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Oral history interview with Dorothy C. Miller, 1970 May 26-1971 Sept. 28

Catalog Data

Interviewee:
Miller, Dorothy Canning, 1904-2003  Search this
Interviewer:
Cummings, Paul  Search this
Subject:
Barr, Alfred H., Jr.  Search this
Cahill, Holger  Search this
Calder, Alexander  Search this
D'Harnoncourt, Rene  Search this
Dickinson, Edwin Walter  Search this
Evans, Walker  Search this
Feininger, Lyonel  Search this
Graves, Morris  Search this
Nevelson, Louise  Search this
Phillips, Duncan  Search this
Pollock, Jackson  Search this
Rivera, Diego  Search this
Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich)  Search this
Rothko, Mark  Search this
Tobey, Mark  Search this
Warburg, Edward M. M.  Search this
Federal Art Project  Search this
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Type:
Sound recordings
Interviews
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
260 Pages, Transcript; 18 sound files (20 hrs., 42 min.), digital, wav
General Note:
Originally recorded on 10 sound tape reel. Reformatted in 2010 as 18 digital wav files. Duration is 20 hrs., 42 min.
Access Note / Rights:
Transcript: Available on microfilm.
Summary:
An interview of Dorothy Miller conducted 1970 May 26-1971 Sept. 28, by Paul Cummings, for the Archives of American Art.
Miller speaks of her childhood and family background; the beginning of her career in museums; her first trip to Europe; the Depression and its effect on the art world; the establishment of the WPA Federal Art Project; the scandal over the Diego Rivera mural in Rockefeller Center; getting started with the Museum of Modern Art in its early years; working with Alfred Barr; early exhibitions at the MOMA; meeting Mark Tobey and Morris Graves; meeting Holger Cahill; Cahill's background; Cahill's involvement with the WPA Federal Art Project, and the Project's early years; post-war changes in American art and the post-war years at the MOMA; Shaker design; some of her colleagues at the MOMA.
She recalls Duncan Phillips, Rene D'Harnoncourt, Jackson Pollock, Edward M.M. Warburg, Nelson Rockefeller, Mark Rothko, Louise Nevelson, Alexander Calder, Lyonel Feininger, Walker Evans, and Edwin Dickinson.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Dorothy C. Miller, 1970 May 26-1971 Sept. 28. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript: 35mm microfilm reel 4210-4211 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
Biography Note:
Dorothy C. Miller (1904-2003) was an art museum curator from New York, N.Y.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
These interviews are part of the Archives' Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Women museum curators  Search this
Theme:
Women  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)12478
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)212058
AAA_collcode_miller70
Theme:
Women
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_212058