Four years ago, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History made waves when they announced a new endeavor, funded by a gift from the Brewers Association, that would focus on documenting craft brewing history and industry in America. And several months after, historian Theresa McCulla became the institution’s first ever beer historian charged with leading this important effort.
Our Executive Director, Liz Garibay welcomes Theresa for a chat about the the American Brewing History Initiative, how it came to be, what’s happened in the last three years, what’s brewing ahead, and her new collecting initiative related to the impacts of COVID-19 on the craft brewing community.
Theresa McCulla, Ph.D., is Curator of the American Brewing History Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, where is she building an archive of the history of homebrewing and craft beer in the United States. Previously, she worked for Harvard University Library, Harvard University Dining Services, and the Central Intelligence Agency. McCulla earned a PhD in American Studies and an MA in History from Harvard University, a Culinary Arts Diploma from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, and a BA in Romance Languages from Harvard College. She is writing a book about the history of food and race in New Orleans.