National Portrait Gallery (U.S.). Office of the Director.

Congress officially established the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in 1962. The Smithsonian Board of Regents appointed the first NPG commission in 1963, which elected John Nicholas Brown as its first head. In 1964, Charles Nagel was appointed Director of NPG.

Charles Nagel initiated programs to provide a research center for American biography, iconography, and history; including the Catalog of American Portraits. During his tenure, Nagel acquired small collections such as portraits set aside by Andrew Mellon, to be transferred to a national portrait gallery once one was established; and transfers from the National Museum of History and Technology and the National Collection of Fine Arts. Nagel also oversaw NPG's move from the Arts and Industries Building in 1967 to its present quarters in the Old Patent Office Building.

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