The papers of African American artist and educator Maren Hassinger measure 11.3 linear feet and 4.55 gigabytes, dating from 1955 to 2018. The collection contains biographical material; personal and professional correspondence; and writings; as well as project and exhibition files; material related to Hassinger's tenure at the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); material related to other professional activities, including teaching files; photographic material; and artwork and artifacts.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of African American artist and educator Maren Hassinger measure 11.3 linear feet and 4.55 gigabytes, dating from 1955 to 2018. The collection contains biographical material including appointment and address books, education records, family and other home movie recordings, interview transcripts, and resumes; personal and professional correspondence; and writings including diaries, notebooks, notes, and writings by others. Also included are project and exhibition files, including accompanying audiovisual material and performance recordings; material related to Hassinger's tenure at the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA); material related to other professional activities, including other teaching files, panels, and grants; printed material; photographic material depicting Maren Hassinger, other individuals, and works of art, including student work; and artwork and artifacts.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged as nine series.
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1959-2001, 2013-circa 2015 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet, ER01; 0.001 GB)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1961-2018 (Boxes 1-2; 1 linear foot, ER02; 3.01 GB)
Series 3: Writings, 1955-2017 (Boxes 2-3; 0.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Project and Exhibition Files, 1966, 1982-2015 (Boxes 3-4, OV 12; 1.5 linear feet, ER03-ER04; 1.31 GB)
Series 5: Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture/MICA Files, circa 1960s-2018 (Boxes 4-5; 1.4 linear feet)
Series 6: Professional Activities, circa 1969-2017 (Boxes 5-6; 0.8 linear feet, ER05; 0.006 GB)
Series 7: Printed Material, 1960-2018 (Boxes 6-9, OVs 12-15; 2.9 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographic Material, 1969-2010s (Boxes 9-10, OV 12, Box 16; 2.2 linear feet, ER06; 0.224 GB)
Series 9: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1960s-2010s (Box 11; 0.3 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Maren Hassinger (1947- ) is an African American artist in New York known for sculpture, performance, and public art in which she uses natural and industrial materials. She was also an educator and is the director emeritus of the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, MD.
Born Maren Jenkins in Los Angeles, California in 1947, Hassinger studied dance and sculpture at Bennington College, earning a Bachelor of Arts in sculpture in 1969. In 1973 she completed a Master of Fine Arts in fiber structure at UCLA.
During her time in Los Angeles, Hassinger began to collaborate with Senga Nengudi — a collaborative relationship that has continued throughout their careers. She also participated in the Studio Z collective with Nengudi, Ulysses Jenkins, David Hammons, and Houston Conwill.
Hassinger taught at the State University of New York, Stony Brook from 1992 to 1997 and was the director of the Rinehart School of Graduate Sculpture at the Maryland Institute College of Art from 1997 to 2018. Throughout her career, she has been awarded numerous residencies, awards, and grants. Her work is held in many collections including the Baltimore Museum of Art, the California African American Museum, the Hammer Museum, and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Provenance:
The Maren Hassinger papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2018 by Maren Hassinger.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Performance artists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
The papers of rubberstamp and artistamp artist, performance artist, collector of mail art, and fine arts librarian John Held, Jr. date from 1947-2018, bulk 1973-2013, and measure 12.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, 18 printed diaries, letters received by Held from mail artists around the world, art work consisting of artistamps designed by miscellaneous mail artists, interview transcripts, writings, project and event files, printed material, mail art sent for the Gutai Historical Survey Exhibition held at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2013, and a collection of biographical material presented by Held at a Mail Art Study Day held at the Archives of American Art in 2018.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of rubberstamp and artistamp artist, performance artist, collector of mail art, and fine arts librarian John Held, Jr. date from 1947-2018, bulk 1973-2013, and measure 12.9 linear feet. Found within the papers are biographical material, 18 printed diaries, letters received by Held from mail artists around the world, art work consisting of artistamps designed by miscellaneous mail artists, interview transcripts, writings, project and event files, printed material, and mail art sent for the Gutai Historical Survey Exhibition held at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2013.
