorships were initiated in the areas of Primitive Arts, Oriental Art and Decorative Art. This marked the beginning of specialization in the curatorial department which continued with the emergence of other areas of specialization in the years to come. |
E. Oscar Thalinger Registrar (1923–52)
Elizabeth Horton Registrar (1952–65)
Richard S. Cleveland Registrar (1965–69)
Mary-Edgar Patton Registrar (1969–85)
Helene Rundell Registrar (1985–86)
Nick Ohlman Registrar (1987–99)
Jeanette Fausz Registrar (1999–2014), Head Registrar (2014–15)
Ella Rothgangel Head of Registration (2015–21), Collections Registrar (February 2021–August 2022)
Diane Mallow Head of Registration (2021–22), Director of Registration (2022–March 2024)
Mary Powell Supervisor of Education (1923–60)
Jacquelin Ambler Supervisor of Education (1961–66)
Thelma Richardson Stockho Acting Supervisor of Education (1966–68), Acting Curator of Education (1974–75, 1978)
Charles C. Savage III Curator of Education (1968–73)
Jay Gates Curator of Education (1976–78)
Nora Downs Wiseman Curator of Education (1979–80), Director of Education (1981–84)
Elizabeth "Beau" Vallance Director of Education (1985–2000)
Stephanie Sigala Acting Director of Education (2000–02)
William "Bill Appleton Assistant Director and Head of Education (2002–13)
Amanda Thompson Rundahl Director of Learning and Engagement (2014–present)
Blanche Archambault Librarian (1906–38), formerly of the Saint Louis School and Museum of Fine Arts
Odille Stewart Librarian (1938–62)
Vivian Fullerton Librarian (1962–68)
Ann Abid Librarian (1968–85)
Stephanie Sigala Head Librarian (1985–2000)
Marianne Cavanaugh Acting Head Librarian (2000–02); Head Librarian (2002–17)
Clare Vasquez Acting Head Librarian (2017–18)
Keli Rylance Head Librarian (2018–present)