Duane H. King


Dr. Duane H. King was a writer and Executive Director of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, Senior Adviser of the National Museum for the American Indian, and Director of the Helmerich Center for American Research. Dr. King wrote extensively on Native American topics with a special interest in Cherokee and linguistics.

Academic career

Dr. King received his BA from the University of Tennessee and Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. He went on to found the Journal of Cherokee Studies and in his career was Executive Director at several organizations including the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, North Carolina. He went on to work as Assistant Director National Museum of the American Indian in New York City, and senior advisor for academic research and program outreach for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum for the American Indian in Washington, D.C.. In 1995 he moved to Los Angeles to serve as Executive Director of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles. Later in life he was the Executive Director of the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art in Tulsa and promoted to the University of Tulsa's Vice President for Museum Affairs and Executive Director of the Helmerich Center for American Research.
He taught at the University level throughout his life and served as the first endowed Chair in Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University. Dr. King was honored with the Dr. Duane H. King Memorial Visiting Scholar Fund at the Gilcrease Museum's Helmerich Center for American Research in Tulsa, Oklahoma.