Homebrewing Microcomputers and Microbrewing Homebrew: Smithsonian Research on Homebrewing and Craft Beer History

This Homebrew Con session provides an introduction to the research and collecting work of the American Brewing History Initiative at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The initiative, which is supported by the Brewers Association, is building a new archive of the histories of American homebrewing and craft beer. Curator Theresa McCulla, Ph.D., also presents new research on early homebrew clubs, computing clubs, and the entrepreneurial and intellectual “ferment” of northern California in the 1970s.

About the Speaker

Theresa McCulla is the curator of the American Brewing History Initiative at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Previously, she worked for Harvard University Library, Harvard University Dining Services, and the Central Intelligence Agency. McCulla earned a Ph.D. in American Studies and an MA in history from Harvard University. McCulla is writing a book (under contract with the University of Chicago Press) about the history of food and race in New Orleans.