John Kinard
| John Robert Edward Kinard | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
November 22, 1936 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | August 5, 1989 (aged 52) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Occupation | Museum director |
| Spouse(s) | Marjorie Anne Williams Kinard |
John Robert Edward Kinard (November 22, 1936 – August 5, 1989) was an American social activist, pastor, and museum director. He is best known as the director of the Anacostia Museum, a small community museum founded by the Smithsonian Institution in 1967. Kinard was the museum's first director, and remained in the post until his death. The Washington Post said Kinard was "a passionate believer in the idea that the well-being of black people depends on having a record of their past". Noted British archeologist and museologist Sir Kenneth Hudson said Kinard "developed the Anacostia Museum into one of the small number of museums of influence in the world."
Kinard was born in November 1936 in Southeast, Washington, D.C. to Robert Francis and Jessie Beulah (Covington) Kinard. He had a brother, William. Kinard attended Dunbar High School but transferred and then graduated from Spingarn High School in 1955. He attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., for a year and a half, but transferred to Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1960. He subsequently enrolled at Hood Theological Seminary (then part of Livingstone College, but now a separate institution), earning a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1963.
In 1962, while attending Hood Theological Seminary, he joined Operation Crossroads Africa (a progenitor of the Peace Corps) and spent a summer building student housing and dining facilities in Tanzania. Dr. James Herman Robinson, founder of Operation Crossroads, encouraged him to return to Africa. Kinard did so after graduation, becoming a paid staff member of the organization. He worked in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. He was later promoted to coordinator of all Operation Crossroads projects in eastern Africa (a region ranging from Cairo in the north to Zimbabwe in the south).
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