Sommer, Frank H.

Frank Henry Sommer, III, was the head of the Winterthur library. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, on July 30, 1922, the son of George Raymond and Abigail Woodruff Van Horn Sommer. He earned his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1943 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a graduate student at Yale and also studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University. Sommer received his Ph.D. in archaeology from Yale in 1950. He was a professor at the University of Delaware from 1948-1952. During this time, he helped develop the plans for the graduate program in early American culture which was jointly sponsored by Winterthur Museum and the University of Delaware, and he served as the first coordinator of the program. He was Keeper of Folk Art at the Winterthur Museum from 1958-1963 and then became director of the library division. He wrote a number of articles on the subjects of decorative arts and art history. He was a member of the Grolier Club and other organizations. He retired from Winterthur Museum in 1987 and died on October 20, 2006.