Ruffins, Fath Davis (1954-2024)
Former National Museum of American History Curator
Ruffins, Fath Davis (1954-2024)
Former National Museum of American History Curator
African American history and culture; racial construction and ethnic identity; museum studies, historic preservation, exhibition development public history.
Background And Education
Education And Training
Awards And Honors
- G. Wesley Johnson Award, conferred by National Council on Public History, 2019
Publications
Selected Publications
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Article
- Ruffins, Fath Davis, Mieri, Magdalena, Velasquez, L. S., and Woodaman, Ranald. 2024. "Marvette Pérez: A Visionary Smithsonian Curator." Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1177/15501906241246068. 2024
- Ruffins, Fath Davis. 2022. "Grassroots Museums & the Changing Landscape of the Public Humanities." Daedalus, 151, (3) 108–123. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01932. 2022
- Franz, Kathleen, Smith, Paul Chaat, Ruffins, Fath Davis, Meyers, Cynthia B., and O'Barr, William M. 2020. "Virtual Colloquium: Smithsonian Curators Reflect on Documenting the Representations of Race/Ethnicity/Diversity in Advertising." Advertising & Society Quarterly, 21, (4). https://doi.org/10.1353/asr.2020.0025. 2020
- Ruffins, Fath Davis. 2018. "Building Homes for Black History: Museum Founders, Founding Directors, and Pioneers, 1915–95." The Public Historian, 40, (3) 13–43. https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2018.40.3.13. 2018
- Ruffins, Fath Davis. 2015. "Student-Led Black material Culture 1968--A Curator's Thoughts." Kalfou: A Journal of Comparative and Relational Ethnic Studies, 2, (1) 148–159. https://doi.org/10.15367/kf.v2i1.59. 2015
- Ruffins, Fath Davis. 2007. "Money Makes a Difference: The Impact of Rising Prices on African American Collecting Since 1968." International Review of African American Art, 21, (4) 71–81. 2007
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Chapter
- Ruffins, Fath Davis. 2017. "Contesting the Nation, 1900–1965." In Many Voices, One Nation: Material Culture Reflections on Race and Migration in the United States. Salazar-Porzio, Margaret, Troyano, Joan Fragaszy, and Safranek, Lauren, editors. 137–164. Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. In Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 2017
- Ruffins, Fath Davis. 2008. "The Paradox of Preservation: Gullah Language, Culture and Imagery." In Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art. Rosengarten, Dale, Rosengarten, Theodore, and Schildkrout, Enid, editors. 216–231. New York, NY: Museum for African Art. 2008
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Review
- Ruffins, Fath Davis. 2007. [Book review] "Memory in Black and White: Race, Commemoration, and the Post Bellum Landscape by Paul A. Shackel." Visual Anthropology Review, 23, (2), 178–179. https://doi.org/10.1525/var.2007.23.2.177. 2007
