Smithsonian Names Director for Women's History Museum and Inaugural African American Art Curator

Elizabeth C. Babcock has been appointed as the first director of the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum (AWHM), taking over from Nancy Yao, who resigned amid controversy last July. Babcock, the current president and CEO of Forever Balboa Park in San Diego, will begin her new position on June 3, succeeding interim director Melanie Adams. Meanwhile, Dalila Scruggs has been named the inaugural Augusta Savage curator of African American art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Scruggs, who is currently the photography and prints curator at the Schomburg Center in New York, will start her role on April 22. This position, funded by a $5 million anonymous donation, honors Harlem Renaissance artist Augusta Savage and includes curatorial duties tied to the 'American Voices and Visions' initiative.