Lindsay Hughes Files

Ruth Lindsay Hughes was born in Bevier, Missouri on September 8, 1908 and she graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1931. She developed an interest in art from courses taken in college, and, two years later, Lindsay was able to secure a position at the as yet unopened Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. She was initially hired to perform such tasks as sewing, dusting, and polishing however, her industriousness and intelligence eventually convinced Paul Gardner to let her write guide books to some of the rooms, give lectures, write plays for children’s classes, and develop a radio program to dramatize the collection. In 1935, when Laurence Sickman was hired as the Curator of Oriental Art, as the department was then known, Lindsay became his assistant. When Sickman was drafted into the Army during World War II, she took over as Acting Curator. Lindsay resigned from her position at the Gallery in 1946, due to her impending marriage to Frank Cooper. They then moved to New York where Lindsay took a job with the Asian art dealer C. T. Loo whom she had become acquainted with through his connection with the Museum. Due to Cooper’s business interests, they later moved to California and then to Iran, where Lindsay taught English as a second language. The couple returned to Kansas City in 1970 and Lindsay resumed her association with the Museum as Sickman’s assistant. She remained in this position for five years, until Sickman retired. Lindsay Hughes Cooper died on November 16, 1997, at the age of 89.