Milliken, William Mathewson, 1889-1978

Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art (1930-1958).

From the description of Papers, ca. 1885-1978. (Rhinelander District Library). WorldCat record id: 18242561

William Milliken (1889-1978) was a museum director from Cleveland, Ohio.

He was the director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1930-1958.

From the description of Oral history interview with William Milliken, 1974 Dec. 27-1976 Mar. 13 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 495596682

Museum director; d. 1978.

Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1930-1958.

From the description of William Milliken interviews, 1974 Dec. 27-1976 Mar. 13 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 83869325

Museum director; Cleveland, Ohio; d. 1978.

Milliken was the curator of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1919-1958, and director of the museum from 1930-1958.

From the description of William Mathewson Milliken papers, 1923-1970. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 82723190

William Mathewson Milliken (1889-1978) was an expert on art, particularly the decorative arts, and one of the most eminent museum directors of the mid-twentieth century in the United States. He served on the staff of the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1919-1958, and was its director from 1930 until his retirement in 1958. He was born on September 28, 1889, in Stamford, Connecticut, into a well-to-do family engaged in the New York import trade. Both of his parents had come from the British Isles. William Milliken was heavily influenced by his mother and her family (the Mathewsons), and by the many trips he took to Scotland to visit relatives.

Milliken graduated from Lawrenceville, a private school in New Jersey, in 1907 and entered Princeton University that same year. Although he had consistently earned high grades, he became ill and had to live off campus for part of a year; for his reason he was not allowed to graduate with his class in 1911 and did not become a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Because he ad to complete another term of residence on campus, he chose to study art; these serendipitous circumstances led to his career in the field of art.

After a short term of work in the New York textile industry, undertaken at his father's behest, he was appointed assistant curator of decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1913. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Milliken volunteered and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He commanded the 282nd Air Squadron in Millington, Tennessee, and Duxford, England. After the war he returned to find his position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art taken. He then applied for the position of Curator of Decorative Arts at the five-year-old Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, and was accepted in 1919. In that same year he established the first annual May Show to display works of local artists. In the early 1920s he commenced annual visits to Europe for study and vacation, and Venice became his summer home. In 1930, when Frederic Allen Whiting resigned as director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the trustees chose Milliken as the museum's second director; at practically the same time, he acquired the major pieces of the Guelph Treasure for the Cleveland Museum of Art, thereby establishing both his and the museum's reputations internationally.

During the following years, Milliken was successful in securing support for the museum from his wide circle of acquaintances and from Cleveland philanthropists. He stayed on after the usual age of retirement in order to supervise the completion of a new wing at the museum, resigning in 1958. During his tenure as director he had brought the institution into the front rank of American art museums. He had been one of the earliest proponents of the role of museums in educating the public and of recognition and support of local artists by art museums. Hew was the United States representative to UNESCO, a founder of the International Council of Museums, and received the rank of Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur of France.

After his retirement, Milliken remained in Cleveland while serving as a consultant for several museums, including that of the University of California at Berkeley and the Melbourne Museum in Australia. He also organized various exhibitions, wrote art catalogues, and worked on the manuscripts of several books: Unfamiliar Venice (Case Western Reserve University Press, 1967); A Time Remembered (Western Reserve Historical Society, 1975); Born Under the Sign of Libra (Western Reserve Historical Society, 1977); "Stories Behind the Museum Collections" (unpublished); and "Greece: Many-Blossomed Spring" (unpublished). Mililken died in Cleveland on March 14, 1978.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for William Mathewson Milliken

From the guide to the William Mathewson Milliken Photographs, 1870-1969, (Western Reserve Historical Society)

William Mathewson Milliken (1889-1978) was an expert on art, particularly the decorative arts, and one of the most eminent museum directors of the mid-twentieth century in the United States. He served on the staff of the Cleveland Museum of Art from 1919-1958, and was its director from 1930 until his retirement in 1958. He was born on September 28, 1889, in Stamford, Connecticut, into a well-to-do family engaged in the New York import trade. Both of his parents had come from the British Isles. William Milliken was heavily influenced by his mother and her family (the Mathewsons), and by the many trips he took to Scotland to visit relatives.

Milliken graduated from Lawrenceville, a private school in New Jersey, in 1907 and entered Princeton University that same year. Although he had consistently earned high grades, he became ill and had to live off campus for part of a year; for his reason he was not allowed to graduate with his class in 1911 and did not become a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Because he ad to complete another term of residence on campus, he chose to study art; these serendipitous circumstances led to his career in the field of art.

After a short term of work in the New York textile industry, undertaken at his father's behest, he was appointed assistant curator of decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1913. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Milliken volunteered and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He commanded the 282nd Air Squadron in Millington, Tennessee, and Duxford, England. After the war he returned to find his position at the Metropolitan Museum of Art taken. He then applied for the position of Curator of Decorative Arts at the five-year-old Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, and was accepted in 1919. In that same year he established the first annual May Show to display works of local artists. In the early 1920s he commenced annual visits to Europe for study and vacation, and Venice became his summer home. In 1930, when Frederic Allen Whiting resigned as director of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the trustees chose Milliken as the museum's second director; at practically the same time, he acquired the major pieces of the Guelph Treasure for the Cleveland Museum of Art, thereby establishing both his and the museum's reputations internationally.

During the following years, Milliken was successful in securing support for the museum from his wide circle of acquaintances and from Cleveland philanthropists. He stayed on after the usual age of retirement in order to supervise the completion of a new wing at the museum, resigning in 1958. During his tenure as director he had brought the institution into the front rank of American art museums. He had been one of the earliest proponents of the role of museums in educating the public and of recognition and support of local artists by art museums. Hew was the United States representative to UNESCO, a founder of the International Council of Museums, and received the rank of Chevalier in the Legion d'Honneur of France.

After his retirement, Milliken remained in Cleveland while serving as a consultant for several museums, including that of the University of California at Berkeley and the Melbourne Museum in Australia. He also organized various exhibitions, wrote art catalogues, and worked on the manuscripts of several books: Unfamiliar Venice (Case Western Reserve University Press, 1967); A Time Remembered (Western Reserve Historical Society, 1975); Born Under the Sign of Libra (Western Reserve Historical Society, 1977); "Stories Behind the Museum Collections" (unpublished); and "Greece: Many-Blossomed Spring" (unpublished). Mililken died in Cleveland on March 14, 1978.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for William Mathewson Milliken

From the guide to the William Mathewson Milliken Papers, 1889-1978, (Western Reserve Historical Society)