Date: Fri 31-Jul-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDYC

Quick Words:

Schnabel

Full Text:

Harry H. Schnabel, Jr. 1933-1998 Former Department Of State Curator Enjoyed A

Long Career In The Fine Arts

CINCINNATI, OHIO -- Harry H. Schnabel, Jr, a noted museum professional, died

June 24 in Cincinnati of a ruptured aneurysm. He was 65.

In 1992, Schnabel moved to Washington, D.C., to become curator of the

Diplomatic Reception Rooms, Department of State, Blair House. There he was

responsible for the collection of American furniture, paintings, and

decorative arts. He founded Capital Seminarians, a group of 150 area

collectors who supported the rooms and heard leading scholars on various

aspects of American studies. Schnabel advised the Blair House Restoration Fund

on curatorial matters and was instrumental in developing the Friends of Blair

House lecture series.

Schnabel began his career in Boston with the Pilgrim Society, where he worked

from 1960-62. Engaged in concurrent assignments for the Pilgrim John Howland

Society and Plimoth Plantation, he also redesigned and installed exhibits in

Pilgrim Hall and conducted research on British ceramics and North American

Colonies' trade goods.

Schnabel served as director of the Brockton Art Museum from 1972 to 1974, was

director and lecturer in the fine arts from 1969 to 1972 at the Wellesley

College Museum, and was an assistant curator in the department of decorative

arts and sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 1966-69. He was

also a lecturer in the fine arts at Harvard University from 1966-1969.

He was active in many Boston-area organizations, including the Trustees of

Reservations, Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, Stage

Harbor Yacht Club, Chatham and Hingham Yacht Club, Hingham Rotary Club,

American Field Service and St John the Evangelist church. In 1993 he was

elected an Officer of St John in the United States Priory of the Hospital of

St John of Jerusalem based in New York City.

Schnabel moved to the Cincinnati area in 1995 to become executive director of

Historic Southwest Ohio, a museum association specializing in preservation of

Nineteenth Century architecture and culture.

In addition to his museum career, Schnabel was involved in the corporate real

estate market and worked for several years at Talbots, Laura Ashley, Inc, and

Britches of Georgetowne.

His education was from Ohio University, where he received a bachelor of fine

arts degree in art history. He was a summer fellow at the University of

Delaware, Institute for Early American History and Culture.

Mr Schnabel is survived by his wife, Eleanor, and two daughters, Liza and

Eleanor. A memorial service was Thursday, July 2, at St John the Evangelist

church in Hingham, Mass. Memorial contributions may be sent to Historic

Southwest Ohio, Inc, PO Box 62475, Cincinnati, Ohio 45262.