Louise Daniel Hutchinson was born in Ridge, Maryland, to Victor Daniel and Constance Eleanor (nee Hazel), but was raised in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C.[1] Her parents were both educators, leading the Cardinal Gibbons Institute, a Black Catholic school built on the model of Tuskegee.

Her mother was an acquaintance of William Henry Hastie, Mary McLeod Bethune and Carter G. Woodson.

She helped write the mission for the museum,[1] acquired objects for the collection, strengthened relationships with the other Smithsonian Institution units and the local neighborhood.

Hutchinson also developed the museum’s oral history program and helped found the Anacostia Historical Society.

Her book about Anna J. Cooper was called an "important contribution" to American history in The Georgia Historical Quarterly.