Curators

Mindy A. Besaw | Emma I. Hansen | David Kennedy | Charles R. Preston | John C. Rumm

David Kennedy

Robert W. Woodruff Curator,
Cody Firearms Museum
Buffalo Bill Historical Center
(307)578-4117
davidk@bbhc.org

In July 2003, David Kennedy joined the Buffalo Bill Historical Center as the Robert W. Woodruff Curator of the Cody Firearms Museum. Mr. Kennedy came to the Historical Center from Bozeman, Montana where he worked as a criteria planner for a software firm.

A U.S. Army veteran and a lifelong student of firearms, Mr. Kennedy completed his undergraduate work at the University of Texas at El Paso with a bachelor's degree in history. In 2000, Kennedy received a master's degree in history with an emphasis on American military history from Montana State University (MSU). While at MSU, he worked as assistant cataloger with the Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections assisting with research, cataloging, and automation as well as writing finding aids for several collections. As a graduate teaching assistant at MSU, he taught a variety of history classes.

Mr. Kennedy served as student curator with the Museum of the Rockies exhibition, Weapons that Changed the West: From Flint to Fusion. This was the largest non-permanent exhibition relating to the history of firearms in the Rocky Mountain region.

Mr. Kennedy is a member of the Association of Retired Military Musicians and the Association of the U.S. Army.

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY/EXPERTISE:

• American gun production
• Military gun history
• Guns of the American West
• Cody Firearms Museum research, interpretation, and exhibits
• CFM collection development
• Cataloguing of Cody Firearms Museum collections
• Boone & Crockett Collection