Records reflecting the early operation of the Curatorial Department at the time that this office was under the administration of a single curator. Includes: memoranda and reports, 1899-1964; conservation correspondence, 1938-1964; general correspondence, 1936-1964; miscellaneous material (gifts and purchases, x-ray records, budgets, loans), 1936-1964.

Most of these records are from the curatorial administration of Thomas T. Hoopes. During this time the museum did not have a department of conservation, so the Curator was responsible for the treatment of objects in the collection, or for arranging professional conservation outside the museum.