Clement Conger

Clement Conger
Clement Ellis “Clem” Conger
4th White House Curator
In office 1970–1986
President	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan
Preceded by	James R. Ketchum
Succeeded by	Rex Scouten
1st Curator of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms
In office 1961–1992
Deputy	Gail F. Serfaty
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Harry Schnabel Jr.
Deputy Chief of Protocol of the United States
In office 1958–1961
Assistant Chief of Protocol of the United States
In office 1955–1957
Special Assistant, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Assistant Secretary of the Combined Chiefs of Staff
In office c.1943–c.1945
Personal details
Born	Clement Ellis Conger (1912-10-15)October 15, 1912 Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S.
Died	January 11, 2004(2004-01-11) (aged 91) Delray Beach, Florida, U.S.
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Resting place	Glendale, California, U.S.
Spouse	Lianne Hopkins Conger
Children	William Jay Shelley
Education	Strayer College George Washington University
Occupation	Cultural heritage management
Known for	Creation of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms
Committees	Fine Arts Committee
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	c.1940–1945
Rank	Major
Commands	Assistant Secretary of the Combined Chiefs of Staff

Clement Ellis Conger (October 15, 1912 – January 11, 2004) was an American museum curator and public servant. He served as director of the U.S. Department of State Office of Fine Arts, where in that role he worked as curator of both the Diplomatic Reception Rooms and Blair House. He also served as Curator of the White House under Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan.^[1][2] Prior to working as a curator, Conger served as a Foreign Service Officer, as the Deputy Chief of Protocol of the United States and as the Assistant Secretary of the Combined Chiefs of Staff.

Life

John Quincy Adams State Drawing Room, Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State. Conger assembled most of this furniture and art.

He graduated from Strayer College. He worked as an office manager for the Chicago Tribune, and for U.S. Rubber Co. He was assistant secretary for the Combined Chiefs of Staff, during World War II. He worked for the State Department, and became deputy chief of protocol, from 1958 to 1961. In 1992, he received the Henry Francis du Pont Award from the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, which recognizes awardees' "contributions of national significance to the knowledge, preservation, and enjoyment of American decorative arts, architecture, landscape design, and gardens."^[3]

Works

• Clement E. Conger, Mary K. Itsell, Treasures of State: Fine and Decorative Art in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms of the U.S. Department of State, H.N. Abrams, 1991, ISBN 978-0-8109-3911-0

References

1. Files, John (January 13, 2004). "Clement Conger, 91, Curator Who Beautified Federal Halls". The New York Times.
2. Kempster, Norman (August 7, 1990). "Insider : He Took Charge of a Shabby State Department : Clement Conger is his name and furnishing is his game. For the last 30 years, he has made sure that foreign VIP's like what they see in Washington D.C". Los Angeles Times.
3. "Judith and John Herdeg Receive Henry Francis du Pont Award". Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2022-09-16.

External links

• Reminiscences of Clement Conger : oral history, 1972., Columbia University
• Constance M. Greiff (1987). Independence: the creation of a national park. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-8047-0.
• http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?041+ful+SJ187+pdf
• https://web.archive.org/web/20111012205352/http://thenewnixon.org/2009/10/05/pat-nixon-and-the-golden-age-of-the-white-house/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20110826141712/http://sackheritage.com/articles/articles.php?articleID=13