Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Online Media

Catalog Data

Creator:
Wilder, John Brantley  Search this
Names:
Sioux Nation  Search this
United States. Works Progress Administration  Search this
Extent:
1.5 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Slides (photographs)
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Date:
1937-circa 1979
Summary:
The papers of painter, journalist, and civil rights activist John Brantley Wilder measure 1.5 linear feet and date from 1937 to circa 1979. The papers include correspondence; clippings; invoices; photographs; reproductions of some of Wilder's pen and ink sketches; as well as a scrapbook, which includes clippings, photographs, and printed material. Also included in the collection is a diorama representing a Sioux family.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of painter, journalist, and civil rights activist John Brantley Wilder measure 1.5 linear feet and date from 1937 to circa 1979. The papers include correspondence; invoices for paintings and materials; clippings of Wilder's articles and sketches that appeared in newspapers; a scrapbook of clippings, photographs, and printed materials; photographs and slides, primarily of artwork; and reproductions of Wilder's pen and ink sketches for the Philadelphia Tribune. The collection also includes a diorama representing a Sioux family. This is one of eighteen "Miniature Indian Dioramas" produced for the Works Progress Administration's Pennsylvania Museum Extension Project.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection, the papers are arranged as one series. Series 1: John Brantley Wilder papers, 1937-circa 1979 (Boxes 1-2; 1.5 linear feet, OV 3)
Biographical / Historical:
John Brantley Wilder (1909?-1990) was a painter, journalist, and civil rights activist. He worked for the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (later the Work Projects Administration, WPA) through the early 1940s and worked for the Philadelphia Tribune in a variety of capacities from the 1960s to the 1970s, including producing pen and ink sketches for Negro History Week, circa 1961. In addition to his art and journalism work, in the late 1940s Wilder led a campaign urging Hollywood to expand the portrayal of African Americans in film beyond maids and servants.
Provenance:
The papers were donated by John Brantley Wilder in 1979.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Occupation:
Painters -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Journalists -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Civil rights workers -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this
Topic:
African American artists  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs
Slides (photographs)
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Citation:
John Brantley Wilder papers, 1937-circa 1979. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.wildjohb
See more items in:
John Brantley Wilder papers
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9e65580be-0ff9-43d8-b8ec-c3a7109c749d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-wildjohb