Scattered biographical material consists primarily of miscellanous biographical writings and accounts. Eighteen printed diaries provide very brief descriptions of daily activities and more detailed descriptions of art mail events, conferences, and travel experiences.
Letters comprise the largest and most significant series in the collection. Letters received by John Held, Jr. are from an extensive number of national and international mail artists, including Mark Bloch, Hans Braumüller, Jean Brown, William Gaglione (a.k.a. Picasso Gaglione), Dick Higgins, Ray Johnson, Shozo Shimamoto, Ryosuke Cohen, Michael Leigh, Guglielmo Cavellini, and Rod Summers. There are also scattered letters from Carl Andre and Clement Greenberg, typescripts of letters sent by Held, and a file of letters exchanged with Steve Durland.
There are twelve folders of artistamps, non-official or pseudo-postage stamps designed by miscellaneous participants in the international mail art network.
Transcripts are of interviews conducted by John Held, Jr. with some of the more notable artists involved with the mail art movement including Al Ackerman, John Cage, Ray Johnson, and Allan Kaprow. There are also interviews with John Held, Jr., William (Picasso) Gaglione, and Milan Knizak, including an interview with Held conducted by Ruud Janssen.
Extensive writings by John Held, Jr. consist of catalog essays, miscellaneous essays, bibliographies, miscellaneous box set texts, and miscellaneous typescripts. Project and event files concern miscellaneous projects, tours, lectures, and exhibitions with which John Held, Jr. was involved.
Printed material consists primarily of printouts of Bibliozone issues, a newsletter, exhibition catalogs, and press releases concerning mail art.
The Gutai exhibition project files include printed material related to the 2013 Experimental Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the mid-Winter Burning Sun: Gutai Historical Survey and Contemporary Response held at the San Francisco Art Institute. The bulk of the series consists of mail art created by over 135 artists who were asked to submit work inspired by Gutai and the artist Shozo Shimamoto.
The Mail Art Study Day Material consists of mostly biographical material regarding John Held, presented by him at the Archives of American Art's Mail Art Study Day on November 9, 2018. This assortment of largely printed material (news clippings, invitations, and programs) as well as select correspondence and photographs, each representing a year in the life of the artist, accompanied by a key for around 450 items dating from 1947-2018. They serve to document his career with regard to creating and disseminating Mail Art.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 10 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1990-1999 (5 folders; Box 1)
Series 2: Diaries, 1990-2000 (20 folders; Box 1)
Series 3: Letters, 1973-2008 (7.9 linear feet; Box 1-8, Box 12)
Series 4: Artwork, 1985-2007 (12 folders; Box 8)
Series 5: Interview Transcripts, 1977-1995 (7 folders; Box 8)
Series 6: Writings, 1984-2000 (0.5 linear feet; Box 8)
Series 7: Project and Event Files, 1982-2000 (11 folders; Box 8)
Series 8: Printed Material, 1989-2000 (11 folders; Box 8)
Series 9: Gutai Exhibition Project Files, 2012-2013 (Box 9-11, Box 13, OV 14)
Series 10: Mail Art Study Day Materials, 1947-2018 (Box 15)
Biographical Note:
John Held, Jr. (1947-) of San Francisco, California, is a rubberstamp and artistamp artist, participant in the international mail art network, activist, performance artist, collector of mail art, and a fine arts librarian.
Jonathan Held was born on April 2, 1947. In the mid-1970s he took the name of the early twentieth century illustrator, John Held, Jr., famous for his images of "flapper girls" in the 1920s. This name change was both in tribute to the older artist as well as an expression of Dada.
Earning a Bachelor's Degree in 1969, Held received a Master of Library Science Degree from Syracuse University School of Information Studies in 1972 and expanded his interests toward participating in the international mail art network and assembling one of the largest archives of mail art in the United States. He was mentored by mail artist Ray Johnson, and Jean Brown, a leading participant in Fluxus, whose interest in the Dada and Surrealism movements promoted emerging art forms including mail art, visual poetry, and artists' books.
