In June 1955, he received his Master of Arts degree from the University of Delaware as a member of the second graduating class of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture.
In October 1959 he became the museum's registrar and secretary, succeeding Dean Abner Fales Jr., who resigned to become director at the Essex Institute.
Naeve held this position through 1963 before becoming the founding editor of the Winterthur Portfolio, in which capacity he supervised the production of this journal's first three volumes, published between 1964 and 1967.
[1][4] After departing Winterthur, Naeve worked as a curator at Colonial Williamsburg and as director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.
[7] After retirement, Naeve moved to Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and joined the Episcopalian congregation of the Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Greenville, Delaware.