The departmental files document the work of the American Art department, as well as related activities from the 1960s that predate its formal establishment. The American Art Department originated in 1973 with the impetus of America's up-coming Bicentennial and the Museum's Centennial celebrations.

This collection consists primarily of correspondence curator and scholar Graham Hood generated during his 1965 to 1970 research of America's first porcelain manufactory, and during and after the publication of his book regarding the same. The work, entitled "Bonnin and Morris of Philadelphia: the first American porcelain factory, 1770-1772," was published in 1972.