From 1981 to 1995, Held was a Fine Arts Librarian at the Dallas Public Library. In 1982, he began making artistamps, pseudo-postage stamps used as an art medium, and opened the Modern Realism Gallery and Archive in Dallas, Texas, with his future wife Paula Barber. The gallery sought to preserve the record of contemporary avant-garde cultural activity.
Held published Mail Art: An Annotated Bibliography, a five-hundred page listing of secondary sources on the field in 1991. In 1996, Held moved to San Francisco, California, where he established the Modern Realism Gallery and acted as curator of the Stamp Art Gallery, an exhibition space devoted to rubberstamp and artistamp works.
John Held, Jr. has lectured at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Havana; and at the National School of Art, Prague. He participated in international exhibitions and, since 1986, engaged in international performance work, appearing in Japan, Russia, Uruguay, and Yugoslavia, as well as in the United States. One of Held's more notable performance creations is the Fake Picabia Brothers, in partnership with artist Picasso Gaglione.
John Held, Jr. lives in San Francisco, California.
Provenance:
John Held donated his papers relating to mail art in 1999, 2008, 2013, and 2018.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Mail artists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Performance artists -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Librarians -- California -- San Francisco Search this
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.) Search this
Container:
Box 10, Folder 50
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1985-1987
Collection Citation:
Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and Joyce F. Menschel, Vital Projects Fund, Inc.
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.) Search this
Container:
Box 12, Folder 15
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1975-1978
Collection Citation:
Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and Joyce F. Menschel, Vital Projects Fund, Inc.
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, Calif.) Search this
Container:
Box 12, Folder 41
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
circa 1979-1980
Collection Citation:
Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and Joyce F. Menschel, Vital Projects Fund, Inc.
Bobby Short was a singer and pianist whose career spanned seven decades. An interpreter of American popular music, he became a performer in childhood and remained active until his death. He is best known for his more than 35 years as performer-in-residence at the Hotel Carlyle's Café Carlyle in New York City. This collection contains personal papers and photographs as well as business papers, musical materials and photographs relating to Mr. Short's career as a performing artist.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of personal materials relating to Mr. Short's childhood, family, and friends as well as business materials relating to his career as a performer. These include photographs, correspondence, business documents, periodicals, musical materials, manuscripts and awards. Most of the material is arranged chronologically. The container list is detailed as to the type and date of the materials.
Series 1, Personal Materials, circa 1908-2005. This series is divided into four Subseries:
Early Life in Danville, Illinois; Awards, Honors, and Milestones; Personal Ephemera and Miscellaneous Publications; and Original Artworks owned by Bobby Short.
Subseries 1 includes poems written in childhood and two high school annuals. Subseries 2 includes numerous citations and awards as well as three Grammy nominations. Subseries 4 contains small prints and sketches as well as larger works by various artists.
Series 2, Correspondence, circa 1950-2005. This Series is divided into three Subseries: Personal Correspondence; Correspondence with Celebrities and Notable People; and Business Correspondence and Related Materials. The material is arranged chronologically.
The material in Subseries 1 and 2 consists of letters, telegrams, invitations, and notes.
Series 3, Photographs, circa 1908-2005. This Series is divided into six Subseries:
With and of Family and Friends; With Celebrities and Notable People; Other Performers, Notable People, and Autographed; In Performance; Publicity, Fashion, and Advertising; and Photographs of Artworks Depicting Bobby Short.
Subseries 1 contains a number of early family photographs and early photographs of Bobby Short. Subseries 1 and 3 include photographs by Carl Van Vechten. Subseries 1 and 5 include photographs by Horst, Hurrell, and Scavullo. Subseries 4 contains photographs of Bobby Short in performance, both alone and with others.
Series 4, Contracts and Related Documents, 1953-2005. This series is divided into six Subseries: Appearances in the United States and Foreign Countries; Film, Radio and Television Appearances; Recording Contracts, Royalty Statements and Related Materials; Print, Radio and Television Advertising; Licensing Proposals; and Union and Labor Department Documents.
