Kenneth M. Wilson, at 83; called 'Mr. American Glass'

April 08, 2005|Associated Press

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. -- Kenneth M. Wilson, a noted glass historian and a former museum curator known as ''Mr. American Glass," died at home after a two-decade battle with leukemia, his wife, Alice, said. He was 83.

The Philadelphia native died March 29, less than two months before the scheduled release of his fifth book -- an antique collectors' guide to the works of Pairpoint Glass, the oldest American glassmaker.

''He worked right until the end," his wife said. ''And he still had things planned. I keep finding his little notes."

The White House called on Mr. Wilson's expertise during the first Bush presidency by asking him to inspect and estimate the age of each window, his wife said.

Mr. Wilson's interest in glass from the Colonial era onward was sparked when he was assigned to design a display at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts 50 years ago.

From there, he moved to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y., and the Henry Ford Museum, in Dearborn, Mich., where he served as director of collections and preservation.

Mr. Wilson wrote books on antique bottles and flasks, New England glassmaking, and the Toledo Museum of Art's glass collection. He received an award in 2000 from the Richards Foundation and the Corning Museum for research on American glass.

Mr. Wilson also received the Purple Heart after nearly dying from machine-gun fire while serving with the US Army in Germany in World War II.