United States. Works Progress Administration Search this
Type:
Prints
Government records
Interviews
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Slides (photographs)
Photograph albums
Drawings
Place:
United States -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1945
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
15.8 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into nine series: Series 1: Biographical Material and Personal Papers, 1931-1988 (Box 1; 19 folders) Series 2: Correspondence Files, 1922-1979, 1993 (Boxes 1-2; 1.5 linear ft.) Series 3: Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project, 1934-1970 (Boxes 2-14, 18, MMs009; 10.75 linear ft.) Series 4: Writings, Lectures and Speeches, 1916-1960 (Boxes 14-15, 18; 1.0 linear ft.) Series 5: Minutes of Meetings and Panel Discussions, Non-FAP, 1939-1947 (Box 15; 5 folders) Series 6: Notes and Research Material, 1935-1970 (Boxes 15-16; 0.25 linear ft.) Series 7: Artwork, undated (Boxes 16, 18; 2 folders) Series 8: Printed Material, 1910-1985 (Boxes 16-17; 1.8 linear ft.) Series 9: Photographs, circa 1917-1960 (Box 17; 6 folders)
Access Note / Rights:
The microfilm of this collection has been digitized and is available online via the Archives of American Art website.
Summary:
The papers of Holger Cahill (1887-1960) date from 1910 to 1993, with the bulk of the material dating from 1910-1960, and measure 15.8 linear feet. The collection offers researchers fairly comprehensive documentation of Cahill's directorship of the Works Progress/Projects Administration's (WPA) Federal Art Project (FAP) in addition to series documenting his work as a writer and art critic. Material includes correspondence, reports, artist files, scrapbooks, printed material, and photographs.
Citation:
Holger Cahill papers, 1910-1993, bulk 1910-1960. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
The papers of Holger Cahill in the Archives of American Art were digitized in 2004 from 20 reels of microfilm, and total 30102 images.
Funding:
Funding for the digitization of the microfilm of this collection was provided by Jane Blumenfeld.
Use Note:
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.
Biography Note:
Holger Cahill was born Sveinn Kristjan Bjarnarson in Iceland in a small valley near the Arctic Circle, on January 13, 1887. His parents, Bjorn Jonson and Vigdis Bjarnadottir, immigrated to the United States from Iceland sometime later in the 1880s. In 1904, his father deserted the family, forcing Sveinn to be separated from his mother and sister to work on a farm in North Dakota. He ran away and wandered from job to job until settling in an orphanage in western Canada, where he attended school and became a voracious reader.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The Holger Cahill papers were donated to the Archives of American Art through a series of gifts by Cahill's widow, Dorothy C. Miller, between 1964 and 1995.
Digitization Note:
The papers of Holger Cahill in the Archives of American Art were digitized in 2007 from 20 reels of microfilm. The papers have been scanned in their entirety, and total 30,077 images.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001