Subseries 1 is arranged as follows: Hotel Carlyle Contracts; United States Contracts arranged alphabetically by state. These are followed by foreign contracts arranged alphabetically by name of country. Subseries 2 is arranged as follows: contracts and related materials for radio appearances, television appearances and appearances in films. Subseries 3 consists of recording contracts and royalty statements arranged chronologically and by company. Subseries 4, 5, and 6 are arranged chronologically.
Series 5, Programs, Publicity, and Promotion, 1956-1996. This series is divided into three Subseries: Programs for Performances by Bobby Short; Newspaper Clippings and Magazines; and Promotional Materials.
Subseries 1 consists primarily of programs for performances at concert halls. Subseries 2 consists largely of newspaper and entertainment magazine notices from the 1950s and 1960s. Subseries 3 includes flyers, announcements and table cards.
Series 6, Special Events, 1963-2003. This series consists of materials relating to special events such as charity benefits and anniversary celebrations at which Short performed or was otherwise involved. Several of these events benefited the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Series 7, Musical Materials, circa 1920s-1995. This series consists of a variety of materials relating to music; publications, sheet music, lyrics, recording contracts, album covers, and two 45 rpm recordings. Song lists, discographies, and articles about music are included.
Series 8, Theatrical Productions as Producer or Investor, 1979-1988 This series consists of contracts and performance materials for productions for which Bobby Short acted as a producer and/or investor. Programs, correspondence, and publicity materials are included; also partnership documents and financial statements.
Series 9, Manuscripts, Research, and Publishing Materials, circa 1954-1997. This series is arranged in two Subseries: Writings: Bobby Short; Writings: Others.
Subseries 1 includes a partial manuscript for Black and White Baby and research and other materials for a proposed volume, Black Lady Singers, that was not written. Subseries 2 consists of miscellaneous writings by others including a partial script for a play, Tinsel Town, and a film script, Johnny Twennies.
Arrangement:
The papers are arranged in nine series
Series 1, Personal Materials, circa 1908-2005
Subseries 1, Early Life in Danville, Illinois, 1924-1942
Subseries 2, Awards, Honors and Milestones, 1964-2005
Subseries 3, Personal Ephemera and Miscellaneous Publications, 1937-2002
Subseries 4, Original Artworks Owned by Bobby Short, 1841-1990s
Series 2, Correspondence, circa 1938-2005
Subseries 1, Personal Correspondence, 1950s-2004
Subseries 2, Correspondence with Celebrities and Notable People, 1962-2004
Subseries 3, Business Correspondence and Related materials, 1938-2005
Series 3, Photographs, circa 1908-2005
Subseries 1, With and of Family and Friends, circa 1908-2005
Subseries 2, With Celebrities and Notable People, circa 1953-1990s
Subseries 3, Other Performers, Notable People, and Autographed, circa 1920s-1990s
Subseries 4, In Performance and Related Subjects, circa 1940s-2001
Subseries 5, Publicity, Fashion, and Advertising, circa 1930s-2000s
Subseries 6, Photographs of Artworks Depicting Bobby Short, circa 1960s-1990s
Series 4, Contracts and Related Documents, circa 1953-2005
Subseries 1, Appearances in the United States and Foreign Countries, circa 1953-2005
Subseries 2, Radio, Television, and Film Appearances, 1978-2000
Subseries 3, Recording Contracts, Royalty Statements and Related Materials, 1955-2003
Subseries 4, Print, Radio and Television Advertising, 1976-1997
Subseries 5, Licensing Proposals, 1984-2000
Subseries 6, Union and Labor Department Documents, 1981-2005
Series 5, Programs, Publicity, and Promotion, 1956-1996
Subseries 1, Programs for Performances by Bobby Short
Subseries 2, Newspaper Clippings and Magazines
Subseries 3, Promotional Materials
Series 6, Special Events, 1963-2003
Series 7, Musical Materials, circa 1920-1995
Series 8, Theatrical Productions as Producer or Investor, 1979-1988
Series 9, Manuscripts, Research, And Publishing Materials, circa 1954-1997
Subseries 1, Writings: Bobby Short
Subseries 2, Writings: Others
Biographical / Historical:
