This series contains more than 87,000 color transparencies (slides) taken by Sultner between 1947 and 1980.
The arrangement is Sultner's: General slides (United States, World, Cruises, European Architectural Styles, Subjects, and People), Framed Subjects, Note¬cards, and Lectures. Detailed container lists are available for each subseries.
With regard to all of the transparencies: comments such as "from 1952" indicate that more than one year, and probably more than one decade are included in the section. The white slips interfiled with the transparencies contain the information provided by Sultner on his original filing envelopes and refer to the images following the information. Bracketed "[]" information has been provided by the cataloger. Spelling corrections have been made and many abbreviations have been eliminated. U.S. Postal Service standard abbreviations for states are used frequently.
Of special interest are Sultner's images of "Roadside Americana" (box 102), Vietnam (boxes 81, 137-138), and post-World War II views of Germany (boxes 52-60, 129-131, 138, 158-159). Among the famous people photographed and included in this series are Indian Prime Minister Nehru, Robert Frost, George Balanchine, and tenor Roland Hayes.
"United States," "World": The transparencies are filed in geographic, then subject order. For example, all of the towns in a particular state are filed alphabetically, then routes between areas and finally any subject headings for that state. Sultner often num¬bered his envelopes within a city. That order has been honored, even if the material is no longer filed alphabetically. Sultner often subdivided materials by a geographic region, for example, Cape Cod, and within that, by town. Those geographic distinctions have also been retained.
Cruises: This section covers Sultner's travels with the Holland-America Cruise lines. Sultner partially sorted the materials based on five main cruises: Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and the Scandinavian coast, known as the North, Cape. Because the cruises left from Florida, there are often small sections of the port in Florida included in what would otherwise be a non-American section. Other countries not necessarily part of the "name" cruise appear because they were ports of call along the way. For example, Mexico and Panama are in the Asian section because the ships passed through the Panama Canal to arrive in the Pacific Ocean. The mate¬rial is arranged alphabetically by country, rather than the order in which visited on the cruises.
"European architectural styles": Buildings representative of ba¬roque, Palladian, and rococo architecture are in this subseries. The images are filed geographically; in the case of Italy, the transparencies are arranged by north, central, or south Italy, then by date and finally by building name.
Subjects: The transparencies in this subseries are in Sultner's own categories. Subjects such as Christmas, Gardens, People, Color, and Design are included. The materials are filed alphabetically.
People: Identified people from Sultner's travels are filed alphabetically.
Framed subjects: This section contains slides used by Sultner in preparing a lecture. Instead of white slips identifying sections, Sultner's original tags were used. Any tags that were loose are filed at the end of each section. If no tag was found with a group of slides in a rubber band, a paper insert will read "No Tag." If you are able to identify a particular section, please let a staff member know so that the information may be recorded in the finding aid and database. The materials were inserted in sleeves in the order in which they appeared in the box. It appears that some of these slides were originally part of a lecture and were moved to this section by Sultner. These transparencies are filed alphabeti¬cally by Sultner title.
Notecard Files: Interfiled with his notecards were transparencies. These images are filed as they were interfiled in the boxes of notes and cover recurring themes: gardens, cruises, architecture, light and color.
Lectures: A date at the end of a particular section indicates the time that the lecture was given. Only on rare occasions does the date mean the actual time the photograph was taken. A check in the biography section will quickly show whether Sultner was in the area for that date. A semicolon separates each section within a group. These transparencies are filed alphabetically by Sultner's title.
Framed Sublects and Lectures: Explanation of Sultner's shorthand:
"A" or "A/" -- Architecture
"Bll: -- Beautification/Beauty
'IC" -- Conservation
"IC&L" -- Color and Light
"(C)II -- Central
"D" -- Design
"F" -- Framed; ie., mounted between glass in aluminum slide mounts
"G" or "G/11 -- Gardens
"GD" -- Garden design
"H/G" -- House(s) and garden(s)
"L" or "L/" -- indicates that Sultner used the section in one or more of his public lectures.
"L&C" -- Light and Color
"M" or "M/" -- means that the transparencies were shown to music and the "xxp. #:OO" indicates the number of transparencies shown in that amount of time. The "M" is generally followed by Sultner's choice of music for that section.
"(N)" -- North
"P" -- Portraits, people, palace, palazzo
"[PROJECT]" -- "[PROJECT]" indicates a set of slides designated a "project" by Sultner. There are related notes in series 3, box 41.
"(S)" -- South
"V/G" -- Villa/Gardens
"Redo" -- indicates that Sultner intended to re-do the transparencies for that particular section.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but a portion of the collection is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
A small number of letters and photographs are restricted until the year 2031. Identification list in box.
Collection 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.
