Personal photographs consist of portraits and snapshots of Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo and include photos of friends, family, and personal travel snapshots. Travel photos are largely unidentified but were likely taken by Elsa Rogo for professional assignments for her work as a journalist. They include photos of political events, buildings, festivals, ceremonies, military demonstrations, bull fights, wrestlers, villagers, cityscapes, the theater, and conferences. Some event photos depict famous individuals including Mexican President Miguel Alemán Valdés, Eleanor Roosevelt, and President John F. Kennedy. Also found are photographs of works of art, slides, glass plate negatives, and rolls of negatives and positives.
Audiovisual material includes eleven short reels of 16 mm motion picture film, including 10 reels shot in Mexico between 1935 and 1941, and one reel shot at Bard College in 1941. Also found are five short reels of 8 mm motion picture film shot in Ogunquit, Maine and New York City in the early 1930s.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice. Original film reels and archival negative copies are stored off-site and are closed to researchers.
Collection 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.
Collection Citation:
Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo papers, 1851-1986, bulk 1920s-1960s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund. Funding for the preservation of the Stefan Hirsch and Elsa Rogo home movies shot in Mexico was provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