Bobby Short (Robert Waltrip Short) was born to Rodman and Myrtle Short on September 15, 1924, in Danville, Illinois. He was one of six surviving children. As part of the town's relatively small African American community, the Short family maintained a middle-class standard of living, even during the Great Depression. Rodman Short pursued several occupations but spent most of his life as a coal miner in West Virginia and was seldom at home. Myrtle Short, a domestic worker, was a fastidious housekeeper who expected a high standard of deportment in her children. In Bobby Short's first memoir, Black and White Baby, he wrote: "Except for our color, we conformed in almost every degree to the image of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant-in our manners, our mores, and our way of life." Music was an important part of that life; many members of the extended family played instruments or sang, some professionally. Short first played a song by ear at the family upright piano when he was four years old and began his life-long love affair with words and music. Church, school, vaudeville, and minstrel shows provided his earliest musical influences and repertoire; his innate musicality and enthusiasm enabled him to become a skilled performer at an early age. By the time he was ten years old, he was playing and singing in local night spots and as far away as Indianapolis. At twelve, he was playing in vaudeville, at times billed as "the Miniature King of Swing." At thirteen, he returned to Danville, attended high school, and after graduating in 1942, left his home town to begin his professional life in earnest.
Short spent the 1940s and early 1950s as an increasingly successful entertainer in sophisticated night clubs and jazz venues in Chicago and other Midwestern cities, California, and New York, as well as Paris and London. While his early repertoire featured novelty songs and boogie-woogie, as he matured he embraced the standards of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and other notable composers and song writers. He enthusiastically promoted the work of African American composers such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and Andy Razaf. His encyclopedic knowledge of popular songs, both the well-known and the obscure, gave his performances a freshness that delighted his audiences.
In 1956, Short moved to New York City, taking up residence in a Carnegie Hall studio apartment. His career as a "saloon singer" (his words) continued in New York and in frequent visits to the Midwest and California. He appeared in theatrical roles and began recording for Atlantic Records. In 1968 his concert at Carnegie Hall with Mabel Mercer led to his engagement at the intimate Café Carlyle at the Hotel Carlyle. He remained there, playing for six months of the year, for the rest of his life. His performances at the Carlyle made him a darling of society and an icon of sophisticated New York style. In the early 1970s his album "Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter" introduced him to a larger audience; he published his first memoir, Black and White Baby, in 1971.
Short recorded numerous albums, earning several Grammy nominations. He appeared on radio and television, occasionally acted on stage and was seen in small roles in several films. He produced "Black Broadway," a theatrical review featuring many veteran performers he had long revered; he was instrumental in the revival of Alberta Hunter's career. Four Presidents--Nixon, Carter, Clinton and Reagan--invited him to perform at the White House. When he was not at the Café Carlyle, he traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, appearing in both night clubs and symphony halls. Success enabled him to purchase a villa in the south of France. His second memoir, Bobby Short, the Life and Times of a Saloon Singer, was published in 1995. Short earned many awards and honors during his lengthy career and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 1999. He died in New York on March 21, 2005.
Sources: Short, Bobby. Black and White Baby, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company,1971.
Short, Bobby (with Robert Mackintosh). Bobby Short, the Life and Times of a Saloon Singer, New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1995.
Related Materials:
Objects (2006.0071): awards, clothing, medals, and a music portfolio, including thirteen sound recordings (1984.0134), are housed in the Division of Music, Sports, and Entertainment (now Division of Cultural and Community Life), National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Provenance:
Bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution by Bobby Short.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research use.
Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow. Researchers must use photocopies of scrapbooks due to the fragility of the originals, unless special access is approved.
Technical Access: Listening to sound recordings requires special appointment; please inquire.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Pat Steir, 2008 March 1-2. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Olympic Games (29th : 2008 : Beijing, China) Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Dennis Oppenheim, 2009 June 23-24. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews Search this
