This collection is arranged as nine series. Series 1: Biographical Material, 1919, circa 1938-2001 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet) Series 2: Correspondence, 1878-2010 (Box 1; 0.3 linear feet) Series 3: Writings, 1879-1880, 1922-1959 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet) Series 4: Professional Activities, circa 1935-1957, 2000-2005 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet) Series 5: Personal Business Records, 1856-1957, 1995-2018 (Boxes 1-2, OV 6; 0.3 linear feet) Series 6: Printed Material, 1849-2015 (Box 2, Box 4; 0.5 linear feet) Series 7: Scrapbooks, 1923-1960 (Box 2, Boxes 4-5; 0.7 linear feet) Series 8: Photographic Material, circa 1880-circa 2006 (Boxes 2-3, Box 5, OV 6, MGP 6, Box 7; 1.6 linear feet) Series 9: Artwork and Artifacts, circa 1912-circa 1960 (Box 3; 0.2 linear feet)
Access Note / Rights:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
Access to nitrate negatives is restricted. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Summary:
The papers of African American painter and educator Allan Randall Freelon, who was based in Pennsylvania, measure 4.4 linear feet and date from 1830 to 2018. The collection contains biographical material, including appointment books and family history material; correspondence; writings; material related to professional activities, including exhibitions and school visits; personal business records, including estate records; printed material; scrapbooks; photographic material; and artwork and artifacts.
Citation:
Allan Randall Freelon papers, 1830-2018. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2023 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. The nitrate negatives in the photographic materials series have not been digitized.
Funding:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided in part by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.
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:
Allan Randall Freelon Sr. (1895-1960) was painter and educator in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania known for his impressionist paintings.
Freelon studied at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (now the University of the Arts), the University of Pennsylvania, and the Tyler School of Art of Temple University. He also spent summers studying painting with Hugh Breckenridge in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
His work was included in exhibitions at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, traveling exhibitions with the William E. Harmon Foundation, the Albright-Knox Gallery, the National Gallery of Art, the Howard University Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was also one of seven Black artists included in the exhibition Art Commentary on Lynching , organized by the NAACP.
Freelon married Marie Cuyjet in 1918 and they had one son Allan Randall Freelon Jr. Freelon and Cuyjet eventually divorced and Freelon married Mary Kouzmanoff.
Freelon taught art in the Philadelphia public school system and in 1921 was appointed as assistant director of art education. In 1939 he was named the special assistant to the director of art in the Philadelphia public schools. Freelon also taught painting at Windy Crest, his studio in Telford, Pennsylvania, where he passed away in 1960.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The Allan Randall Freelon papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2019 by Nnenna and Maya Freelon as part of the Archives' African American Collecting Initiative funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. Nnenna is the widow of Phil Freelon, Allan Randall Freelon's grandson. Maya Freelon is Nnenna and Phil's daughter.
Digitization Note:
This site provides access to the papers of Allan Randall Freelon in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2023, and total 4,473 images.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
